Chapter 5

Fight for Toothless!

Stoick and his wife Valka stood in his office at Vast Enterprises and stared at Gobber with jaws agape. Stoick had some work that couldn't be delegated to his half brother and both he and his wife had to leave town for their respective jobs at the end of the day, leaving Harvey to watch himself in their house. Their son had been quick to insist that with his dragon spirit he could take care of himself and Gobber would see him nearly everyday between dragon training and his job at his god father's shop, they agreed hesitantly but Valka pointed out he was almost an adult and deserved to be given some trust on his own. What neither of them expected was Gobber to ask to meet with them and recount the events of the previous day's training, Harvey had confessed to losing control of his spirit again but told them that Snotlout and a new group of friends had managed to snap him out of it. Gobber confirmed it as true but had an extra detail that their son failed to mention.

"And you're sure you saw it Gobber? This isn't exactly the kind of thing you claim without being 100% certain." Stoick said, if what his friend was saying was true then his son had another dragon ability that many coveted.

"I know what I saw Stoick, the boy and Astrid's marks were glowing brighter than the lights in the arena. It also helped that Hiccup's spirit was so powerful that it caused the sky to darken. But I'm telling yeh, it happened. I don't even think the kids noticed it to be honest with yeh."

"So what should we do?" Valka spoke up, having been silent the entire time, "Do we tell them? Don't they have the right to know?"

"No." Stoick answered his wife, "If we tell them then there's a chance they'll rebel and the friendship Gobber said they've been building will die as a result." He took a deep breathe and hugged Valka before pulling back and looking at her eyes. "It's best if it plays out on its own like has before."

There was a light rapping sound and the three turned to find the boy they were talking about standing is the doorway to Stoick's office, his eyes darted between the three of them before settling on his father. "Jenny said you were in your office for a bit before you had to take off for the Hill today." Hiccup explained, "I didn't know if I'd get to see you so I thought I'd come see you now before you have to disappear for a few months. And I know mom has to go to Florida to help with deliver that giant panda cub that's expected sometime in the next week or so, so I guess we can just all say our goodbyes now."

Stoick crossed the room and embraced his son fondly; Valka joined them a spilt second later. Gobber watched on as he wasn't going anywhere. Hiccup would be turning 18 soon so Gobber had supported the idea that the Haddock parents trust Hiccup to stay by himself for once, Stoick would monitor Hiccup's spending while also depositing a weekly allowance for him to live off of. "What are you doing here to begin with son? You've barely steped foot in here since you turned 10 and I began running for mayor." His father asked as he pulled back from the hug keeping his hands on Hiccup's shoulders as if to take in his son's appearance and commit it to memory for his long trip to D.C.

"I uh… I came by to pick up those specs from the supressor cuff. I had an idea last night and need these to see if it'll work." Hiccup said fishing the small USB out of his pocket to show them, Gobber nodded in understanding thinking he knew what said idea was and approved if he was right. Stoick and Valka didn't seem to know but nodded all the same.

Valka hugged her son one last time, "Remember to look after our guest while I'm gone sweetheart." Hiccup nodded and turned to leave with one last wave to his parents before turning the corner towards the elevators.

Astrid was happy when 3 o'clock rolled around. She had been slated for an early shift at the Dragon's Den while Ruff got the day off to cause who knows what kind of havoc with her brother unless he had to work, and his hours at the comic book shop where rather lax, not surprising since Tuffnut took the job because he mostly got to just sit on his rear and read Spider-man all day.

She shot off a quick text to her friend and climbed into her car wondering what she should do with the rest of her day. Saturdays where great for many reasons but she wasn't in the mood for a run today, the truth was she was too distracted to do much. Her mind keep going back to the day before, how was she the only one able to bring Hiccup out of dragon mind? Her phone chimed with Ruffnut's response saying Tuffnut found something online she has to see along with a link to a video, just before Astrid hit play a familiar motorcycle zoomed past her parked car and she somehow knew that it was Hiccup riding it. After taking a second to shake her head clear of thoughts of the incident in the library a few days before and how it felt when she was riding that motorcycle, holding onto him, Astrid hit the link and widened her eyes as the video played on her screen. As soon as it ended she sent Ruffnut another text telling them that Hiccup needed to see it immediately before turning the keys and texting Snotlout (a number she had solely to know when NOT to answer) for Hiccup's address.

Hiccup returned home and immediately changed into a wife beater and old pair of jeans before heading into the garage where he had his own work bench with an inhibitor bracelet from Vast Enterprises sitting on it and plugged in the flash drive on his desktop computer. He spent the next ten-fifteen minutes working on the calibrations and alterations to the bracelet until he was sure the desired outcome was what he wanted, then reached for his tools, turned on some music to drown out distractions and went to work.

