Unite

"Mor'du," Merida breathed out in surprise.

"It's good to see you again Ms. Dunbroch. Now about that dance?" he said flashing her a pointy toothed smile.

Merida's face formed into a scowl before she smoothed her features. Truth be told she was actually quite unnerved. Mor'du scared her. He was a dangerous man. But she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of showing it.

"Sorry Mr. Blackwood, but as you can see I already have a partner," she said gesturing tot the man she was currently dancing with.

Mor'du frowned before shifting his dark eyes to the other man. Just his gaze on him made the man flinch and tremble. "I'm sure he won't mind. Will you laddie?" he said lowly. The man nodded with terrified eyes before shuffling away.

Merida cursed inwardly at the man's cowardice before Mor'du offered her his hand. Reluctantly she took it. As soon as her hand made contact with his he gripped it firmly before pulling her close. He placed an arm on her upper back.

Merida looked up at him as they began to dance. She felt trapped. She looked into his dark brown eyes. Eyes so dark they looked black. Mor'du was a man that looked to be in his late thirties to early forties. He had a long scar over his right eyes and on at the left corner of his mouth. He had a well groomed beard and shoulder length black hair.

Merida had been clashing with him for years. As Merida Dunbroch he was a rival owing Blackwood Technologies, a weapon making company whose shipment always seemed to end up in the wrong hands. If there was an uprising or a terrorist organization sporting advanced technology you could be sure it came from Blackwood Tech. Something that Archer had had to deal with for years.

Plus he was always trying to get his hands into her company. He'd been proposing a merger for years that she had always refused. She couldn't trust him.

And he was very clear in his desire to marry her.

"I must say Ms. Dunbroch, you look absolutely…delectable," he said eyeing her dress and bare skin.

Merida tried to fight the heat rising to her face. This dress suddenly didn't cover quite enough. "Thank you Mr. Blackwood," she replied curtly.

"Oh I must insist," he said giving her hand a squeeze that made her wince. "Call me Mor'du"

Merida shouted a string of cruses in her mind and prayed this damn song would hurry up and end. "You know, I was quite wounded that you chose to form a union with that Haddock boy instead of me," he began.

"Well they are the leaders in technology. It seemed like a better decision," she said matter of factly.

"Yes…but that boy isn't worthy to stand beside you," he said huskily. He stopped dancing and pulled her closer to him. Merida tried to squirm free but he was much stronger. "After all, you're descended from royalty. As am I."

"And what are ye getting at?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Only that I'm the only one worthy of you," he said as he moved his hand from her back and gripped her chin with his thumb and forefinger. Merida stiffened. Then he tilted her chin upwards as he began to lean down.

Merida was like a deer caught in head lights. She wanted so badly to move and get away. But she was scared. This man was a monster in every sense of the word. She needed someone to save her.

"Merida," came a voice beside them.

Merida released a breath in relief before turning to see Hiccup standing there. "Hiccup," she said with a beaming smile.

Mor'du scowled at Hiccup with clear disdain and annoyance.

"Sorry to interrupt. I just came to say hello. I don't believe we've met," he said extending a hand to Mor'du. "Henry Harrison Haddock III"

Mor'du was forced to release Merida, which she took advantage of by moving closer to Hiccup. For whatever reason she felt safe beside him.

"Mor'du Blackwood IV," Mor'du replied as he took Hiccup's hand and gave it a shake.

It took everything in Hiccup's power not to glare up at him.

So this was Mor'du.

Fury had suspected Mor'du was behind a lot of uprising and terrorists attacks going on in the world. He always found the connection to link back to his company. He'd been trying for years to nail Mor'du to the wall but he was too clever. Anything he got against him was hearsay and whispers. And anyone who would make a good witness always disappeared.

"So Mr. Blackwood, you're the owner of Blackwood Tech.?"

"Correct."

"Very good to meet you. And sorry to say this, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't remember sending you an invitation," Hiccup said evenly.

"Oh. It was probably sent by one of your assistants. Good help is hard to find these days," Mor'du said casually.

"Hmmm. You're probably right. So Mr. Blackwood, what brings you here tonight?"

