Chapter 10: Hatching up a new Friend

Before this chapter starts, I just wanted to give a quick thanks to all those who have supported this story up until this point. I am sure you've enjoyed the content I have given so far and I hope you are as excited as I am for what's to come.

That is all, enjoy!

It was a calm morning on Berk, and Hiccup and Astrid, per Hiccup's request, were sat on a hill that overlooks the city as Hiccup asks, "Isn't this wonderful?" He asks as the morning sun lights up the sky with a beautiful orange and pink hue and the light begins to hit the tall buildings that line the city.

Astrid comments, "It really is. Thanks for suggesting this."

Hiccup nods. "I used to come up here all the time, back when it was just me and Luna. We would look down at our city, the one that we made it our job to protect. Every time I look down like this, it makes me think of all the people that I risk my life to save every day, it's the reason why I'm still a Ranger to this day."

Astrid replies with, "Really is something you take for granted when you're so busy fighting."

Hiccup nods and the two of them sit in silence for a bit before Hiccup says, "Hey, uh, Astrid? I've been…meaning to ask you something." Astrid glances over and nods in a 'I'm listening' fashion. "When I was unconscious from that first time we fought the Berserk Rangers, I swear I…felt something soft and wet on my forehead, almost like…a kiss."

Astrid's eyes widen as she remembers what she did 'for luck' about a week ago. "Oh…you felt that?"

Hiccup nods. "Just wanted to ask…does that…mean anything?"

Astrid replies with a sigh, "Well…depends, I guess. Does it…mean something to you?"

Hiccup scooches a bit closer to Astrid and says, "Well…maybe…assuming that I…liked it."

Astrid glances over at Hiccup once more and turns her head as the two of them lock eyes. Hiccup stares into Astrid's ocean-blue eyes while Astrid stares into Hiccup's forest-green eyes. The two of them lean in as Astrid says, "Well…if you liked it then…maybe you'll like…"

However, that was when Hiccup hears three beeps on his Morpher, indicating a call. Hiccup groans as he answers it. "Go for Hiccup, and this better be important!"

Alicia's voice states, "Hiccup, I need you and the Rangers back at the Dragerium."

Hiccup replies with, "Can't this wait? I'm sort of in the middle of something!"

Alicia replies with, "It can't, I'm afraid. The moment we've been waiting for is here…the egg is about to hatch!"

Hiccup's eyes widen to that last sentence as he states, "…Ok, yep, I'm glad you interrupted me!" He stands up and Astrid stands up behind him, feeling disappointed that their moment had to end like this, but also became curious as to what Alicia was talking about.

A quick warp back to the Dragerium, Hiccup and Astrid met up with Alicia, Fishlegs and Snotlout as he crouches over the sacred pond asking, "Has it started yet?"

Alicia replies, "Not yet, but it should be very close!"

Fishlegs then states, "So, you haven't quite told us what is going on."

Hiccup looks back and replies with, "Well, Fishlegs, we are talking about…this!"

He moves to the side and in the pond was an image of football sized, green egg with several bumps lining the shell.

Snotlout states, "An egg? Uh, I kind of already had breakfast this morning so…"

Hiccup rolls his eyes to that. "It's not for eating. Look, this is not your normal egg, this is the egg of a Drago Zord!"

This caught the attention of the other three Rangers as Snotlout asks, "Wait, the Drago Zords come from eggs?"

Hiccup replies with, "Well, yeah, where did you think they came from?"

Snotlout blinks and replies with, "You know, that was never a concern of mine."

Fishlegs then asks, "Do you know what type of Drago Zord is in that egg?"

Hiccup replies with, "Well, from research I can guess that this is the egg of the Zipple Zord."

Snotlout raises a brow to that. "Zipple Zord?"

Hiccup nods. "Yeah, based on a very mysterious two-headed dragon, the Hideous Zippleback." He pulls up a book showing a green version of said dragon. "It's said that it had one of the most unique defense strategies of all dragons, one head breathes a flammable gas while the other sends sparks to ignite the gas and create an explosion."