Astrid pulled into the large house that matched the address Snotlout had texted her along with a string of flirts and one asking her out on a date (she rolled her eyes at how little class it showed). At First she thought she had the wrong address but then the others pulled in behind her, first Fishlegs, then the Twins and finally Snotlout in his overly flashy orange red sports car. They went to the door as a group and rang the doorbell but received no answer, after trying twice more and still receiving no answer Astrid sent Hiccup a text asking if he was home, but Snotlout merely walked over to a potted plant and plucked a hidden key from under it. With a smug grin he unlocked the door and walked inside without so much as announcing himself. After a minute the twins followed him and shortly after Fishlegs and Astrid went to make sure they didn't break anything.

Astrid started looking in random rooms to see if Hiccup was in any of them since he still hadn't returned her text; in the third room she found an office of sorts. There was an ornate desk and bookshelf but what drew her attention was the pair of cages in the corner, one held a large owl that stared at her with curiosity, but Astrid's eyes were locked on the second cage. Inside the cage was a falcon with blue feathers covering it's body, they were rare she knew that from a project she had done in middle school and seeing one in person was something her 12 year old self always wanted. The bird was beautiful but from the way it sat on it's perch it wasn't very friendly looking as it glared at it's neighbor, Astrid's inner child wanted to have it perched on her arm and stroke it comfortingly, but she shook her head and reminded herself why she was here in Hiccup's house looking for him.

She found the kitchen where Snotlout was treating the twins to drinks from the fridge, Astrid rolled her eyes again and was about to berate the lot of them when she heard something. Music. She heard music coming from not to far away, she followed it to a door behind which it was coming from, upon opening it she froze again. Inside was Hiccup in a tank top and a raggedy pair of jeans bent over a work bench with a tool in his hand, Astrid couldn't stop herself from studying his figure while he was focused on something else and wouldn't notice. The lack of sleeves revealed lean firm muscle and broad shoulders she always suspected were there and his messy auburn hair stuck to the back of his neck and forehead in patches of sweat that weren't entirely (i.e; at all) displeasing to the eye and the way his tongue stuck out slightly of the corner of his mouth sent a shiver down her spine and sent her mind straight back to that day in the library.

Shaking her head once again to clear her mind' she found the radio that the music was emanating from and turned it off. At first he didn't seem to notice that the background music was gone, but after a minute his head snapped up and start looking too and fro before he spun around and his eyes landed on her. Part of Astrid really wished she wasn't so aware of his forest green eyes. They just stared at each other for a moment, Hiccup's mouth opening and closing a few times before the blonde offered him a smile, "You should really learn to answer your texts every now and then, that way your cousin doesn't end up letting all your friends into your house while you're oblivious in the…" she looked around the room for the first time, "garage." Hiccup furrowed his brow then reached into a drawer on the desk and pulled out his phone, he must have had more than one message, because he swpied the screen and typed something before sending it and pocketing the phone. Astrid's vibrated a second later and on the screen read: Hiccup:yeah I'm in the garage working on something, what's up?

Astrid scoffed and looked at him then they both broke out in laughter.

When they rejoined the others Snotlout had broken into the Haddock's pantry and was digging out snacks, apparently only one in the group had actually been looking for Hiccup. The boy in question leaned over to Astrid and whispered "How long do you think we could just stand here before they'd notice?" Astrid snorted her laughter and it caught the attention of Fishlegs who had the decency to at least act like he felt bad while the twins held up their sodas in cheers and continued munching on the chips they were given while Snotlout was digging around in drawers looking for something with a beer bottle in his hand. With a sigh Hiccup marched over and snatched the bottle from his shorter cousin, "Snotlout, do you want me to tell everyone gathered here about what happened at Christmas last year when you snuck a few beers from your father?" Snotlout opened his mouth to reply then his eyes widened and arm dropped and turned slightly pale before grabbing another soda from the fridge and sat by Fishlegs. Astrid made a mental note to ask Hiccup about that the next time she had a private moment with him, "So what brings you guys out here? Not that I'm complaining but I wasn't really expecting company."

"Well you see my good man, I happened to be surfing the World Wide Web with my fine feathered friend The Chicken, demonstrating my awesome internetting skills when I wiped out on this little gem that had to be passed along to you." Tuffnut answered, with a bit of theatrical flair for whatever reason his mind had concocted.

