Lightning Fury

Recently, I realized that I have yet to make a chapter for this story that focuses on any of the Drago Zords, specifically the one based on our favorite Night Fury, so I thought that this could be interesting.

Enjoy!

It was another clear Saturday morning as the sun rose above the horizon to hit the Dragerium with its bright light.

Inside the main temple was Hiccup who was lying on his bed while wearing a set of earphones, keeping his eyes shut and jamming out to the Rock and Roll song he was listening to, complete with air guitar and mouth guitar noises.

What he didn't realize in his moment was that Astrid and the other Rangers were standing right there, watching him rocking out. Astrid says to him, "Hiccup?" Course the music was so loud and Hiccup was so caught up in the action that he didn't hear her at first. "Hiccup!" She gently nudges his knee, but to no avail as some drum solo had popped up on the song he was listening to, making him play the air drums with air sticks.

"HICCUP!" Astrid calls, finally getting the auburn-haired boy to open his eyes and see the others standing there?

"What the-WHOA!" Shocked by suddenly seeing the other rangers, Hiccup falls off the bed. He takes a moment to recover before standing up and addressing his teammates. "Uh…hey, guys! H-how long have you been there?"

Heather replies, "Long enough. I don't think we knew you were into music."

Astrid adds, "Yeah, I thought you said that music was just a way to distract us from the fact that life is meaningless."

Hiccup shakes his head. "That was the old, moody Hiccup. Anyway, what are you guys doing here? It's not a training day."

Fishlegs points out, "It's Saturday, remember? We always come up to hangout with the Drago Zords." This is true, as since Astrid and the others joined up with the Dragerium, they all have formed bonds with their respective Drago Zord and make it a point to see them as much as possible. It's almost as if the Drago Zords were real dragons.

Hiccup raises a brow and looks at his calendar. "Huh, I could've sworn it was Friday. Well, alright, since you guys are here then let's head out."

Astrid then holds up her hand. "After we see you rocking out again. Kind of made my morning." Figuring there wasn't a way out of this, Hiccup puts his earphones back in and picks up the air guitar to do as requested.

Once that was over, the Rangers head on out to the forest area of the Dragerium where the Drago Zords live and coexist. It's separated from the main area of the Dragerium as the Drago Zords are very large and aren't always aware of their own size.

Once they get down to the area, they are greeted by the bus sized Zords as they see their respective humans and fly down. Hiccup calls, "Night Fury Zord! Nadder Zord! Nightmare, Gronk, Razor and Stryke Zords! Rise and shine everyone!"

The blue Nadder Zord drops down in front of Astrid and lowers its head for her to scratch. "Did you miss me? I bet you did!"

The yellow Gronk Zord hovers down to Fishlegs where he gives it some scratches before noticing patches of mud on the Zord. "Were you rolling in the mud again? You know what that does to your system!" The Gronk Zord lets out a groan as Fishlegs smiles. "Oh, I can never stay mad at you!"

The silver Razor Zord walks up to Heather, looking rather concerned about something. "What is it? Is something bothering you?"

The violet Stryke Zord goes up to Dagur with the same look of concern. "Did something happen?" He asks.

Catching the worried looks of the two Drago Zords, Hiccup gets quite concerned himself, and that's when he looks around and notices that someone is missing from this group of mechanized dragons. And that's when it hits him, his own Drago Zord, the black Night Fury Zord, isn't there.

"Night Fury Zord?" He calls. "Night Fury Zord, where are you?" Not seeing any sign of his trusted Zord, Hiccup picks up his black Morpher and presses a Zord Call button in an attempt to draw the Zord back in, but heard nothing after a few minutes. "Huh, wonder where he went."

Snotlout points out, "You just called your Zord a 'he', you know it's not a real dragon, right?"

Hiccup replies, "When you've been working with a Drago Zord as long as I have, you develop a special bond unlike any other."

Snotlout scoffs. "So, what, you gonna marry it?"

