Chapter 3: Team Up!

The following day, at Berk High School, Astrid was walking into a classroom when Ruffnut and Tuffnut spot her. They go up to her with Tuffnut holding a small video camera as Ruffnut says, "Astrid Hofferson? Ruffnut Thorsten, Berk High School Afternoon News Team."

Astrid blinks to that. "Ruffnut, I've known you and your brother since Elementary."

The twins look to each other in confusion. "Wait, really?" Ruffnut asks. "I…don't recall."

Astrid then looks directly into the camera that Tuffnut was holding and asks, "So that wasn't you, Tuffnut, that had to go to the Nurse's office because you got your carrot sticks stuck up your nose in 5th Grade?"

Realizing that she was right, Tuffnut turns the camera around to face him as he states, "Scratch that from the record."

He turns the camera back to Astrid as Ruffnut states, "Anyway, we wanted to see if you could give us some insight as to what happened the other day." She asks as the two of them did see Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs getting abducted by the Scale Shedders and flashed away, but Tuffnut didn't get a recording of that.

Astrid knew what they were talking about, but also knew she had to keep her new identity as a Power Ranger a secret, so she replies, "What DID happen yesterday?"

Ruffnut gestures with her head. "You know, those weird, alien looking guys coming down and taking you, Snotlout Jorgenson and Fishlegs Ingerman away? That event?"

Astrid just shakes her head. "Ok, you two have clearly seen too many movies." Before she goes to take her seat.

The twins look to each other in confusion as Ruffnut asks, "Weird, you saw it too, right?"

Tuffnut replies, "Yeah, we're twins, we see the same things." The two of them think for a moment as to what could've happened when Tuffnut raises a finger. "Oh…OH! Oh my god! What if those guys that took them away used some kind of…memory erasing device so they don't remember what happened!"

Ruffnut pats him on the shoulder. "Hold on, there, I'm just getting a thought. What if those guys that took them away used some kind of memory erasing device so they don't remember what happened?"

Tuffnut blinks to that. "How do you even come up with this stuff?"

Ruffnut shrugs. "Don't know. Either way, we need to investigate!" She says before they slip away.

Later that day, the sun was beating down on a forest in the middle of nowhere in what seemed like a peaceful place, that is until the sounds of clanging steel and battle grunts could be heard.

From within the forest, Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs, all geared up in their respective blue, red and yellow Power Ranger suits, were all doing their best to take on a swarm of Scale Shedders that were trying to attack them.

Snotlout picks up his red blaster and randomly fires it around, only landing about 50% of his targets, being the Shedders, as the Shedders continue to come to him. One Shedder managed to grab Snotlout from behind, so he elbows them in the stomach and throws them to the ground.

Astrid was doing her best to hit Shedders with her blue axe. She saw that Snotlout was in trouble, but kept on going with taking out Shedders left and right.

Fishlegs had his yellow bludgeon raised as he swings it around, hitting Shedders just as they were about to get him.

The trio seemed to have things under control until, suddenly, even more Shedders popped up and grabbed the Rangers, making them drop their weapons, and as soon as they did, they suddenly stop in their tracks as a mechanical female voice comes on saying, "Simulation, ended. Simulation, ended."

The Shedders disappear while the forest around the Rangers turn into a training ground on the Dragerium, the temple in which they are now training on, as they look to Hiccup, who commanded the simulation system to make those Shedders come out in the first place.

Since the three of them just became Power Rangers, Hiccup decided to start them on training lessons after school on how to become better Rangers and part of that was setting up simulations in which enemies would come at them and they'd have to work together to take them out, and this was their first session.

Hiccup simply walks up to the trio as he rubs his forehead saying, "Ok, I just need to know one thing, what in blazes was that? Is all of this a joke to you guys? I hope your plan to take down Vidger and the Scale Shedders is to just lie down in front of them when they attack, because that's what it seems like."

Snotlout then asks as his red suit fades away in a flash, "Well, maybe you could TELL us what we did wrong."