The other's looked at him for a moment with dumbfounded expressions. "Can I get a translation for that please?" Hiccup asked after he blinked several times in quick succession as if he was trying to banish the memory of the way Tuff explained things.

"I think what Tuff means is, he was on the internet and found this video that we all think you need to see." Astrid said with an eyebrow arched to ask Ruff or Tuff for confirmation.

"Yes! That. Exactly!" Tuffnut exclaimed

"And the chicken part?" Hiccup asked, 85% sure he'd regret it the moment the words left his mouth

"Oh Tuff met this chicken one night while he was wondering around in the woods and brought him home, they've been close ever since." Ruffnut explained, "His name is The Chicken and now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure he was the one who clicked on the video not, Tuffnut."

Hiccup was right, he regretted asking.

"Ok ok. Can it wait for me to put on some clean clothes and grab what I was working on in the garage? I had just finished it when I realized that my background noise was gone." Hiccup asked exasperatedly. The teens gave noises of affirmation and Hiccup jogged towards his room, which was just down the hall from the office Astrid had found with the birds of prey in it. The others returned to snacking and small talk while Astrid's feet carried her of their own volition to the office where the blue falcon was once again. Before she could even comprehend what she was doing, Astrid found herself directly in front of the beautiful bird, at first is glared at her like it did the owl, who hooted in greeting and then again in curiosity at the girl. After a minute of just looking at one another the falcon turned on its perch to face her and Astrid saw that its wing had a splint around it, somehow it had gotten hurt. Astrid reached for the cage and the falcon studied her hand for a moment before leaning forward just enough and turning its head so when Astrid's fingers slipped between the small bars they stroked the side of the bird's neck.

"She likes you."

Astrid jumped back and the falcon let out a sound of annoyance and glared at the doorway, the girl followed the bird's gaze and found Hiccup standing there, he was stilling pulling his shirt down and she swallowed at the sight of barely visible abs that were far too appealing for her to find on someone who was just a friend. "That falcon was brought to the local zoo a few months ago, but she was so hostile towards the trainers and other birds that they had to corner her off until she calmed down, and then during that big storm a few weeks back she got loose and tried to fly away in the middle of it. Poor thing was thrown around by the wind and injured her wing, she should be healed in a few more weeks, but feeding her and getting her to work the wing has been a hassle. Maybe you could help me with it, if she let you stroke her head that quickly she must see something in you she likes." Astrid looked from her friend to the falcon who met her gaze, she couldn't put into words how she felt towards it, and it was like they were drawn to each other.

"Hiccup! You changed yet? We gotta see this!" Snotlout's voice came from the kitchen, the two teens snapped out of their revere and made their way to join the others again who had found Hiccup's tablet and had youtube loading the video. Hiccup squeezed between Fishlegs and Tuffnut while Astrid just stood behind Snot and looked over his shoulder since he was so short.

The video, called 'secret strike class power' began on an old Dragon Spirit boxing league fight back before it was shut down, the contenders where wielding a Grappler Grounder and a Woolly Howl respectively. The fight went on for a few minutes like documentaries showed but then changed when the Wooly Howl took an illegal blow, the man stood up before the ref could stop the fight and shouted loudly, "WOOLLY HOWL'S ROAR!" And unleashed a small directed blizzard at his opponent from his mouth as if he, himself were a dragon. The blast hit the other man and he was down and out but the match was already forfeit from his earlier cheat. Then it switched to a camera phone at an obvious illegal DS fight, where Dagur was seen beating his opponent with a sickening look of glee, that is until the other fighter used their spirit to send him flying back. Dagur regained his footing and just cackled before shouting "Skrill's roar!" and firing lightening from his mouth and electrifying the other man. The video cut out after that.

"What was that?" Hiccup asked, he'd never seen anything like that before and never read about a power that allowed one to use a breathe attack outside of a Thunderdrum's sonic bellow.

"Apparently Strike Class dragon spirits have a unique ability called roars that allow them to fire focused beams of their dragon's power, like that blizzard or lightning." Fishlegs said bouncing with excitement; Hiccup could tell from the matching faces on the rest of his friends and the quirked brow of his cousin that they were all thinking the same thing.

"No. Guys I can barely control my spirit on a good day, and you all want me try and used a potentially destructive ability that I may or may not have? Not happening. Especially not here where someone could get hurt."

It was Snotlout who shocked everyone with his response, "Well what about that old cove where Aunt Val used to take me and you when our dads were getting into an argument? It's far enough away so no one will get hurt and if we stay on the outskirts then we should be safe while you go down and use it." The twins and Fishlegs lit up at the prospect but Astrid noticed how Hiccup stiffened and paled at the mere mention of the cove. "Come on Hiccup, you're not getting out of this until we've seen you at least try this roar thing."