Hiccup rolls his eyes as he comments, "I wonder where he went, it's not like him to leave without telling me."

Astrid points out, "Maybe the Night Fury Zord needed to take care of something."

Hiccup considers this, but then glances down and notices something, a few screws and bolts that had a black tint to them. Hiccup comments, "These bolts, these belong to the Night Fury Zord's rear plate."

Snotlout blinks and comments. "The fact that you know that only further proves my married theory."

Astrid then suggests, "The Nadder Zord is good at tracking, maybe it could help us find the Night Fury Zord." She holds the bolts up for the Nadder Zord to sniff. It does so before the blue spiked Zord sniffs around a bit and lets out a squawk before walking off.

"We should follow her." Heather suggests as the Rangers and their Zords begin to do just that.

The Rangers follow the Nadder Zord through a thick part of the forest for about 10 minutes, stopping occasionally to have the Razor Zord help slice through some of the more narrow trees, at least narrow for a giant robotic dragon.

By that point, several clouds had formed over their heads, darkening their path. It wasn't so much that they couldn't see, but the forest area didn't help that much either.

It was then that Snotlout suggests, "Ok, food for thought, we have giant dragons that can fly, why are we walking?"

Hiccup replies, "The forest is too thick for us to see anything, besides the Night Fury Zord is a master at blending into his surroundings." He then calls out, "NIGHT FURY ZORD!" To get no answer whatsoever. "This just doesn't make sense, why would the Night Fury Zord leave us like this?"

Snotlout then suggests, "You know, maybe this is just a sign that you need a new, better Drago Zord. I think the Zipple Zord might be your style. With it, you get two Drago Zords for the price of one!"

Astrid gives Snotlout a quick glare before stating to Hiccup, "Don't listen to Snotlout."

To which Hiccup replies, "I rarely do."

Astrid then adds, "You and the Night Fury Zord clearly have a special bond unlike any of the Drago Zords to us that we've seen. I, too, am concerned as to why he would leave like this."

It was then that the Rangers notice a purple flash off in the distance, followed by bolts of lightning being fired in multiple directions. "That looks like something." Hiccup comments as they rush towards the area.

The Rangers dodge trees and leap over rocks as they get deeper and deeper into the forest until, minutes later, they spot the black Night Fury Zord lying on the ground. "Night Fury Zord!" Hiccup calls as he runs up to the mechanized dragon and puts a hand on its snout, making it open its green eyes to see its favorite human. "Hey, buddy, what happened?"

It was then that Fishlegs points out, "Look!" Various burn marks could be seen on the Zord's body, nothing much bigger than a hand but still visible, even through the Drago Zord's black coating.

Hiccup then looks around and see that several trees had some of the same burn marks that looked like lightning bolts. Hiccup then comments, "A fight must have taken place here, but against what?" It was then that an unfamiliar roar was heard just up ahead, followed by the thump of heavy footsteps approaching them. "Keep your guard up, guys." Hiccup says as the Rangers stand close to their Drago Zords.

That's when, out from the trees, comes a purple, bipedal Drago Zord with several spikes lining the back of its head, back and tail, and a big row of sharp teeth popped out of the Zord's mouth. Hiccup comments with complete amusement, "Oh…my…God. It's a Skrill Zord!"

Snotlout asks, "A…what Zord?"

Hiccup replies, "Skrill Zord, based on one of the most powerful dragons of its time, the Skrill. It's said to have the ability to harness the power of lightning for its attacks, and it's incredibly dangerous."

Dagur points out, "You're just now telling us this thing exists?"

Hiccup scoffs to the comment and replies, "I only just found out myself. I read stories about it, but thought it was just a legend!"

Hiccup then sees the Night Fury Zord get up on its feet and arch its back in a battle position as Hiccup steps in and says, "Well, if this means a new battle then I'm in. DRAGO-AH!" He was then swept away by the Night Fury Zord's tail.

"Hiccup!" Astrid calls as she kneels down to pick him up.