Hiccup scoffs. "Where to I begin?" He points to Snotlout, "You have no aim," then to Fishlegs, "you're too slow," then to all three, "And not one of you showed an ounce of teamwork through that entire session!"

Astrid points out as her blue suit flashes away, "Ok, fine, things to work on, but come on, you know that we haven't been Rangers nearly as long as you, and you have to admit that we are doing good."

Hiccup scoffs even harder. "Good? Just good? Oh, yeah, because that's going to take down our enemies."

Fishlegs then adds as his yellow suit flashes away, "Then why don't you show us how it should be done?"

Astrid adds, "Yeah, why can't you just, you know, teach us?"

Hiccup turns around as he grumbles loud enough for the trio to hear, "Show me an actual team, then I'll teach you. You guys are done for the day." The other three look to each other as they try to recover from what just happened.

Meanwhile, in the dark lair of the Scale Shedders, Vidger has gone up to his master, the man with white hair, and kneels before him. "You summoned me, Master."

The man nods. "Yes, I'm afraid that your Scale Shedders no longer possess the…skills necessary to take down those new Power Rangers. I'm afraid it's time to give them something worth fighting, a new enemy."

Vidger pauses for a moment. "You made a new Crusher? This is the first one in months, when can I see it?"

The man smirks. "That's just it, you can't see it, but it can see you just fine." From the shadows of the lair comes a 6 foot tall humanoid creature covered in plated, black armor and a pair of eerie red eyes. It also has an X shaped device wrapped around its torso. "This is the ShadowSneaker, able to blend in perfectly well with shadows and darkness. I'd love to see how those Rangers deal with a creature they can't see."

Vidger comments, "It's certainly impressive."

The man nods again. "Yes, now, here is the plan…" He begins to describe the plan in mind for the next battle.

Later that same day, the trio were sitting around with their Drago Zords, thinking about what happened as Alicia comes up to them saying, "If it means anything, I thought you three did great."

Fishlegs sighs, "It's not really you we're trying to impress." He says as he tosses a rock up that the yellow Gonk Zord gobbles down.

Alicia nods. "I know. I do have to apologize for Hiccup's…behavior."

Astrid comments while mindlessly scratching under the blue Nadder Zord's wing. "He's such a jerk sometimes. Why does he have to be like that?"

Alicia sighs. "I suppose Hiccup never told you three about…his past."

Snotlout shrugs. "Only that he doesn't want to talk about it."

Alicia sighs again. "I figured as much…The truth is that, well, Hiccup wasn't always like this. In fact, there was a time, months ago, when he was much happier and full of life, if you can believe that."

Astrid then asks, "So, what changed?"

Alicia then sits on a rock and explains, "I guess you three did have to find out at some point. You see…there used to be…another. A White Ranger named Luna. The two of them grew up together, are the same age, and were drafted into becoming Rangers at the same time."

The trio look to each other in realization as Fishlegs suggests what the rest were thinking, "They…were partners, weren't they?"

Alicia nods. "One of the best Ranger duos that I had ever seen. The way Hiccup and Luna worked together to take down enemies was almost completely seamless, at times it was hard to tell when one ended and the other began, they were just that close."

Astrid moves a bit closer to Alicia as she asks, "Ok, but, you kept saying that there WAS another and that they WERE close, so what happened?"

Alicia sighs even deeper. "It was many months ago, Hiccup and Luna assigned themselves a mission, a seemingly simple mission to where the two of them needed to sneak into an old base of the Scale Shedders and get more information as to just how they are created so quickly, but unfortunately things ended up taking a turn for the worse.

It seemed that Vidger somehow knew that Hiccup and Luna would be there and had set up a trap. Luna was able to sense the trap only moments before Hiccup and was able to push him out of the way as a steel door activates, separating the two of them. Hiccup couldn't see what was going on on the other side of the door, but all he heard was Luna screaming and presumably trying to fight off the Shedders.