Fishlegs comments. "Whoa…hey, you never quite told us what our Drago Zords are based off of."

Hiccup shrugs. "You never really asked, though now isn't exactly the best time, we gotta focus on finding this egg."

Snotlout then asks, "So, when did this thing pop up?"

Hiccup replies, "Well, soon after we first summoned the Drago Zords from the Dragerium, the egg gave off a signal letting us know that it was there, so we've been monitoring it ever since trying to figure out where it's located. Once we do find it, we've got to make sure we hatch it ourselves."

Astrid asks, "Why is that important?"

Hiccup replies with, "Well, Drago Zords are incredibly influential, so whoever's hands they happen to be in upon hatching, it will take the side of that person's hands."

Astrid comments, "So, if it were to fall into the hands of Vidger or the Berserk Rangers…"

Hiccup nods. "Exactly, which is why we need to find it as soon as we can."

Fishlegs then asks, "Do you know where the egg is?"

Hiccup replies, "Well, it looks like it's in an old warehouse towards the South side of Berk. Fishlegs, Snotlout, you two head down there, find that egg and bring it back."

Snotlout then asks, "Wait, just me and Fishface? Why can't you and Astrid go?"

Hiccup stammers a bit as he tries to come up with an excuse before Astrid states, "Because you two didn't do that much when Hiccup and I went to get Snotlout's scale back, so we think you could use this."

The two boys exchange a glance to that comment before shrugging as Fishlegs says, "Ok, then. How can we find the egg?"

Hiccup pulls out a C shaped device with a small antenna in the center. "You can use this to detect heat readings that the egg will be emitting." He hands the device to Snotlout, who nods, and the two boys head out while Hiccup and Astrid attempt to go finish what they started earlier.

After teleporting to the warehouse, Snotlout and Fishlegs walk through the concrete floor as Snotlout holds up the device, waving it from side to side and getting nothing as he says, "Man, why DID Hiccup trust me with this thing? I barely know how it works."

Fishlegs states, "Let me see that." He grabs the device and points it to the left before the device beeps and Fishlegs says, "Oh, the egg is this way!"

Fishlegs walks off as Snotlout stands there in shock saying, "Beginner's luck."

The two of them follow the device that do lead them to an open area of the warehouse when a deep voice stops them in their tracks, "Well well, figures you two would be here." They look and see Dagur and Heather standing before them. Dagur adds to his comment, "You guys really shouldn't be here at this warehouse, you never know what sort of people you'll find."

Heather states, "I was expecting Astrid, but I guess you two will have to do."

Fishlegs states, "We do not want to fight you guys."

Dagur states, "Perfect, we'll just peacefully take the egg and be on our merry way." He gestures to his left, making the boys look to see the green egg sitting on a shelf.

Snotlout states, "So you guys are here for the egg, as I thought. Pretty soon, the yolk will be on you."

Heather states, "Does it sound like we have time for your lame jokes? Fine, if you're not going to hand over the egg, then we'll just have to snatch it."

The two of them raise their left arm to their chest before throwing that arm behind them, holding out their right hand and using that hand to slam their violet/silver Morpher while saying, "BERSERK FURY, FIRE UP!" Causing a series of violet/silver scales to surround them and form their Power Ranger suits.

From his violet suit, Dagur says, "How about it? The winner gets to take the egg with them, no additional charge."

This was a deal that almost sounded too good to be true, but Fishlegs states, "If it's for security of the egg, then I guess we'll have to. Ready, Snotlout?"

Snotlout nods. "Ready!"

Snotlout and Fishlegs then throw up their arms to the side before bringing their left hand to their chest and slapping their respective red and yellow Drago Morphers while calling, "DRAGO FURY, FIRE UP!" making a series of red/yellow scales to pool out and form their Ranger suits.

