The twins flew with Fishlegs to save Toothless from the hunters who had taken him, just as Astrid had instructed them. The Dragon hunters headed for one of the hunters' bases out of the Archipelago. Astrid had given them straight orders to stop the hunters' and get Toothless before the company got to the the Archipelago's border, the Smog Barrier, and it was for good reason. The area after the Smog Barrier was called Helheim, or Odin's Wrath.
"We must stop them before they are out the Archipelago!" Fishlegs said, repeating Astrid's command.
"And if they get out the Archipelago?" Ruffnut questioned pithily.
"Then we will lose Toothless forever," Fishlegs answered her. The twins' worried faces soon turned to challenging ones.
"So we have no time to waste," Ruffnut directed with a fake commander's voice. "We will stop them before they get to the Smog Barrier." Tuffnut didn't acknowledge her jibed and instead played with his saber tiger's tooth necklace.
"Hey bro! Are you okay?" Ruffnut asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered. His voice would have sounded more appropriate coming from a zombie.
"Why the serious face? We'll get to wreck and burn some ships! Maybe we'll even terrify some hunters to death," she prospected gleefully in order to get her brother's cheerful mood back, and she succeeded.
"Sure, sis! You understand me very well. Let's go cause some chaos!" he crowed, very excited. The normal Tuffnut was back!
"Hey, I'm in charge! Don't get too carried away!" Fishlegs reminded them, trying to take back control of the situation before the twins could wreck everything. "We're going to do this my way!"
"Sure, Fishlegs!" they chorused, grinning at each other. Fishlegs was oblivious to the fact that the twins weren't going to listen to him.
They kept flying until they spotted three blobs that turned out to be ships. on the horizon. Fishlegs stopped in mid-air and signaled for the twins do to the same. He sized up the situation dejectedly. Taking over three hunters' ships was impossible!
"Three ships, well-prepared and full armed!" he said precisely to no one. "Guys, I don't think we can…" he turned to the twins, and to his surprise, there was nothing there but thin air. "RUFF! TUFF!" he screamed, before spotting their green Zippleback growing smaller as it headed for the ship.
"Stop, you idiots!" he called after them. He had to stop them before they did something stupid!
"Look, Tuff! The usual-" the blond girl said. Her brother finished her sentence. "-plan. Destroy everything! I like this plan!"
They continued flying at top speed, heading for the hunters' ship. They heard a weak noise behind them, and turned to spot what looked like an angry, screaming Fishlegs.
"He's going to give us away!" Tuffnut whined. "Doesn't he know anything?" For all Fishleg's notes and memorization, it was hilarious that the twins knew something he didn't.
They stopped in mid-air until Fishlegs caught up with them. "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I TOLD YOU TWO…" he wheezed, but was interrupted by the twins.
"Shush…keep quiet, you idiot! This is a sneak attack," Ruffnut said.
They heard some movements on the enemy's ships. It was too late to sneak in, for they were spotted. In less than two minutes, the hunters were ready to engage in battle.
"Great! Look what you did! They've spotted us now, and all thanks to you!" Tuffnut complained.
They dodged a few nets and a few arrows, but something was off about the attack. The ships didn't look like they were prepared to contain a very dangerous dragon. In fact, they were about unarmed.
The twins worked together, moving Fishlegs to the sidelines, which he wasn't happy about.
"Tuffnut! At my signal, light the gas. Okay?" Tuffnut nodded.
They hovered above the ships for two minutes and they evaded a few more arrows and nets until the hunters were out of loaded ammunition and took a break to recharge their catapults. It was the perfect opportunity to attack.
The twins got closer and formed a cloud of the Zippleback gas around the ships; not even the sharp eyes of a dragon could have seen through it. "Tuff, now!" Ruffnut shouted and Tuffnut lighted the gas. The explosion was so huge that most of the ships were destroyed in the first BOOM! Wood planks flew everywhere, and the water arced through the air in an array of sea-green blue. Loki himself would have taken off his cap to the mess.
The twins hovered in the air, their heads held high in pride of their heroic action. That's when Fishlegs got closer, with an expression not so happy as theirs.
"You two realize that if Toothless was on the ship, he's dead by now, sunk all the way to the bottom of the ocean!" Fishlegs pointed out, aggravated. The twins were shocked.
"We killed TOOTHLESS? Wait!" Ruff stopped Fishlegs. "You said if Toothless was on the ship. Does that mean he's not?"
"Of course he's not, you knucklehead. Do you think I would let you precede with your plan if he was?!"
"Thank Thor!" Tuffnut was relieved. "But if Toothless wasn't on the ships, where is he?"
"Those ships were meant to diverge us. Their base is probably over there, and they were going the other way to attract our attention off the real ship that is transferring toothless. I think they're taking Toothless on a normal trading ship, maybe with the minimum crew need to actually sail?" If the hunters were taking Fishlegs on a normal ship, their mission would be impossible.
"Ah, Fishlegs! I have an idea!" Tuffnut called to Fishlegs.
Fishlegs wasn't going to listen. "I don't think your idea would be any better than the last one.. We're running out of time. The hunters could be out the Archipelago by now. We've already wasted so much time on these ships, we might not catch up with them!"
"Yeah, I know, but my idea is the perfect. It's good, I promise! just hear it out,"Tuffnut cajoled.
"Not now, Tuff!" Fishlegs said, lost in his thoughts, trying to think of a way out of the sticky situation.
"Just hear his idea, for Thor's sake!" Ruff complained and Fishlegs snapped out of his thoughts.
"Okay! Fine!" he said as he turned his attention to the twins. "What do you have in mind Tuff?"
"Well, I have a brilliant idea! It's totally dangerous and should be labeled under Suicidal Plans." From the first few words, Fishlegs could tell that it wasn't going to be a good plan.