To make matters worse, it seemed that a self-destruct sequence had been activated which would cause the whole base to blow up. Hiccup had to make a choice, try to get the steel door open and save Luna or get himself out so he wouldn't end up getting turned into a pile of scales, and he knew that he didn't have time for one of those options.

Hiccup had to watch from the Night Fury Zord as the base is blown to bits. He tried several times to call for Luna to see if she survived…nothing.

In the weeks that followed, Hiccup was in a state of depression. He wouldn't leave his room except to eat, wouldn't train and wouldn't talk to me or his Zord. After that phase he did start fighting again, but I think he still blames himself deeply for what happened, and also blames Vidger for taking Luna from him, so since then he's sworn to get his revenge for Luna, for his partner, and hasn't really focused on anything else, much less the need to find a new team, and he has not been the same since. The same Ranger, the same warrior, or the same friend.

That, I believe, is why Hiccup is so harsh on you guys, it is because he just wants someone like Luna to be his teammate, not someone who, and these are his words not mine, he'd have to waste his time with training."

Having heard and listened to that whole story, the trio sit for a moment as they process all of this new information. It was Snotlout who broke the silence and commented, "…Whoa."

Fishlegs adds, "That does explain…just about everything."

Astrid then asks, "Hiccup…liked Luna. Didn't he?"

Alicia nods to that. "He wouldn't admit it out loud, but you could certainly feel that spark between them."

Astrid then looks in the direction of Hiccup's bedroom. "Well…maybe if he saw what kind of potential we have, he might open up a bit."

Alicia sighs again. "I'm hopeful for that too, but at this point it doesn't seem likely." With that, Alicia gets up while the trio, mostly Astrid, sits and thinks about what they can do.

That night, Hiccup was just lying in his bed, trying to get some sleep and letting the memories of what happened to him, once again, flood his mind and how he wished he could've done something, anything to save both himself and Luna that fateful day.

That's when he heard some grunting and the sound of clanging metal coming from outside near the Dragerium's training grounds, making him force his eyes open. Looking at his bedside clock, it was only 12:15am, so the sound was quite odd to him.

Hiccup decides to get up and go see what was going on. He looks to the training grounds and sees Astrid there, seeming to be swinging her blue Nadder Axe towards some Scale Shedder dummies that Hiccup had set up for just this purpose, but wasn't in her Morph suit. Hiccup decides to go down to the grounds to see what was up.

Hiccup gets down to the base of the many stone stairs that led to the training grounds. Astrid heard Hiccup walking up behind her, but chose not to acknowledge him as she was busy.

Hiccup comments, "You're up late. Don't you have school tomorrow?" Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs don't necessarily live in the Dragerium now, they do have their own homes and families, but there are beds at the Dragerium that they can sleep in at any time and the trio decided to do so that night, telling their families that they're having a study night at a new friend's house.

Astrid shrugs to Hiccup's comment. "Couldn't sleep. Figured I'd wear myself out with some training?" Hiccup nods as he leans against one of the log posts used for training with his arms crossed as he watches Astrid swing the sharp end of the axe towards the posts in front of her, hitting the target dead on.

Hiccup then comments, "You know…the sharp end of your axe is good, but if you want more power to your swing, then consider using the back end. It's sturdier and can deliver a much more powerful blow."

Astrid looks down to her blue axe and flips it so the back end is facing away from her, she then swings it again and hits a Scale Shedder dummy right in the head, knocking it to the ground. Astrid comments. "Huh, that was actually some good advice. Thank you, Hiccup."

Hiccup nods to that. "I probably never told you this but, between you, Snotlout and Fishlegs, you really do seem to have the most skills."

Astrid turns around and asks, "So why CAN'T you say it?"

Hiccup was a bit taken back by the question, but just before he could come up with an answer he hears a call on the Dragerium's emergency line. Hiccup and Astrid nod to that as they head up the stone stairs. Once on top, Alicia was also there looking into the pond along with Snotlout and Fishlegs, who were woken by the alarm.

