I do not own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.

Only one more chapter left. The winner will be the person who was voted for the most on my poll. Who do you think is going to win?

Dare suggested by HeartAngel1796 and Lei' Raeyna.

King of Dragons

The waiting was agonizing.

A week passed after Ruffnut's victory, and Hiccup knew that Snotlout could descend upon him at any moment. So when he saw his cousin sauntering towards him late one afternoon, his heart dropped into his stomach. He set aside his rake, which he had been using to gather the leaves in his yard, and crossed his arms.

"What fresh horrors have you come up with?"

Snotlout smirked. "I think you'll appreciate the mercy I have for you."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "I wasn't aware mercy was in your vocabulary."

Snotlout ignored him. "I dare you to climb to the top of Great Hall and give a speech to the dragons about rebellion."

He flinched. "Seriously?" he groaned. "I can't do another public dare! Dad's getting super suspicious. He keeps giving me weird looks."

"Not my problem," dismissed Snotlout. "Are you going to do it or not?"

"Yes," muttered Hiccup. He had come this far, after all, and he couldn't let Astrid down. "I'm on it."

Snotlout grinned. "Can't wait."

He went down the slope and Hiccup half-heartedly finished his chore. When all the leaves were in piles he put his rake away and jogged inside his house. "Toothless!"

His Night Fury bounded down the stairs and paused in front of him with a curious expression. "Hey, bud. I need you to gather the dragons for me and bring them to the front of the Great Hall."

Toothless eyed his human suspiciously. Why?

"Snotlout dared me to give a speech in front of you guys," muttered Hiccup, correctly interpreting his dragon's expression. "So I need you to bear with me for a couple of minutes."

Toothless huffed in annoyance but complied. Hiccup smiled after his dragon. "Thanks!"

Now he just had to figure out exactly what he was going to say.

…

Ten minutes passed and the dragons were gathered outside of the Great Hall, waiting for Hiccup. The lanky teen soon appeared on the hall's roof, and Hookfang smirked. "This should be good," he rumbled.

"Or end horribly," returned Toothless.

Hiccup stood at the edge of the roof, his stomach bubbling with nerves. He could see Vikings pausing in the middle of the path and on the steps to look up at him, but he tried not to pay them much mind. He needed to make his speech and get the heck out of there.

"Dragons," he shouted. "Thank you for joining me today! I have invited you here to share my epiphany with you! Up until recently, dragons have been the target of violence and malice from my people. You were just trying to survive, and Vikings sought to eliminate you from existence. But that has changed. As the benevolent creatures you are, you have forgiven us for our appalling behaviour, but I know you have not forgotten."

"Is he going somewhere with this?" asked Hookfang. "Or is this the part where we start lighting things on fire?"

Meatlug shot her friend a look. "Toothless didn't say we had to light anything on fire."

"Well, no, but it would make for a good effect, wouldn't it?" chimed in Barf.

"Shut up, he's starting to talk again," said Toothless.

"I have spent long and hard thinking about this. I myself have been misunderstood over the years, and been treated accordingly. I don't think we've ever received a proper apology, and that is unacceptable!" declared Hiccup. "We deserve it, and we shall get it! We will not be pushed around any longer! Dragons should not be chased away from the animal fields, and I should not have to deal with every dragon-related problem on this island!"

"I like it!" decided Belch.

"He's good at this," said Toothless in amusement.

"Until our demands are met, and an apology has been delivered, we shall rebel! We will stampede across this island, ransacking huts and causing chaos! We will get what we deserve! Until that happens, I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the King of all dragons, hereby decree that this island is under my command!"

Hookfang spewed a stream of fire, accidentally causing a nearby wagon to catch aflame. Toothless glared. "What are you doing?!"

"Sorry!" the Monstrous Nightmare apologized. "I got into it."

"Hiccup!"

"And there's Stoick," drawled Toothless, watching the large Chief of Berk lumber up the stone steps. "You have just made things ten times worse."

"So…should we leave?" asked Meatlug.

"Absolutely."

There was no way he was going to be in the danger zone when Stoick managed to get a hold of Hiccup.

…

Finger having a tight hold on the material of his son's vest, Stoick lugged the boy across the village and to their home. He stepped through the front door and slammed it shut behind them. "Sit!" he thundered.

Hiccup scrambled over to the closest wooden chair and dropped into it. "It was just a joke!" he said feebly. "I didn't think any of them would light anything on fire."

"Just a joke," said Stoick softly, and Hiccup shrunk under the intense glare his father shot him. "There have been lots of jokes going on lately. Tuffnut throwing dragon dung on me, someone writing an offensive message on my favourite shield, Ruffnut having the audacity to make cracks about my weight in public, and all the other pranks she confessed to."