Once morphed, Fishlegs takes a charge towards Dagur while Snotlout goes after Heather. Fishlegs throws a series of punches and kicks before leaping up and grabbing Dagur's arm, pulling his arm behind him in an arm lock position. "It doesn't have to be this way! We could work together!"

Dagur pushes Fishlegs to the side and states, "We're not giving you a choice!"

Fishlegs then twirls and throws up a kick that lands on Dagur right in the back, making him fall to the ground.

Meanwhile Snotlout and Heather were going at it with their own series of hits. Snotlout swirls a kick on the ground calling, "Fire Wheel!" making a ring of fire appear around him that knocks Heather to the ground.

Fishlegs then states, "Stay down!" as Dagur and Heather began to stand back up before slamming his yellow Gronk Bludgeon to the ground, causing a small earthquake that makes the two of them lose footing again.

Dagur picks up his violet, three tailed blaster and calls, "Tri-Stryke Blaster! Fi-"

"Not so fast!" Snotlout calls. "Nightmare Blaster!" before firing a red beam of energy that knocks the blaster out of Dagur's hand and creates a small explosion around the two Berserk Rangers.

Seeing that the two of them were out, Fishlegs asks, "Are they ok?"

Snotlout replies, "Would you like to stay and find out?" He then snatches the green egg from the shelf and says, "As long as we have this thing, then we won't need to worry about them much longer!" With that, the two of them teleport back to the Dragerium.

Slowly standing back up, Dagur gets on his communicator and states, "Lord Vidger, the Rangers took the bait like a bear to honey, just as you expected."

Vidger's voice then comes on and states, "Excellent. With those Rangers occupied, we can finally crack open this egg and have the Zord inside wreak havoc across the city, and soon the world will fear the Scale Shedders." Back at the Scale Shedder lair, Vidger holds a green egg that looks completely identical to the one that Snotlout and Fishlegs just retrieved, only this one had begun to crack on the surface as the dragon inside begins to reveal itself.

Back at the Dragerium, the Rangers and Alicia had placed the egg on a table where Fishlegs, who was now out of his yellow Ranger suit, proceeds to run a scanner along the egg stating, "This is weird. The egg appears to be fully intact, yet I'm not getting any sort of heat signature."

Hiccup comments, "That makes no sense, this is definitely a Drago egg."

Snotlout comments, "Well, maybe whatever is inside died off before we even got to it."

Hiccup shakes his head, "No, then the egg wouldn't glowing like it is now." He comments as the green spots on the egg were regularly glowing.

Just then, Astrid hears something come up on the sacred pond as she looks over and sees the image of a green, two headed Drago Zord causing destruction around Berk. It proceeded to have one head breathe out a huge cloud of a green gas before the other one set off sparks to ignite the gas, creating an explosion that tore down a skyscraper like cutting down a tree with a chainsaw. "Uh, guys, is it just me or does that look like a Drago Zord?"

Alicia's eyes widen as she rushes over and sees it. "A Zipple Zord? But, if that Drago Zord is there, then what's in that egg?"

Hiccup's eyes widen as he gets an idea. He gently but forcefully cracks the egg open in half to find nothing but a small holo-communication device that pops up Vidger's face who says to them, "Nice try, Rangers, but not nice enough. The Zipple Zord is all mine!"

Hiccup's eyes widen even further as his mind fills with rage, making him punch the egg shell half, smashing it into bits as he lets out a small scream. As Hiccup was shaking with anger, Fishlegs comments, "I don't understand."

Astrid comments, "Seems pretty obvious to me. Dagur and Heather set that fake egg as a trap and let you and Snotlout win so we'd take it while Vidger opens up the real egg and uses the Zipple Zord for himself."

Snotlout then comments, "Fighting Dagur and Heather did seem a lot easier than last time, though I just chalked that up to my natural talent.