Snotlout rubs his eyes while yawning. "What's with the alarm? I'm trying to get some shut eyes here."

Alicia replies, "I'm afraid evil doesn't always sleep. Seems like more trouble near downtown. Street lights being smashed, trash cans and dumpsters being flipped, windows being broken."

Fishlegs asks, "Is it Scale Shedders?"

Alicia replies, "I can't tell exactly, but I do smell trouble when it's about."

Hiccup nods. "Which means a call to action, we should get going, guys." The trio look to Hiccup after saying that. "What?"

Astrid points out, "Well, you said 'we' as in the four of us."

Hiccup sighs. "Ok, you caught me, I'm opening up to you guys being here, now let's go." They nod and gather around Hiccup as he teleports them all to where the trouble was being sighted.

Once there, the four of them could see just what Alicia was describing, but couldn't see who or what was causing it. Snotlout comments, "Geez, looks like a storm blew into here."

That's when a sinister male voice appears. "More like a shadow." From the darkness, the same figure seen at the Scale Shedder base, the Shadowsneaker, appears. "So you're the Rangers that my master informed me about." He then glances over to Fishlegs and scoffs. "Never thought I'd see a fat Power Ranger. Surprised they found a suit that could fit you."

Fishlegs steps up and replies, "You leave my size out of this!"

Astrid then asks, "Hiccup, I'm getting a much stronger sense of evil coming off of this guy. Is it a Shedder?"

Hiccup shakes his head. "Worse, a Scale Crusher. They're more powerful, more dangerous, and always have some special ability or weapon on them. I used to fight these guys on a regular basis, but then one day they just stopped showing up and I was pretty much just fighting Shedders, and it looks like they're making a comeback."

The Shadowsneaker comments, "And you can bet there's more where I came from, but for now you have ME to deal with!" He lets out an evil laugh.

Hiccup then lets out a puff of air. "You know, I spent a lot of time thinking that I didn't need a team because I could handle guys like you myself. I was lying, both to others and to myself. The truth is that I didn't want to grow attachment to someone and end up losing them again." He then steps forward. "Well it's time I put that fear aside and get back to my roots!" He gestures to the trio. "These guys might not be perfect, but they are my team, and if you think you can get in our way, then you've got another thing coming!"

The Shadowsneaker simply comments, "Bring it!"

Hiccup asks, "You guys ready? Cause it's morphing time!"

Fishlegs then points out, "Wait, but I thought-"

Hiccup shrugs. "Eh, it grew on me after you said it."

Delighted by that, he along with Astrid and Snotlout step up and reply, "READY!"

They pull up their sleeves to reveal their Drago Morphers and said the code phrase, "DRAGO FURY, FIRE UP, HA!" While pulling their morpher to their head, raising that arm to the sky and smacking the button on the morpher.

From each morpher, different colored scales would pour out and form around their body, or in Hiccup's case it would form a suit that flew into him, and the head of their respective dragon leaped up and swallowed their head to form their helmet.

Once all was done, Snotlout yells, "With the heat of the Nightmare, Drago Fury Red Ranger!"

Astrid adds, "With the speed of the Nadder, Drago Fury Blue Ranger!"

Fishlegs adds, "With the power of the Gronk, Drago Fury Yellow Ranger!"

And finally Hiccup adds, "With the stealth of the Night Fury, Drago Fury Black Ranger!"

All 4 finished with a pose that had their arms spread out like dragon wings.

The Shadowsneaker then scoffs. "And here I thought this was going to be a challenge." He then slips off and fades into the shadows, making him disappear.

Now out of sight, Hiccup has the other Rangers raise their respective color-hilted Drago swords as he tells them, "Keep your guard up, guys, he could pop up anywhere."

After a few seconds of scanning, the Shadowsneaker suddenly reappears and does a low kick that trips up Fishlegs and makes him fall to the ground before disappearing again. Fishlegs comments, "I'm ok." Before getting back up.

