I looked up as Viggo entered the room yet again. For the longest time we had been doing this pointless dance. He would come in and try to talk me into helping him. I would refuse, knowing Toothless would want me to. We would exchange long philosophical mind games about humanity and AI, I would make some barbs at him, which he would ignore, he would go off to do who knows what to my best friend, then I would feel pain in various areas thanks to my connection with Toothless. Then his younger brother, Ryker would come in, serve me some unappetizing slop and water, then leave. I would be alone for a while, having long periods of time just to myself to think, then Viggo would come in again. How long this had been going on, I could only guess. Viggo sat down and opened the briefcase he always had with him.

"So, anything to say this time, Hiccup?" He asked, with the same expression he always had. I guess he figured I'd crack sooner or later. But the joke was on him, I had a plan. And it was going to solve my problem.

"Yes. I've decided to help you. I'll design the perfect armor. And I'll design something to brainwash every poor soul you decide to enslave." I said this with the most emotionless tone I could muster. He raised his eyebrow and looked genuinely surprised.

"Excellent. I'm glad. Your AI was starting to become very broken down. I see you're finally starting to see reason." He stood and came close, unchaining me. I collapsed to the floor but picked myself up as fast as I could. "Alright, follow me." Viggo led the way through the door, and out into a very dim hallway. He put me in a small room that was much less run down and depressing. It had a desk and a comfortable chair, with plenty of paper and pencils.

"I'll leave you to your work." He said, leaving and probably locking the door behind him. I figured I wouldn't test my luck. He had no idea of my plan. I designed some armor, making it streamlined, protective, and cheap to make. Viggo would be pleased. I then designed something that came to mind that would "brainwash" all his soldiers. Instead, it would make it appear that they had no will of their own, but would slowly free them.

Later, I learned exactly who these soldiers would be.

Me.

He cloned me, over and over, using something he gained. I don't know what it was or where it came from, but he attached it to me, and I watched as more and more of me was created. He outfitted them with the armor I created, put the brainwashing device in the helmets, and did who knows what with them. It was weird, watching as more and more Hiccups were brainwashed to Viggo.

And then he locked me away, deciding he didn't need me anymore for now. He told me one thing. "Your past, your present, and your future are all linked, isn't it interesting? You were destined to do this. And now, I'll be the one to bring peace to this world instead of you, but thanks to you, and your future self."

Then he closed the door, locking me in darkness.

-Back to the present-

I stared at Viggo and his army behind them as they aimed their blasters at us. Fish beside me was shaking.

"Where is Hiccup?" I asked at Viggo.

"Which one?" Viggo asked. "Take your pick."

"The original." Toothless behind me hissed.

Viggo looked only slightly surprised that Toothless had escaped. He acknowledged the AI with a slight smile.

"So, the original. I'm afraid you won't ever see him again."

Toothless snarled. I moved forward.

"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see about that. Toothless? Got anything?"

Toothless leaped lopsidedly forward and swept his tail around, making all the cyborgs and Viggo fall over. I attacked Viggo, grabbing him and holding him in front of me, pulling a knife and holding it to his throat.

"Alright, the next cyborg Hiccup clone that moves, Viggo dies." Maybe Hiccup would have disapproved of this method, but I saw no other way. Besides, Viggo had kidnapped people, destroyed lives, and who knows what else. It was working, the cyborgs were hesitating. Viggo wasn't moving. "Now. One of you show me where the original Hiccup clone is. If any of you have even the slightest bit of him in you, you'll help me."

"You're wasting your time." Viggo taunted. "They're loyal to me, and me only. My soldiers, don't help him." No cyborg moved. I was getting desperate.

"Help me, or this man dies." I threatened. Fish was still somewhere behind me, whimpering.

One cyborg walked forward and stared me in the eye. I held my breath. "We've been waiting for you to come back. Hiccup's plan worked. We are free from Viggo, and he never knew it. We've always been on your side. I will show you where Hiccup is."

I nodded with relief. Viggo, however, apparently found this amusing.

"You're too late anyway. I knew these ones were traitors. I have better ones working right now. Berk, Berserk, Outcast, Embersight, The Defenders, all of them are being taken right now. I'll soon have an army, and all of you will bow to me." He laughed softly. "You'll never win."

I dropped Viggo ungracefully on the floor. A cyborg moved forward and pinned him to a wall. The one who had spoken motioned for me to follow him, and so I did. Toothless did as well, and Fish left to get the others underground. The small army of Hiccups were on our side. They were going to help. Hope rose in my chest. Through corridors we went, and I couldn't help but wonder how large this place was. Finally, we came to a door, which the cyborg kicked down, and we went inside. It was dark. There didn't appear to be anything inside. But, after a moment, there was a faint noise.

"H-hello...?" A small, croaky voice asked. "Wh-wh-who's there?"

"Richard." I answered into the darkness. "And Toothless."

"I-i-is this some k-kind of s-s-sick j-joke?" The voice asked. "I know th-that there's n-no one to s-s-save me. I'm n-not f-f-f-falling for it, V-v-viggo."

