The AI shot a bunch of fire at Richard, and he dodged. It then leaped on him in a matter of seconds. He was pinned, belly against the ground.

He stood no chance.

I ran, without thinking, into the arena.

"Hey! Over here!" I yelled, waving my arms.

It turned to me. I heard several murmurs of surprise from the crowd.

I was hoping my trouble magnet would work for once.

It abandoned Richard and went for me.

I froze for a moment, then ran for it, ducking under fire and screaming like I had a piranha biting my face.

I saw, out of the corner of my eyes, Richard leaping onto the AI's head.

Bad idea.

It was now trying to throw him off. It took me a moment to realize what he was trying to accomplish other than not living to old age.

He was trying to attach the chip.

I stood, frozen as he was thrown off. He landed against the wall beside me and didn't get up. He didn't even seem to be moving.

I panicked.

I ran to him, picking him up partially.

"Richard! Please..."

He opened an eye for a moment, then went limp again. His breathing was a little labored.

I turned to see my dad on top of the motionless AI, eyes murderous.

"What was that?!"

I didn't move. I refused to leave my friend.

He came forward and grabbed me with one hand, easily picking me up.

"Hiccup. This was his test, not yours."

Then I heard a screech. Toothless.

He burst into the arena, saw me and my dad and Richard lying limp, and ran forward, eyes thin.

"Toothless, no!" I held out a hand too late.

Toothless tackled my dad to the ground. I heard the noise of him building up his fire.

"NO!" I yelled.

Toothless stopped suddenly, turning to me. "Why, Hiccup? He was hurting you!"

My dad was slowly reaching for his sword.

"Dad, no! Just.. don't hurt each other! Give me a chance to explain!"

And that's when things got worse.

My dad tried to attack Toothless.

Toothless leaped back, wrapping himself protectively around me and Richard.

Men filled the arena, weapons in hand.

Toothless attacked them.

He was outnumbered.

I tried to stop them from hurting him.

My dad was about to kill Toothless.

He glared at me, being held back by a bunch of men.

"Put it in a cell. I don't want it going anywhere."

My heart skipped a beat.

Only minutes later, I was standing in our hall. My dad paced around me. I could feel the fury coming off of him. He was formulating words the same time I was.

"You lied to me." He said, finally breaking the silence. His voice was colder than ice. His eyes reflected his words and tone of voice perfectly. "You were making machines. Richard could have been killed. I could have been killed. You could have been killed."

"He was just protecting us! He's not dangerous! Toothless is a thinking, feeling machine! He loves me!"

"They've killed HUNDREDS of US!" He roared.

"And why do you think that is?" I yelled back.

He didn't answer.

"Why, dad? And besides, what do you care? You never cared about me anyway! Why should you care if I die? It's just one runt taken care of neatly to you! When have you ever showed me love? The moment you realized I wasn't the son you wanted, you practically abandoned me! No one would know we were related if we didn't sleep in the same house!"

It was out. All my frustration was out.

"That machine you saw loves me more than you ever did." I said, my voice matching his earlier coldness. My fists were clenched, knuckles white. My face was twisted in fury.

His face went expressionless.

My blood went cold.

Every word I had said was true.

"Hiccup..." His face twisted in grief for a moment, then went angry again. "I... never had a son. You're a traitor, and you'll die a traitor."

Everything went numb.

"I never had a father." I returned. "And exactly what have I betrayed? You? What loyalty do I have to a father who doesn't love me? Who would deny me chance after chance to prove myself? What loyalty do I have to a village that doesn't care about me? Who exactly have I betrayed?"

His eyes seemed to light on fire. He strode forward and picked me up with one hand. "You have betrayed us to them. The same monsters that killed your mother. The same monsters that attack our village and kill our people. The same machines that our ancestors built and were killed by. You have MADE them." He threw me to the ground.

I stared up at him, feeling rather betrayed myself.

"Get out. I never want to see you again." He said, dangerous glint in his eyes.

That's when the doors opened. Richard came in, bandages in multiple places and limping heavily. He was panting, determination lighting his face.

"Sir. This is my fault. Please. Don't blame your son." His voice didn't even quiver.

Stoick turned his attention to my friend. "What do you mean, Richard?"

"I asked him to make the chip for me so I could turn the AI good. He was trying to rescue me when it went wrong. Don't take it out on him." His voice was pleading. "Hiccup has done nothing wrong. We're the ones who are wrong. We take this out on him, but what have we ever done to show him we accept him? He needs friendship, approval. We didn't give it to him. He made it for himself. This is not his fault."

He paused and turned to me.

"I was wrong. I'm sorry." Tears were in his eyes. "I'm so sorry.."

I moved forward and hugged him. "I forgive you."

We both turned to my dad. Richard had more to say. He moved forward.

"The reason they attack us is because they are being controlled by a supercomputer on the surface. It's like nothing you've ever seen. They have no will of their own. They have no choice."

I saw a dangerous glint in my father- Stoick's eyes. "So you've been to the surface. And you came back alive. How did you get there?"

I spoke up. "Toothless took us there. He protected us. He took us back under, safe and sound. Besides, it's practically uninhabitable up there. We had a hard time breathing."

My dad brushed past us.

"Stoick, no!" "Dad, no!" We said at the same time.

I moved forward. "You can't win this one!"

Richard looked desperate. "Would you just listen to us?!"

He glanced back. "I was wrong, alright. About both of you. Richard, you're not the man I thought you were. Hiccup? You're more pathetic than I thought. You'll never be my son."

On that cheery note, he left, slamming the large door behind him. It opened up partway again.

Me and Richard exchanged a hopeless look. He wobbled a little and I caught him from falling over. I looked through the partially open great hall door. I let myself collapse onto the floor, crying. Richard comforted me silently.

I was barely aware of him. I finally forced myself to stop crying, staring at the floor and feeling empty.

It was over. I couldn't go on.

I had lost everything.