Hiccup sighed in defeat and went into the garage, only to reemerge a moment later fitting a strange bracelet around his wrist. Once it was secured a small blue light lit up in the form of the strike class symbol. "What's that Hiccup?" Astrid asked while pointing at the bracelet as they all stood and Snotlout led them out a sliding door in the back of the house.

"Oh it's a modified suppressor cuff; I figured that if I could get it to inhibit my spirit then I can prevent myself from entering dragon mind and eventually gain greater control over it without putting people at risk." Hiccup explained.

"That's… really impressive." Astrid said, genuinely impressed Hiccup was capable of doing such a thing. Suppressor cuffs were used by the police and military to detain criminals and hostile POW's and prevents them from using their spirits to fight back, they were invented roughly four years ago and criminal activity as well as prison guard injuries had drastically decreased since. "But wait where did you even get a suppressor cuff to begin with? And how would you know how to modify one?" Hiccup was smart, but those bracelets use advanced technology in order to perform their intended purpose.

"Well… Vast Enterprises makes the cuffs for the police, both here and in facilities around the country where they also make them for the military. And since my dad owns the company it was pretty easy to get one." Hiccup said while rubbing his neck, an action Astrid had come to identify with Hiccup feeling uncomfortable about a subject. "As for how I was able to modify it-"

"Hiccup designed them!" Snotlout shouted from a few feet ahead of them, causing his cousin to turn beet red and look at the ground and narrow avoid his prosthetic catching on a rather large tree root jutting out of the ground.

Astrid and Fishlegs both stopped dead in their tracks and looked at Hiccup with mouths agape. They knew he was smart, but to design something that suppresses a person's ability to use their dragon spirit was so far beyond what they've been learning in school. Astrid was about to inquire how Hiccup could possibly have designed it when Snotlout let out a shout of success, they had found the cove. After sparing a moment to take in the serenity of the location Astrid returned her gaze to Hiccup, intent to ask her question, but stopped again when she observed his face. His eyes were darting all over the cove as if searching for something, and suddenly it hit her: Toothless.

Hiccup had mentioned that Toothless stayed in a small cove back when she first discovered the leopard hadn't he? No wonder he was so staunchly against coming here to practice that roar ability, and Astrid was so caught up with wanting to see it and distracted by that falcon to realize it. She scanned the cove as well looking for any sign of their furry friend, but it appeared he was hiding or sleeping. Snotlout turned around to face his cousin, "Ok then cuz, you have the Night Fury spirit so lets see you use that-"

A roar cut off Snotlout almost as if it had been planned, but it didn't come from within the cove, and there were shouts from people but were incomprehensible from the distance they were. Before anyone in the group could even open their mouths to ask what it was, Hiccup dashed towards the sound with Astrid following a split second after. The remaining four traded looks of confusion before taking off after their friends, it was clear to at least Fishlegs that they knew something.

Hiccup and Astrid came into a clearing after a few minutes; on the other side were six men struggling with a very agitated Toothless, one of which they both recognized and caused Hiccup's hands to ball into fists that quickly caught flame. With a start Hiccup ran halfway across the clearing and jumped towards the group of men, "Strike Class! Night Fury! Plasma Blast!" Hiccup shouted before thrusting his fist in a punching motion and sending the explosive orb at its intended targets. The other teens arrived just in time to witness it impact the ground so they were shielding Toothless and all went flying back, with his captors thrown off of him the large cat quickly regained his footing and ran over to Hiccup and turned to face the men beside him, the pair looked ready to go to war.

"What the hell is going on here?" Snotlout asked as they stopped beside Astrid, "Why is Hiccup attacking those guys and why isn't that panther trying to maul his face off? It's a wild animal!"

"Actually Snotlout that's a black leopard, but I have no idea why it isn't trying to hurt Hiccup." Fishlegs corrected, but at the present everyone was too busy watching the scene in front of them to glare or punch him.

"That's Toothless, Hiccup tamed him and has been keeping him in that cove we were at." Astrid answered as the first of the men started to get back up, even with a Night Fury spirit Hiccup could only last so long against six grown men who have been fully trained with their dragon spirits without help. "One of them is the guy the news showed Hiccup blasting a few days ago because he had found Toothless and was going to have him put down! I guess he didn't get the message last time and brought back up this time, so we gotta help Hiccup!" She explained quickly and ran to join their friend so she was flanking his other side.