Snotlout then asks, "Ok, quick question, how can we fight this guy if we can't even see him?"

Hiccup replies, "Snotlout, it's time for your next lesson, know what you have. I don't think this guy is actually disappearing, but more is blending himself into the darkness to make him seem invisible, and your Nightmare Blaster can sense heat."

Snotlout nods, "Ah, got you." He raises his red blaster with long horns extending out the back and says, "Nightmare Blaster." He flips up a scope which, sure enough, can make him see heat signatures, which gave the Shadowsneaker's location away. He fires right at the Sneaker and makes a direct hit, causing the Sneaker to reappear.

Astrid comments, "Nice shot, Snotlout."

Snotlout twirls the trigger holder on the blaster on his finger before blowing on the end.

From the Scale Shedder base, watching everything from a screen, Vidger comments, "Well, perhaps your Scale Crusher is a little rusty."

The white haired man scoffs to that. "Just wait."

The Shadowsneaker then fades away, so Snotlout raises his blaster again and looks into the scope, but couldn't see a thing. "What the? I can't get a reading on this guy."

Hiccup comments, "Which means he probably took away his heat, luckily we do have another option, though you guys might want to plug your ears. FURY CALL!" He yells before letting out a supersonic wave that reflected off of the Shadowsneaker, and told him just where he was. "There, Fishlegs!"

Fishlegs nods as he picks up his yellow bludgeon and yells, "Gronk Bludgeon!" before slamming it to the ground, sending a shock wave that shook up the Shadow Sneaker to the point where he fell down and reappeared.

Hiccup points out the X shaped device on the Sneaker's torso. "There! That device is what makes it turn invisible!"

Astrid then leaps up and yells, "Which means it's my turn, NADDER AXE!" She raises her blue axe and, using the back end of it, collides with the device and makes it break. Leaping back to the group, Astrid asks, "Think it's time to finish this?"

Hiccup replies, "I was just going to suggest that." The four of them then combine their weapons. Snotlout puts his red blaster out front and the other three put their weapons on the clips along the sides in a triangular fashion.

The four of them yell, "Drago Blaster! Fire!" And just then, a red beam with crossing blue, yellow and black beams is fired and hits the Shadowsneaker dead on, destroying him in the process.

While the four Rangers were cheering, back in the Shedder lab, Vidger comments to the white haired man, "Well, that went well."

The man scoffs. "You think this is all my Crusher has?" He then taps a big, red button on the control panel on his chair. "Let's show these rangers who they're messing with. Shadowsneaker, engage Mega-Beast mode!" Vidger's eyes widen as he looks to the screen.

Suddenly, a cloud of lightning appears over where the Shadowsneaker was taken down and the lightning surrounds it, causing the Sneaker to grow. And grow. And grow, until it was the size of a skyscraper. The Sneaker lets out an evil laugh that could shake the earth as he says, "Now THIS is more like it! Let's see you pesky Rangers sneak around now!" causing the Rangers to step back.

Snotlout comments, "Oh, that's a big one."

Hiccup comments, "That's because it entered a mode called Mega-Beast, it's where they…well, you can see what it does."

Fishlegs then asks, "So…what do we do?"

Hiccup glances back to Fishlegs and asks, "You tell us, Fishlegs. When faced with massive enemies like this, what do Power Rangers do?"

Fishlegs goes with the first thing that popped into his head. "Run and hide?"

Hiccup replies, "I'll give you another shot at that."

Fishlegs then thinks for another second before his eyes widen more than his yellow Ranger helmet would allow. "They…call upon their Zords! And form a Megazord!"

Hiccup nods. "Hit the nail on the head. Alright, touch the head of your Drago Morphers to the symbol on your chest, that will call the Drago Zords to your location."

The other three nod. "Right!" As they do just that, Snotlout touching his red, long horned Morhper to the symbol on his chest, Astrid's blue, spike headed Morpher to her chest, Fishlegs's yellow, bumpy headed Morpher to his chest and Hiccup's black, smooth headed Morpher to his chest, they then yell out, "CALLING DRAGO ZORDS!"