Hiccup lets out a grunt. "I'm fine, but what just happened?"

Just then, the Skrill Zord lets out a bolt of lightning that the Night Fury Zord narrowly dodges before letting out a purple beam of plasma that hits the bipedal Zord in the side with enough force that it begins to back away.

Seeing the Skrill Zord leave, the Night Fury Zord leans in and makes sure Hiccup is ok before helping him get back on his feet. "Thanks, bud, but what was that? Why did you run away from us? Why didn't you allow me to help you? Why are you battling that Skrill Zord? Unless…!" He stares into the Night Fury Zord's glowing green eyes as he puts the pieces together in his mind. "You…have a rivalry with it, don't you?"

Snotlout then comments, "Wait, wait, how can a mechanical dragon have any sort of rivalry?"

Hiccup explains, "Well, it's as I said before, no one knows who made the Drago Zords or where they came from, they just suddenly started showing up after Luna and I found our Drago Scales. One thing that we did find, soon after, is that each Drago Zord is implanted with what we believe to be a memory chip lodged deep in their head.

This chip seems to hold all of the memories of the dragon that they once were about 13 centuries ago, back when dragons were still made of scales, flesh and bone. I guess in that time, a Night Fury of that time had some sort of rivalry going on with a Skrill, which seemed to carry on to this day."

Hearing all of that, Fishlegs comments, "Whoa, so everything our Drago Zords do now is exactly how they'd act in their own time?"

Hiccup nods. "Correct. The memory chips seem to hold everything, right down to thoughts and emotions." Hiccup then notices the Night Fury Zord turning and looking towards the direction of the Skrill Zord with a seething glare in its eyes. Hiccup pats it on the neck and says, "We better leave before that thing comes back." He tries to move the Night Fury Zord in the direction of the Dragerium, but it seemed to go against what Hiccup wanted. "Night Fury Zord? Come on, let's head home."

Heather then points out, "Hiccup, I don't think this is something that he can walk away from."

True to Heather's word, the rangers and their Drago Zords soon hear a near but distant roar, to which the Night Fury Zord leaps away and takes to the sky. "NIGHT FURY ZORD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Hiccup yells out as the black Drago Zord heads out. Hiccup runs after the Zord with the others close behind.

The Rangers run through the forest once again, dodging trees, leaping over rocks and fallen logs and kicking up dirt. From the sky, the Night Fury Zord is greeted by the Skrill Zord and the two of them begin to face off. Hiccup comments, "Oh no!"

Astrid states, "Hiccup, do you really think the Night Fury Zord can handle this on its own?"

Hiccup shakes his head. "No way. You saw how beat up he was earlier, if this keeps up then I might end up losing my Drago Zord for good!"

Fishlegs then asks, "Well then, what do you propose?"

Hiccup thinks for a moment before realizing something. He looks back and says to Astrid, "Have the Nadder Zord take me into the air. Once that is done, take the others away!"

Astrid asks, "Exactly what are you doing?"

Hiccup replies, "Something crazy. Now, hurry up!" Seeing no other way, Astrid has the blue Nadder Zord pick up Hiccup by its large talons and they take to the sky where both of the other Zords were still facing each other down, letting out low growls.

Hiccup has the Nadder Zord sweep around the two and have Hiccup land on the Skrill Zord's head, where he waves his arms. Seeing this, the Night Fury Zord realizes what is going on as the Skrill Zord charges up electricity around its body before Hiccup leaps off of the Skrill Zord's head.

In this moment, time seems to slow down around everyone as the Night Fury Zord dodges an incoming lightning attack by a hair and sweeps in to grab Hiccup before putting him on its back. Hiccup pats the Night Fury Zord on the head and says, "Look, you know how powerful we are together, so what do you say? Let's team up and take this guy down!"