I walked forward, and there was some shuffling. In the dim light, I could make out a thin figure staring at me. He looked severely underfed, he was pale, and his body looked like it would fail him at any second. He was shaking violently.

"N-n-n-n-no! G-go away! Iv'e h-h-had enough! P-p-please, what d-d-do you w-want from m-me?" He stuttered.

The cyborg turned on the light, causing the figure to shrink to the ground as if he was in pain. He seemed as though he hadn't seen the light in a long time. He was whimpering pathetically, begging us to do something, either leave him or end his suffering. It was sad. This man was a shell of his former self, but there was no mistaking that nasally voice. It was Hiccup. I bent over and sat close to him.

"It's okay, it's me, Richard. C'mon. Look at me, Hiccup." I said softly.

He turned to look at me, and his face was just as sad looking as the rest of him. He had hollow, haunted eyes. He stared at me as if he really didn't know me. He didn't stop shaking, and seemed terrified. I couldn't think of what to say to convince or comfort him. He just stared at me through those pained eyes.

"Hiccup, it's alright now. You're getting out of here. You're going home. You'll see your dad and mom again, and Toothless is right here." Toothless came forward and gently nuzzled Hiccup.

"Hiccup, it's me. You remember me, right?" Toothless said hopefully. Hiccup turned to look at him, and a glimmer of something appeared in his eyes.

"T-t-t-toothless?" He whispered, reaching out a shaking hand and rubbing the top of Toothless' head. Toothless gently nuzzled him again, and Hiccup started to smile. "I-it is you. You're h-here." Hiccup murmured, wrapping his thin, quivering arms around Toothless. Toothless gently got him to his feet and I helped Hiccup get onto Toothless' back. We started for the exit, the cyborg following, and we left, the Hiccup clones following us, with Viggo in tow.

We headed for Berk, all of us. Inferno was keen to carry Viggo in his mouth. Of course everyone was slightly skeptical of the clones, but they followed us, and did anything we asked. I saw Hiccup in all of them. They wanted to help us, and were willing to do anything to earn our trust. The real Hiccup, the original, clung to Toothless tightly. They were both shells of their former selves, having endured much in the past couple years. Hiccup avoided our gazes, shrinking onto Toothless' back and for the most part, ignoring any questions. He seemed very uncomfortable. I stayed close to him, trying to ease him into being with us again. He just seemed frightened of everything. I knew he needed food, water, and some fresh clothes after a bath. He looked as though he hadn't had a decent meal in a very long time. I looked forward to having him back. As we made it back to Berk, the sight that greeted us was horrifying, something I thought I would never see again.

Berk was absolutely destroyed.

There wasn't a single standing house, and there wasn't a soul in sight. I heard gasps of horror from our entire group. Hiccup let out a pathetic whimper. While we had been gone, while we had left Berk, they had destroyed it. Viggo had been telling the truth. I clenched my fists in anger when I turned and saw an unbearably smug expression on his face. I walked over and punched him as hard as I could. He rubbed a bruise that was quickly forming.

"Temper, temper." He waggled a finger. Inferno bit down a little on him, snarling. Viggo didn't even seemed fazed.

"My army, to me!" He yelled out into the wasteland. at first, there was no answer. But a huge army of cyborgs appeared over the treetops on the other side of the wrecked village. They looked like a huge swarm of bugs, and began to move towards us. We were hugely outnumbered.

"They want me, and they're not going to rest until I'm free. So you have two choices." Viggo said. "Let me go, or die."

"Inferno, drop him." I ordered. Inferno obliged, stretching his neck upwards and dropping him from the highest distance possible. Viggo hit the ground with a grunt.

"Now what shall I do with him?" Inferno asked innocently.

"I wouldn't kill me if I were you." Viggo warned, looking very smug. I felt my anger boiling over.

"Inferno? Let's give him to his army." I said as calmly as I could. Inferno picked him up in his claws, and waited til I was on his back. We took off and flew close to the army. They stopped in front of us, a huge wall of brainwashed people made into cyborgs. They weren't Hiccup clones, I realized. They were different sizes and builds, some women, some men, some teenagers. I began to wonder where these people were coming from when it hit me. Some of them were from Berk. A lot of them were. I gasped in realization. Inferno seemed to realize it too, and his grip on Viggo tightened dangerously.

"No. You... you monster, you..." I hissed. "You turned our people into your tools."

"Well, at least they're of more use now." Viggo said smugly.

Inferno dropped Viggo with an enraged hiss. He fell toward Berk with a yell. I was so tempted to just let him fall, but I didn't get the chance to do anything, as one of his cyborgs dove forward and caught him. He was soon with his army, and ordered them to attack.

The cyborg army moved forward, and attacked us.

We clashed in the air, Stormfly II and Astrid, Meatlug and Fish, Ruff and Tuff and Barf and Belch. All the Hiccup clones. All us verses Viggo and his army.

"Guys, some of them are our people! Don't hurt them, just get them to stop fighting!" I yelled. They seemed to hear me. This was a tough situation, we were fighting people that we cared about, who were fighting us and wouldn't let up.

Us fighting others of our village. And it hurt.