On cue, the four Drago Zords come rushing down from the Dragerium and meet the Rangers where they stood. Alicia sighs as she comments, "It's been so long since the Drago Zords have left the Dragerium. I wish them the best of luck."

Hiccup tells them, "Let's do this, guys!" The four of them leap up and climb into the head of their Zord as they admire how cool it is on the inside, as they hadn't been inside these Zords yet.

Hiccup then tells them, "We can admire this later, let's form the Drago Megazord!"

The other three reply, "RIGHT!" As they all press a 'transform' button in their Zord and they begin.

It begins as Snotlout's red Nightmare Zord stands on its hind legs, its head folds down into its chest and its wings fold up until the 'hands' on each wing is pressed against its shoulders, Astrid's blue Nadder Zord leaps up and its legs and wings fold in and takes position on the right side of the Nightmare Zord while Fishlegs's yellow Gronk Zord does the same but goes to the left, finally a head pops out of the Nightmare Zord's neck as Hiccup's black Night Fury Zord's head pops off and hollows out to cover the head before the mouth opens up, making a helmet, and the Night Fury Zord's body curls up until it's just the wings and attaches to the back, finishing the Drago Megazord's design.

From inside, the Rangers appear inside the Nightmare Zord in a large control center as they marvel over how cool this is as Fishlegs comments, "If this is a dream, then I don't want to wake up!"

The Shadowsneaker laughs at the Megazord. "If you think that toy is going to take out the likes of me, then you're really asking for it. I might not be able to vanish, but I can still take you out!" He leaps up and throws a punch to the Megazord, but it was blocked as the arms of the Megazord blocked the move.

The Sneaker throws a punch towards the Megazord's right side, but the Nadder Zord cut off the attack with some of its spines.

Hiccup comments, "Let's send this guy back to the shadows. Dragosaber!" From the Gronk Zord's mouth comes a very long sword that stabs right into the Sneaker's stomach and makes it step back in pain. Hiccup then yells, "Now then, PLASMA BEAM!" From the Night Fury Zord's mouth came a purple beam that struck the Sneaker right where he stood, and the power of which blew him up where he stood.

With the city now saved, the Rangers congratulate themselves while the white haired man, from the Shedder's lair, groans. "Those Rangers are better than I thought. We'll have to make quick work if we wish to take them down."

Back at the Dragerium, having gotten out of their Zords and their suits, Astrid comments, "Just seemed weird, all that was sent to take the four of us down was that one Scale Crusher, no one else."

Hiccup thinks for a second before replying, "Vidger is toying with us. He's assessing you three's skill levels so he can create bigger, tougher enemies. We just need to make sure we're ready for when they come, which means you three will need to keep up with your training. For now, it's time to rest." By that point, it was already 3am.

Fishlegs then asks, "How can you sleep? When you know that these guys are out there and are just going to come back, even more powerful the next time?"

Hiccup simply replies, "Welcome to my world." He was about to go back inside to his bed when he comments, "Uh…good job tonight, guys. You three did really well. I mean it."

Not expecting to hear that, the trio give each other a questioning look before looking back to Hiccup as Astrid replies, "Thanks, Hiccup. You've already taught us a lot."

Hiccup nods. "Maybe, but that doesn't mean you three don't have a lot to learn. Now, get some shut eyes, you guys have school and training tomorrow."

Snotlout replies to himself, "You got it, Dad." Hiccup heard that, but chose not to acknowledge it as he went to bed.

Once Hiccup was gone, Alicia adds, "I agree with Hiccup, you three did fantastic tonight. As good as I would've hoped. I think you three will fit in nicely around here."

Astrid replies with, "Glad to hear it, guess now it's just a matter of wondering what's next."

Alicia nods. "All the fun of being a Ranger." With that, everyone retreated into the bedrooms in the Dragerium to hopefully get some shut eye after a very long night.