The Night Fury Zord looks to the Skrill Zord and realizes how powerful it really is, so it nods its giant head, making Hiccup reply, "Alright, let's do this! DRAGO FURY, FIRE UP!" He says before hitting his black Drago Morpher, making his black Power Ranger suit pop up around him in a flash before he enters the Night Fury Zord's head. "Ok, Nighty, let's end this now!" the Night Fury Zord lets out an ear-piercing roar.

Meanwhile, the other Rangers were running away from the scene when Dagur, who was in the back of the pack, suddenly stops and looks back over to the Skrill Zord as something occurs to him in his mind. Noticing this, Heather asks, "Dagur, what are you doing?"

Dagur replies, "I can't leave."

Heather asks, "Wh-WHAT?" Making the other rangers stop as well.

Dagur explains, "I don't know what it is, but something is telling me that I need to be there with that Skrill Zord…I need to do this. Berserk Fury, FIRE UP!" He says as he slaps his violet Drago Morpher, making his Ranger suit pop up in a flash as he leaps into his violet, three tailed Stryke Zord and flies off.

Astrid asks, "What does he think he's doing?"

Heather replies, "If I know Dagur, then probably something insane."

Hiccup has the Night Fury Zord do some twists and twirls to try to throw the Skrill Zord off guard, that's when Dagur shows up in the Stryke Zord. "Don't count us out!"

Hiccup asks, "Dagur?! What are you doing here? I told you and the others to head back!"

Dagur replies, "I know you want us to be safe, Hiccup, but something deep inside me is telling me that I need to be here, to help make sure this Skrill Zord doesn't harm anyone else!"

Hiccup replies, "I appreciate it, but-"

"LOOK OUT!" Dagur yells as the Skrill Zord fires off a few bolts of lightning. This is met by one of the Stryke Zord's tails that seems to absorb the blast like a lightning rod without affecting its system whatsoever.

Seeing this, Hiccup comments, "Ok, maybe you can help me here. You ok with that, bud?" the Night Fury Zord grunts in approval before they face off against the Skrill Zord once again.

Seeing as how it was now outnumbered, the Skrill Zord decided to take things up a notch. Suddenly, it lands on the forest floor as its legs expand in length and become bulkier. It's wings fold up and to the back as two arms pull out of its side, and finally its large mouth opens up to reveal a humanoid head. Once that was done, the purple Zord holds its arms up in a warrior position.

Watching from a distance, Snotlout yells out, "Did that thing just become a Megazord?!"

Dagur adds, "Did it just become a MEGAZORD!"

Hiccup replies, "Looks like it, a Skrill Megazord. Well, it's not the only thing that can do that! Wanna show 'em, Dagur?"

Seeing what Hiccup was suggesting, Dagur replies, "Let's do it, Hiccup!"

Hiccup then calls, "Night Fury Zord!" before the black Drago Zord lets out a deafening roar.

Dagur then adds, "Stryke Zord!" before the violet Stryke Zord does the same thing.

The two of them then call, "COMBINE!" In a moment, the Night Fury Zord stands up on its hind legs as the Styrke Zord's legs and claws pop off to connect at the bast of the Night Fury Zord's feet. the Night Fury Zord's wings fold in to allow the Stryke Zord's body to connect to its back and the Night Fury Zord lowers its head to allow the Stryke Zord to come in and open its mouth to reveal the head inside as Hiccup and Dagur call, "Night Stryke Megazord!"

Seeing all that, Heather asks with complete amusement, "Did those two just make an all new Megazord?"

The other rangers share their own amusement with Fishlegs commenting, "That's so cool! I didn't know those two could combine!"

It was then that the Skrill Megazord pulls up a jagged, purple sword that was its own tail before raising it to the sky, summoning bolts of lightning that powers up the sword as it points the blade towards Hiccup and Dagur's Megazord. "That doesn't shock me in the slightest." Hiccup comments.

Dagur adds, "Well, we can zap up something as well. Tri-tail sword, lightning!" the Night Stryke Megazord plucks its three tails from the Stryke Zord and make it spin as Dagur turns a triangular dial on his control panel to the yellow knob, making it light up with yellow lightning.