"I just came to congratulate you on your merger," he said with a tight smile as he lanced between Hiccup and Merida. "And get a look at the man who stole Ms. Dunbroch from me," he said lowly.

"Well I proudly accept your congratulations. And sorry about stealing her. I couldn't help myself," he said with a shrug.

Merida blushed lightly. Hiccup was sounding awfully possessive. A look at Mor'du revealed his annoyance at Hiccup's snarkiness. Mor'du wasn't used to people he couldn't intimidate with his sheer size and presence.

"By the way I couldn't help but wonder," he said to Mor'du. Mor'du raised an eyebrow and nodded for him to elaborate. "Is there any relation to the Sword of Mor'du that was stolen a while ago and your family?"

"Yes. It used to belong to my family," Mor'du replied.

"Oh really. So why doesn't it now?"

"Sadly throughout the ages we lost all documents and records proving our ownership," Mor'du said with a sigh.

"Good record keepers are hard to find," Hiccup said with a smirk.

Mor'du growled softly. "Indeed," he replied shortly.

"Well I hope you enjoy yourself Mor'du. But if you'll excuse me I need to have a dance with my future business partner," Hiccup said taking Merida's hand and pulling her away. Merida blushed and smiled gratefully. She cast one last glance at Mor'du who scowled after them.

Mor'du watched the runt walk away with his prey. His mouth twitched upward to reveal a pointed canine. The boy reminded him of someone. He rubbed his chest as an old scar began to throb.

Well away from Mor'du Hiccup stopped and turned to pull her to him. She was surprised by his boldness but soon began swaying along with him as he led them in a dance.

"You ok?" he asked in concern. She nodded with a small smile. "It looked like you needed saving," he said shrugging an arm.

"I did. Thank you," she said gratefully. She rested his head against his chest as the song died down and a new one began.

~Oh this is the night, it's a beautiful night~

~And we call it Bella Notte~

Merida's eyes snapped open. She'd forgotten she'd asked the musicians to play this song. She looked up sheepishly to a confused Hiccup.

"Sorry," she said shyly. "I just…this song…well," she stammered out. Hiccup suddenly pulled her closer.

"It's a nice song," he said evenly. Merida blushed and smiled and soon they were dancing and swaying in time.

~Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes~

~On this lovely Bella Notte~

As the song went on Hiccup suddenly became hyper ware of the sensation of Merida's hand in his. It was so small. So soft. And he had an overwhelming urge to kiss her knuckles.

He looked down at her as she looked up. He was trapped by her blue eyes. With her eye shadow they were even more mesmerizing than usual. Almost hypnotic.

~Side by side with your loved one~

~You'll find enchantment here~

~The night will weave its magic spell~

~When the one you love is near!~

Slowly his gaze rifted from her eye and down to her lips. Her invitingly pink lips. Lips that he knew were soft as rose petals but could be fierce and wild as fire.

Without his knowledge his face began to inch closer to hers.

Merida's eyes widened as Hiccup began to inch his face closer. She flushed red but shook off her embarrassment. She remembered how nice it was to kiss him. His lips had been rough and yet gentle. She longed to feel them against hers again.

And unbeknownst to her she began to rise on her tip toes to meet him.

~Oh this is the night, and the heavens are right!~

~On this lovely Bella Notte!~

Merida's eyes were half closed as her lips were a mere few centimeters away from Hiccup's. This was right. This felt good.

But suddenly she nearly fell over as Hiccup pulled away. She looked up him, hurt and confused.

"I'm sorry Merida. That was…unprofessional," Hiccup said hurriedly.

"No Hiccup it's alright. I wanted to," she said quickly.

"We shouldn't do that," he said shaking his head.

"And why not? Hiccup you still have feeling for me," Merida said firmly. Now she knew he did. He'd come close to kissing her. That was proof enough. "I don't understand. Why are you pushing me away?" she asked desperately. If she could just understand.

"It's just…it's too complicated," he said running hand though his hair.