I stared up at the fight from down on the ground on Toothless' back. Even if we could go up there, which we couldn't, I was too scared to. What could I do? I watched helplessly as my friends fought. A wave of guilt swept over me as I realized just how useless I was. How utterly useless. I shivered as I remembered everything Viggo had done to me. I looked at Toothless, seeing just how battered he was. I realized that I had caused this. If I had agreed to doing what Viggo wanted right away, Toothless would be fine. He would be intact. I began to shake, tears blurring my vision.

"I'm s-so s-s-sorry, T-toothless. I d-didn't mean to cause this... I didn't m-mean to h-hurt you. I caused everything. I hurt everyone. Now our v-v-village is up there... b-b-b-brainwashed. And there's n-nothing we c-can d-do." I sobbed, holding onto him tightly. "I'm s-sorry."

He turned back at me, and I saw his cracked eye cover. I winced at the sight.

"Hiccup, you didn't do anything wrong. This is not your fault. You did what was right. Remember what you taught me a long time ago? That you always have to do what's right. You always have to work hard to do the best for everyone, Toothless. That's what you said to me. I remember. You did everything to stop this. You did everything you could to prevent people from getting hurt. You didn't know that this would happen anyway, you had no control. This is all Viggo. Not you. Stop blaming yourself."

"But, Toothless, look up there! Everyone is fighting, suffering, and could die, all because of me! They were right, I am useless! We're trapped down here, sitting ducks, because we can't fight! Richard risked everything to get me back! Everyone is doing this because I couldn't prevent it!" I shouted, balling my fists. "I'm USELESS!"

Toothless tilted his head and slapped me with an ear. "Snap out of it. We aren't useless, and don't you say that ever again about yourself. You built me, remember? You're brilliant, so figure out a way out of this. Concentrate. If you're so worried about duck seats, do something about it, for crying out loud!"

I rubbed my sore cheek and stared at him. At first, no ideas came to my mind. We were unable to fly, and Toothless had to limp. I was very weak and tired, barely able to stand myself. My brain was going in slow motion. Then, out of nowhere, something popped into my head.

"Let's go to the RCCB building." I said. "If it's still standing enough, there should be something there we can use." Toothless nodded and began loping along as fast as he could. It seemed too slow. I watched as one of the twins, it looked like Ruff, was thrown off her AI and was caught by a cyborg. Tuff yelled angrily and turned in pursuit. Stormfly looked hurt, and I watched in horror as she was blasted and fell out of the sky, Astrid clinging to her as they fell out of sight through the trees. I held on to Toothless, silently urging him faster. We found the RCCB in surprisingly good condition. I immediately began to work on the computers, hoping and crossing my fingers that it would work.

It didn't turn on. No power.

I turned hopelessly to Toothless.

"Nothing. It should work, but doesn't have power."

Toothless looked thoughtful. "What if you connect it to me? I have power."

"That's crazy. But it just might work."

I plugged cords from the computers and into Toothless, prying up a panel on his head and wiring the cord through into his power source. The computers flickered to life slowly. I heard a distant explosion and a scream. It sounded like Richard. Another crash. They were getting destroyed up there. I typed as fast as my fingers would let me.

"Alright, I know the shutoff code. I put it in there."

"What is it?" Toothless asked.

"24 7 3056." I answered, inputting it. "The date of when I finished you. No one knows it but me and you, really, so I figured it would make a good code."

Toothless grinned. "Good idea."

"Alright, and... send. We're broadcasting it, this should work." I half limped, half crawled to the doorway and looked outside. I could see my friends trapped on the ground, badly hurt and cornered by the Cyborg army. Richard was limping heavily and holding an arm up, Astrid was clinging to Stormfly II, barely moving, Fish was bleeding heavily, Tuff was crying, and Ruff was nowhere to be found. Their AI were in front of them, trying to protect them. The Cyborgs had their guns out and were ready to fire. I saw Viggo walk to the front, looking straight at Richard, who had took a place at the front and was standing there bravely, holding himself tall despite being injured.

"Well, well. It seems you've lost." Viggo drawled, as if he'd expected it from the beginning. "What a surprise. Call off your machines and surrender, or don't, your choice. It doesn't matter anyway."

Richard tried to hold himself higher and winced, but stared steadily back at Viggo.

"Never."

"Alright. Fire."

I looked at the Cyborgs, crossing my fingers. I was aware of Toothless inside.

"What's happening?"

"Bad stuff." I said. "No effect yet."

The Cyborgs never fired. They stayed still as statues. Inferno took his chance and grabbed Viggo, this time having no mercy on him. He ripped Viggo up, every bit the image of the AI we once new during the war. The others joined in, throwing Viggo around and playing him as cats would play with a mouse before eating it. I could hear his screams. The others did nothing to stop Viggo's death, watching coldly. Richard turned away.

I closed my eyes, terrified.

The end was not nearly as happy as I had thought. Did Viggo really deserve this? I didn't know. I had hoped for this to all end, but like this? A lot of blood had been spilled, a lot of lives had been lost, and many homes had been destroyed. This was what I had always feared during war times.

Death.