Hiccup smiled, trying to hide his nervousness. "You know those twins."

Stoick pointed at him. "I do. And I've been thinking. The twins are troublesome, but never before have they been this out of control. I also realized that never in her life would Ruffnut willingly confess to a prank."

"Even she can feel guilty sometimes," offered Hiccup.

"Not Ruffnut Thorston. And she sure doesn't do these things without her brother, which also has been bothering me." Stoick's eyes narrowed. "Those two have been joined at the hip since their birth. They do not do anything without each other. It's odd that she's been doing all these pranks without him."

"Ruff and Tuff sometimes like to be independent."

"Oh, it's not just the twins. I've heard some stories being passed around, and I haven't forgotten some of the things I've witnessed over this past year." Stoick looked at his son. "One of the stories I heard was that you ran through the village in nothing but your underwear not once, but twice. The second time you were coated with mud."

"They probably mistook me for someone else," dismissed Hiccup. "Or they were seeing things."

"Like how I thought I was seeing things when I saw Toothless marrying you and Astrid on top of the Great Hall?"

The colour drained from Hiccup's face, which he hoped his father didn't notice. "Yeah. That was just a dream."

"Interesting, because it seems quite a few people in this village have had the same dream." Stoick started to pace back and forth, a sharp frown on his face and hands folded behind his back. "I happen to remember the time I discovered Stormfly rampaging in the Great Hall during a rainstorm, your friends hunkered behind tables and Astrid on her dragon. That happened close to the time I caught Astrid in your room early one morning, and shortly before that Ruffnut suddenly dyed her hair pink."

"Coincidences?" said Hiccup weakly.

"Oh, I don't think so." Stoick stopped his pacing and loomed over his son. "These are not just pranks, and not just the twins are responsible. All of you have been causing this village grief over the past year, and I've realized something."

"What?"

"You've been taking turns."

Hiccup very nearly lost his cool. "What do you mean?"

"If Snotlout was responsible for a prank one week, one of you would be responsible for the next one."

"I think you're imagining things."

Stoick shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I remember when Tuffnut stole my helmet right off my head. Almost immediately after that, Fishlegs went running through the village on Meatlug, wearing a dress. And do you know what came after that?"

"No," squeaked Hiccup.

"Someone cut off my beard."

"Oh…right. But-"

"And after that happened," interjected Stoick, "Ruffnut stole Gobber's peg leg in the middle of the Great Hall." He stared down at his son, who was fighting not to fidget. "Have I caught on to something?"

"No," said Hiccup quickly. "You know the guys. They like to cause trouble."

"The twins and Snotlout? Absolutely. Fishlegs, Astrid and you? I don't think so." Stoick crossed his arms, eyes glinting dangerously. "What are you lot up to?"

"Nothing!" insisted Hiccup. "It's all just strange coincidences!"

"I hope so. If I find out that you all have been up to something stupid, and have been working together in some way on all of these pranks, then I promise you, you will be begging for mercy."

"Right," said Hiccup, heart pounding in his chest madly. "I got it. Can I go now?"

Stoick stepped to the side, letting his son free. Hiccup walked casually out the door, but once it was shut he took off running, in search of his friends. He found them at their usual table in the Great Hall, the place where the dare contest had been born.

"We got a problem," he wheezed, collapsing beside Astrid.

The blonde frowned in concern, settling a hand on his back. "What's wrong?"

Hiccup told them about the conversation he just had with his father. "He's caught on," he said nervously. "It's only a matter of time before we're busted completely. If he finds out we've been daring each other for over a year, he's going to lose it big time."

Ruffnut frowned. "If he catches us, then there's not going to be a winner."

"We can't drag this on any longer," said Astrid firmly. "We have to decide on a winner soon."

Fishlegs eyed her warily. "How exactly are we going to do that?"

"We're going to have one final dare. Even if Stoick does catch us in the process, it won't matter so long as we have a winner."

"I'd rather not get caught," muttered Snotlout.

"But how are we going to decide on a winner?" asked Tuffnut.

"The four of us," said Astrid, indicating herself, Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs, "are going to come up with the final dare. The two of you are both going to do it, and whoever finishes it first will be the winner of our dare contest."

"I guess that works," said Snotlout reluctantly.

"So long as we get this done and over with," muttered Fishlegs.

"I'm down with it," said Tuffnut with a nod.

Ruffnut smirked and looked at Hiccup. "Looks like this is it. One of us is finally going to be declared the winner."

Hiccup extended his hand. "May the best Viking win."

Ruffnut shook his hand firmly. "Which of course will be me."

One more dare. Two finalists. Only one would win.

Neither of them were going to go down without a fight.