"Is that it? 'It's too complicated'. Since when are we the kind of people who back down from a challenge Hiccup?" she asked in frustration. Hiccup was so much like her. They were both fighters. "What is so complicated? Ah like you and you like me, what more is there?"

Hiccup couldn't think of anything to say. Because deep down she was right. It was that simple. It was all him. He was doing this to them.

He was a coward.

"I'm sorry Merida," he said as he turned and walked away. He pushed passed some of the people as Merida watched him go sadly.

Soon enough more people asked Merida to dance. She politely accepted. Hiccup watched her on the second floor wistfully. He wanted her so badly. But the fear of what could happen to her. It haunted him.

Suddenly an alert got his attention. He pulled out his communicator and activated it. On the screen a news clips showed the Bifrost Bridge, Berk's suspension bridge connecting the different parts of the city, being attacked.

By Drago's bots. He continued to watch and read the news as a new copter cam suddenly zoomed in a figure standing on the bridge. It was Drago.

His communicator rang as Frost called him.

"Hello?" he said answering it.

"You see the news partner?" Frost asked seriously.

"Yeah."

"You coming?"

"Yes," Hiccup said firmly.

"And Archer?"

"I'll get her," he said. With the sheer number of Drago bots and Drago himself they would need everyone. "And bring Toothless. He could use the exercise," he added.

"You got it," Frost said before hanging up.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes in determination. He went to one of his executives and told him he needed to go. The executive didn't question it and nodded. Hiccup quickly left the building and went to his private Limo.

This Limo was unique. Built specifically by him. He hopped in before pressing his hand against the floor. A fingerprint scan scanned his hand before secret compartments on the Limo began building his armor on around him.

Inside Merida had also gotten word of the attack on the bridge with her communicator. Fury hadn't taken it from her so she kept it on her. She excused herself and told one of her executives that she was going.

Then she ran to the stairs before making her way up the building. In a supply closet she stored her suitcase with her costume and gear. She quickly shed her dress and threw it away before suiting up. Then she ran to the top of the building before coming onto the roof.

"Archer," suddenly came a voice. She turned around in surprise to see Fury there.

"Fury? What are you doing here?" she asked in bewilderment.

"I came to get you. The bridge is under attack," he said quickly.

"But the other day—"

"Archer!" he said cutting her off. She shut her mouth and stiffened at the harshness of his tone. "I know what I said. But right now I need your help. So…will you trust me?" he said extending a hand.

Archer eyed it. She thought about everything she knew about him. It wasn't much. But she knew one thing.

He was a hero. And so was she.

"Yes," she said taking a firm hold of his hand. He nodded before grabbing her and deploying his wings. A moment later they shot into the sky and toward the bridge.

At the Cove Limelight and Frost were preparing to go. Frost put his fingers to his lips and whistled. A few seconds later Toothless padded up to him and cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Hey Toothless. You want to kick some bad guy butt?" he cooed to the wolf dog. Toothless wagged his tail excitedly and barked. "I bet you do. I bet you do," he said petting his head.

"Wait. He's coming with us? Will he be ok?" Limelight asked in concern.

"Oh yeah," Frost said with a nod. "Trust me. Toothless is a monster when he wants to be," looking at the wolf dog with a knowing smile. Toothless barked again and ran to the exit platform. He looked back at them both and barked again, beckoning them to hurry up.

In a few short moments Fury and Archer were at the bridge. When they arrived they saw it was swarming with Drago bots. They were flying above the bridge and shooting at the cars while citizens fled for their lives. The police were trying their best to defend them.

And all the while Drago watched atop a truck trailer and smiled. But his attention was caught by the approaching Fury, who he saw was carrying Archer. Just as expected. He pressed a button on his robotic arm and directed his bots at Fury and Archer.

Fury and Archer watched as the bots suddenly veered and flew at them.

"Fury, drop me on a tower," Archer shouted. Fury complied. He hovered above a tower before dropping her down. She landed in a crouch before getting up and drawing an arrow. Taking aim she fired, the bot swerved out of the way but the arrow turned and chased after. It collided with it from behind and blew it up.

Immediately she drew and notched another arrow before picking out another target.