Alicia then states, "There's more, Rangers." She gestures to the image in the sacred pond of a building-sized Scale Crusher, who closely resembled a knight in shining armor only it seemed to be made of some sort of thin metal.

Fishlegs asks, "A Scale Crusher? Don't we normally fight those guys at, I don't know, normal size?"

Hiccup replies with, "It seems that Vidger is deciding to play his big cards early this time around. Alright, you guys take the Drago Zords and deal with the Zipple Zord, I'll see what I can do about this Scale Crusher."

Astrid then has to point out the obvious, "Are you sure, Hiccup? Can you handle a fight right now?"

Hiccup knew just where Astrid was coming from with that question. It's true that he still hadn't morphed since waking up from his coma, but he then holds up his hand to make sure it's not shaking before clenching a fist and stating, "…I'm ready. I'm ready to get back out there and fight!"

Satisfied with that answer, Astrid smiles and says, "Then let's do this."

The four rangers then stand side by side as Hiccup asks, "Ready?"

The others reply, "Ready!"

They then hold up their arms before bringing their left arm down to their chest and using their other hand to slam their Drago Morpher while calling, "DRAGO FURY, FIRE UP!" Their Morhper sends out a flurry of either red, blue, yellow or black scales that surround their body and form their Power Ranger suits before the head of their respective dragon pops up to consume their head to form their helmet. Once morphed, the four rangers call, "DRAGO RANGER POWER!"

Hiccup leaps into the black Night Fury Zord and heads down to see the armored creature, who was currently destroying buildings using it's iron laden fists. Once arrived, Hiccup states, "Feels good to be back! Plasma Blast!"

The Night Fury Zord opens up its mouth and fires a purple burst that's only absorbed by the Scale Crusher's armor. The Crusher sees Hiccup flying in and states, "So, you're back to play. Fine! I was looking for some entertainment." It proceeds to swing a fist at the Night Fury Zord, which it narrowly dodges before firing more blasts to try to take it out.

Watching from a distance, at the same warehouse where they fought Snotlout and Fishlegs, Dagur and Heather stood as Hiccup goes in to try to take on the Scale Crusher. Dagur comments, "Oh, great, he's back."

Heather adds, "Personally, I liked him better when he was in a coma. Let's go in."

Dagur holds his arm out. "No, let's just see how this plays out."

Meanwhile, Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs had taken the other three Drago Zords to find the green Zipple Zord striking fear into the people below. Astrid calls, "Drago Zords, take care of this guy!"

The red Nightmare, blue Nadder and yellow Gronk Zords all dive in to try to take on the Zipple Zord. The Gronk Zord spins like a helicopter while flinging it's bludgeon-like tail around, but the Zipple Zord successfully snakes it's necks around to dodge the attack. The Nadder Zord dives in and shoots spines onto the Zipple Zord's back, but those just bounced off the green Zord as if they're made of rubber. The Nightmare Zord comes in and fires a big burst of flames that surround the Zipple Zord, but one of the Zipple Zord's heads releases gas breath to make the attack go right back to the Nightmare Zord.

Astrid grunts. "Man, the Zipple Zord is stronger than I thought!"

Fishlegs then points out, "Uh, Astrid!"

They look over and see that Hiccup was now in the hands of the Scale Crusher he was fighting. From inside the Night Fury Zord, Hiccup grunts, "Did I really lose my touch in the week I was out, or is this guy just stronger than I realized!"

Astrid comments, "As much as I want to fight the Zipple Zord, Hiccup needs our help."

Snotlout groans. "Aw, I wanted to keep trying to blow stuff up. Ah well."

Astrid nods and says, "Let's do this, guys! Hiccup, we're coming for you!"

Hiccup replies as he blasts his way out of the armored Scale Crusher's grip. "Perfect! I was just going to ask."