Snotlout grimaced for a second but growled to himself before joining them and standing beside Astrid, still weary of Toothless who paid him no mind. The twins gleefully joined at the prospect of misbehaving, only Fishlegs stayed behind, to afraid to move and wanting to maintain his pacifistic ways. The animal control group had finally recovered enough to see five teens and the animal they had just bee trying to capture standing in the center of the clearing, poised and ready to fight. Hiccup's fist still blazing, Snotlout's entire arms where burning with flames, the twins releasing gas and sparks while cackling, Astrid with spines forming on her arms and one in each hand like a dagger, and Toothless hunched beside his human growling and ready to strike.

The two groups converged on one another without a word, just a few shouts and one very loud roar. Toothless tackled the smallest of their opponents, leaving the bigger one to the others as he was a smart cat, while the others clashed with the adults. Hiccup happened to find the same man who had tried to take Toothless the first time, his suit had the name 'Gary' sewed onto it, hoping that his new inhibitor bracelet was up to the impromptu field test Hiccup allowed the dragon spirit within him guide his movements as he swung his fists and good leg, which would ignite in flame just after leaving the ground and extinguish just before touching it again. "Give it up kid, that animal is dangerous and it's going to be put down one way or another!" Gary shouted at him while narrowly avoiding a fiery fist aimed for his face.

"As long as I'm drawling breathe I'll do everything in my power to protect my friends, and that animal you keep referring to is my first and best friend!" Hiccup responded with a ferocity that sent chills down Astrid's spine as she deftly swiped her opponents legs out from under him and pinned him down by his shirt with the spines in her hands, they were trying to stop them from taking Toothless not kill them after all. Snotlout's obsessive lifting came in handy as he was psychically stronger than the man he was fighting and the twins were just irritating the men they corralled together into wasting their shots before they combined their abilities to knock them out. Toothless still had the smallest of them pinned down but was only roaring in his face everytime the man tried to get free, at worse he'll have a few large cuts on his arms.

It appeared as if they were going to actually fight them off, then a loud bang rang through the clearing followed by a pained roar from Toothless.

Everyone froze mid-fight and turned to face the leopard just in time to see him fall over and the dark red stains on the grass. "I told ya kid, one way or another that animal was being put down." Gary said while tucking the pistol he had back into a holster on his leg. Hiccup didn't respond, but was beside Toothless in the blink of an eye. Astrid moved towards him, she could just see slow and shallow breaths coming from the large cat she had become fond of in just a few days. Hiccup was cradling Toothless' head with barely repressed tears that broke when his friend licked his hand and let out a weak groan before his eyes slid shut. "Alright boys, the animal is dealt with. Let's pack it up and let the kids deal with what to do with it now since they were so attached." The voice of Gary reached their ears.

Hiccup's head snapped up and Astrid was close enough to see the unsuppressed rage behind them. "You did this." Hiccup said quietly, barely loud enough for her to hear as close as she was and reached for his inhibitor bracelet. Astrid's eyes widened as he yanked it off and dropped it beside Toothless' paw. Hiccup lifted the leopards head and touched it to his own with tears still falling. In the next moment the clouds overheard darkened and swirled around the clearing, the teens all shared worried glances while the men all looked up in confusion.

Hiccup was engulfed in DSE, burning around him with such intensity that Astrid had to step back as both Hiccup and Toothless were consumed in bright light and lightening struck around the area. When the light finally dies down enough for everyone to look at where Hiccup and Toothless were, they saw the boy standing there turned towards the animal control group with his head bowed and fists shaking while the energy still burned around both him and Toothless. When his head came up and Astrid could see his face, she feared he would be in dragon mind yet again, but his eyes were open and she could see his forest green eyes clear as day. Burning with anger, but sharp and focused.

"You shot my friend, you killed him." Hiccup said, his voice carried power that made the fatigue Astrid and other teens that took part in the fight melt away from their bodies and filled them with renewed energy, but Hiccup paid them no mind. He cocked his head back and drew a deep breathe "NIGHT FURY'S ROAR!" Hiccup threw his head forward opened his mouth and a torrent stream of plasma flew from it and towards the group of men. They scattered as the beam approached and the trees behind them were obliterated in their place. Hiccup moved faster than the eye could follow and stood before the man who shot Toothless. His eye bored into the man as he spoke, "I'm gonna make sure you regret that decision everyday for the rest of your life while you have to eat your meals through a straw!"

A/N: I apologize to the excessively long wait time for this update, after the update to my other story There and back again I married the most beautiful girl I know and there's been the honeymoon and moving into a new house and making it a home. Hopefully this will hold you guys over for a bit and not too many of you will hate me for the cliffhanger ending(a sign that I might be watching too much anime)