While she shot the robots down Fury flew above the bridge. His helmet's sensors locked onto several bots before missiles popped out of the hidden nooks of his armor and fired at them. Thought small his missiles were they were deadly powerful, blowing up eight robots in one shot.

But more came to replace them. Narrowing his eyes he flew right at them. Veering and spinning through them his wings slashed and ripped through their armor.

As he flew by he also locked onto them and fired plasma blasts at them. Reducing them to scraps. One suddenly came at him from the side. He was about to turn and blast it when an arrow flew out of nowhere and blew it up.

He looked down to see Archer, bow poised in the air and smiling at him. He gave her a nod in thanks and turned his attention back to the fight.

Limelight and Frost flew over the open water on their way to the bridge. In Limelight's arms was Toothless, who growled in anxiousness. She was stull curious as to how they thought he would help. He seemed pretty ordinary to her besides the robot leg.

As they got nearer they could see the explosions coming from the robots. And as they got closer they saw their friends fighting against them. Limelight blinked in surprise as she realized Archer was there. She smiled wide. Glad to have her back.

As they got above the bridge Toothless suddenly squirmed out of her grip and went falling through the air.

"No!" she cried in worry. She was about to dive after him when Frost suddenly held up his cane in front of her path and stopped her.

"Just watch," he said with a smirk.

Toothless growled as he closed his eyes. And he reached deep into himself. All the way into his DNA. The DNA that had been spliced with a specimen Drago found in the ice years ago.

Toothless had been an experiment of Drago's years ago before he was rescued by Fury. Drago had been trying to perfect genetic splicing, but hadn't succeeded with Toothless. After his freedom Toothless was dying due to his DNA. His cells weren't receptive of it and were attacking themselves.

But Fury wasn't one to give up. He borrowed the research and replicated the experiment another scientist had done to his own dog. Which had successfully strengthened Toothless' cellular structure and saved his life.

As he was falling his body began to change. His heart sped up as his muscles and bones gained mass and density. His eyes opened to reveal fierce reptilian slits. His fangs, nails, and tail all lengthened while spines started coming up from underneath his skin. His limbs and mechanical leg all grew to support his new larger body.

Archer fired and fired against the incoming Drago bots. She was taking a lot of them down. Bu there were still quite a lot left. Suddenly she heard something land behind her. She whirled around to see a Drago bot towering over her. It quickly batted her aside with a swing of its arm.

She landed on her side with a small cry. She looked to see the robot advancing on her when suddenly a black blur dropped from the sky and crushed it. It still moved, attempting to get up when the creature pinning it down bit down with huge jaws and ripped chunk of its body off. It sparked and spasmned before the creature bit down in another spot and then flung it off the tower.

Archer was wide eyed as she took in the black creature. It growled and shifted its toxic green eyes around before settling on her. She flinched as it advanced. It was enormous. Like the size of a bear. But as it got nearer she realized it was familiar.

A whine confirmed her suspicions. "Toothless?" she said in amazement.

The giant mutated wolf dog barked in confirmation. She gaped at him in shock. Suddenly gunfire snapped her from her staring. She turned to see some bots firing at her. But Toothless suddenly moved into the path of their bullets. They bounced harmlessly off his skin as he shielded her.

Then in two yellow flashes they were blown up. Archer looked up to see Limelight descending.

"Hey partner," she said landing a few feet away.

"Hey there," Archer said back with a smile. Then Limelight shifted her attention to Toothless.

"Oh my god," she said in amazement.

"Guys. Drago bots are landing on the bridge, come on," Frist said above them before he flew downward.

Limelight and Archer exchanged a glance before she put her arm around her. She lifted off the ground and flew her down. Toothless followed behind, leaping off the tower and falling. He landed with a loud crash, cracking the ground beneath him before he looked for something to destroy.

The foursome and dog grouped together as they stared Drago down. He smiled as his bots hovered above and beside him.

"Welcome heroes," he said in a raspy voice.

They all glared at him and steeled themselves for a fight. Drago threw back his dark cape and rolled his shoulders.

"Prepare to die."

New chapter. Hope you like. Can anyone guess who that other dog is?