With that, Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs leap into their respective Zords before calling, "FORM DRAGO MEGAZORD!" The four Drago Zords come together to form the Megazord with the Nightmare Zord as the main part of the body, the Nadder and Gronk Zords taking the arms and the Night Fury Zord forming the wings and helmet. The Rangers then call, "DRAGO MEGAZORD, ONLINE!"

The Scale Crusher lets out a loud, evil laugh before saying, "I am so going to crush the lot of you!"

The Drago Megazord charges towards the Scale Crusher and starts throwing punches, which seem to barely leave a dent in the Crusher's armor. The Crusher then kicks the Megazord on the thigh, making it step back.

Astrid then calls, "Let's try this, Nadder Spines!" The blue Nadder Zord then fires a bunch of spines that get deflected by the armor.

Fishlegs calls, "Gronk Fist!" The head of the yellow Gronk Zord clenches into a fist and lands several punches, but once again barely leaves a dent.

Snotlout comments, "Dang, this guy is a hardhead."

Hiccup comments, "It's that armor. We need something to blast through it, something like…an explosion…wait, that's it! We can use the Zipple Zord to make that explosion!"

Snotlout then points out, "Uh, don't know if you noticed, Hiccup, but the Zipple Zord doesn't exactly like to play nice with others!"

Hiccup nods. "Right…let me see if I can do something about that. You guys hold him off, I need to concentrate." He then proceeds to type away at the computer in front of him.

The Rangers do their best to block and deflect any attacks thrown by the Scale Crusher, but with each hit the Drago Megazord started to get weaker. After another blow to the side, Astrid comments, "Any second now."

Hiccup replies, "I'm almost there…" Seconds later, a green Power Scale pops up through a little slit on the computer in front of him. Hiccup picks up the scale and says, "This should do it. ZIPPLE ZORD!" He holds up the scale, making it glow with a bright green. The Zipple Zord shakes its heads a bit as a purple field forms around it and smashes to bits. With that done, Hiccup states, "Yes! Override complete!"

Fishlegs comments, "Awesome, so the Zipple Zord is ours now?"

Hiccup nods. "Exactly that, and wait till you see what it can do. Snotlout, you like to blow things up, I'll let you have this one."

He tosses the green scale over to Snotlout who delicately holds it in his hands while smiling wide. "I get to go boom-boom?!"

Hiccup nods. "You get to go boom-boom."

Snotlout pumps his fist. "YEAH! THIS IS ALL I'VE EVER WANTED! Power Scale, activate!" He clips the green scale onto his red Drago Morhper before calling, "Zipple Zord, online!" The two-headed Drago Zord runs over and stands next to the Drago Megazord in a defensive position.

The Scale Crusher comments, "Uh oh!"

From their spot in the distance, Heather asks, "This isn't good, should we step in?"

Dagur shakes his head. "No, if Haddock can override the Zipple Zord's system then it could probably do the same to our Drago Zords. I think it's best that we just let them have this one."

Snotlout then calls, "Zipple Zord, Gas Breath!" The left head of the Zipple Zord then lets off a big cloud of a green gas that surrounds the knight of a Scale Crusher.

The Crusher wafts its hand saying, "Ugh, that smells worse than a knight's taint!"

Snotlout then calls, "Sparks!" the right head of the Zipple Zord lets off sparks to blow up the gas, weakening the Scale Crusher's armor and making some of it fall off.

Hiccup then says to Snotlout, "You know what to do!"

Snotlout nods and then calls, "Zipple Zord, let's see what else you can do!" the Zipple Zord then leaps into the Gronk Zord's mouth aka the Drago Megazord's hand and its two heads move off to the side, forming a boomerang shape.

Astrid comments, "Awesome!"

Fishlegs adds, "It's like a boomerang!"

Hiccup adds, "No, more like a Zipplerang!"

Snotlout nods and calls, "In that case, Zipplerang, spin us up a can of kickbutt!" The Drago Zord flings the Zipplerang at the Scale Crusher, making it spin and hitting the Scale Crusher in various places, making it yell out in pain.

Snotlout then calls, "Now! Drago Quad-Fire!" The Drago Megazord holds up its arms and all four heads of the Megazord fires a beam that crosses to form one large beam that strikes the Scale Crusher and makes it blow up right where it stood.

The Rangers then cheer on as Astrid comments, "Zipple Zord, I think you'll like it at the Dragerium!" The Zipple Zord turns around and lets out a friendly roar in response.

Once at the Dragerium, and after getting the Zipple Zord settled in, the Rangers and Alicia sit and talk about the success of the battle as Hiccup states, "Great job once again, guys. You all really do surprise me more and more every day."

Alicia comments, "And a big shoutout to you, Snotlout. The way you handled the Zipple Zord was exactly like Hiccup would have, I am very impressed."

Snotlout tries to hide his blush, but replies with, "Aw, thanks guys. I really just did what my instinct told me to do, like Hiccup taught me."

Fishlegs then looks to Hiccup and says, "So, Hiccup, think now is a good time to tell us?"

Hiccup raises a brow. "Tell you guys what?"

Fishlegs nods in an expecting gesture. "You know, tell us what our Drago Zords are based off of. I'm pretty sure we now have time!"

Hiccup looks to the other Rangers, who were all giving him expecting looks. Hiccup could see that there was no way out of this, so he says, "Hold on a moment." He stands up and goes into his bedroom where he pulls out a book titled 'Book of Dragons' and says, "Alright, I'll show you all individually. Snotlout, your Nightmare Zord is based on the hotheaded Monstrous Nightmare, who was so dangerous that it could light itself on fire just by igniting a flammable gel that it secrets through pores all over its body." He turns the book to an image of that dragon in red and black.

Snotlout comments, "Yeah, sounds like my kind of dragon. Love the hooked fangs."

Hiccup then turns the book to a blue, chicken shaped dragon. "Astrid, you have the Zord of the witted Deadly Nadder, a dragon whose Magnesium based flame is said to be the hottest of the dragons of its time, and as you probably guessed, it shoots razor-sharp spines from its tail as a defense mechanism."

Astrid comments, "Wow. With wings like that, it could probably fly though storms."

Hiccup then flips the book to a tan, chubby, bumpy dragon. "Fishlegs, you have the Zord of the slow but powerful Gronkle, who has a diet of mostly rocks which it digests into lava that it can spew out of its mouth at any point."

Fishlegs comments, "Oh, it's just a big, loving lug of meat!"

Astrid then asks, "What about you, Hiccup?"

Hiccup then flips the book to a black dragon with bat-like wings and a very long tail. "Me? I have the Zord of the rare and elusive Night Fury, the very dragon that the young boy ended up training to realize that dragons aren't as dangerous as they seem, and it is said that that very same dragon lived on to become the king of dragons! The Night Fury would zoom at lightning fast speeds and attack with a powerful burst of pure plasma."

Astrid then comments as she scans part of text on the book, "Retractable teeth, huh? So from time to time you might see it being toothless, I take it."

Hiccup then nods and says, "I suppose so. Anyway, all four of the dragons we have are said to have been some of the bravest and most noble of their time, and that's why I believe that them being the design choice for your Drago Zords is the most fitting. Every time you morph, every time you get into your Drago Zord, you are harnessing the power of a noble and mighty dragon that, at one point, roamed the skies like giant birds. These dragons are the very reason why we fight so hard to protect them, because in return, they protect us."

Fishlegs then wipes a tear from his eye saying, "Wow, Hiccup. That was one of the most beautiful things you've ever said!"

Astrid shakes her head, "We might not truly know what these dragons were like in their time, but…" She says as the Nadder Zord drops its head down for her to scratch. "…I think this is about as close as we can get."

Hiccup nods. "Indeed, and it will surely be fun learning about them." He says as the sun sets over the horizon, ending this truly eggseptional day.