Once that was done, the two Megazords begin to clash electric swords, sending bolts after bolts in every direction with each clash. The bolts faded out after about 10 miles, but the intensity never settled as the two Megazords fought on. Soon, the two Megazords hold their blades together as the Skrill Megazord sends some lightning into its fist that it strikes the black and violet Megazord in the chest with.

The rangers got a mild shock from the attack that made them take a step back, but were otherwise fine. Hiccup comments, "Man, this thing is ruthless!"

Dagur nods. "Yeah, almost like Heather and I when we first met you guys."

That's when something occurs to Hiccup, why WAS the Skrill zord fighting them at all? What was its motivation? Sure, the theory of a rivalry against the Night Fury Zord was possible, but maybe there's something else, something that they have yet to see. Hiccup then comments, "I think I have an idea, but we first need to take this thing out!" He then hits a call button. "Fishlegs, would there be a chance that we could shock this guy out cold?"

Fishlegs replies, "It would take a lot of power, but it sounds plausible."

Hiccup nods. "That's all I needed to hear. Alright, let's try this." He plucks the Night Fury Zord's tail off and makes it stand straight up.

Moments later, the Skrill Megazord fires off a beam of lightning that the Night Stryke Megazord meets with its own beam. Hiccup then brings the metal tail down to absorb some of the electric energy the Skrill Megazord was releasing, before bringing that energy down to join with the Night Stryke Megazord's own beam, causing a very powerful electric beam to go right to the Skrill Megazord and hit it right where it was standing.

All that electricity proved to be way too much for the Skrill Zord, so after taking each and every bolt it got down on its knees and fell onto its side in defeat, making it turn back into its dragon form. With that done, the Night Fury and Stryke Zords split off as Hiccup goes in and that's when he sees it, attached to the Skrill Zord's neck was a red, spider-like robot the size of a watermelon.

Hiccup has the Night Fury Zord pick it up with its mouth and bring it up to Hiccup, who lifts up the face covering on his Ranger helmet before saying, "You guys recognize this?"

Watching from Astrid's Morpher, Heather comments, "That's the same inhibitor chip that Vidger used to control me and Dagur!"

Hiccup nods. "Exactly." He crushes the parasitic robot in his arms and comments, "Now it all makes sense. The Skrill Zord wasn't attacking us out of free will, it was doing so because its mind was being controlled." Hiccup then gets down and looks the Night Fury Zord in the eyes before patting him on the snout. "Which means you weren't fighting it out of a rivalry, you were doing it to protect me, to protect the Dragerium, to protect…your family." the Night Fury Zord lets out a delighted purr.

Jumping down from his Drago Zord, Dagur, with his face cover raised, asks, "So, what do we do about the Skrill Zord?" the Skrill Zord looks the two Rangers in the eyes before standing up and using its claw to pluck a scale off of its neck, the scale shines purple as it hands it to Dagur. Dagur was left speechless for a moment before stating, "Whoa…"

Hiccup smiles before stating, "That's the Skrill Zord's Drago Scale! You should consider yourself very lucky."

Dagur states, "I…I don't…"

Hiccup lets out a chuckle. "We have now gained the Skrill Zord's trust and respect, all because we did something that nobody else could." He looks the Skrill Zord in the eyes and states, "We set it free." The Skrill Zord gives a grin with delight before it raises its wings and bolts off in a flash.

Dagur asks, "Hey? Where is it going?"

Hiccup pats Dagur on the shoulder. "Relax, we'll see it again. That is, when we need it again. Hey, I gotta know, why did you feel like you needed to get involved with fighting the Skrill Zord?"

Dagur thinks for a moment. "Well, when I was a kid, my Dad used to tell me stories about a tribe that was run by my ancestors, apparently this tribe used to worship a lightning bearing dragon as a weapon of great power. I always thought they were just fairy tales, but now seeing what the Skrill Zord was able to do, I don't know. Maybe there is truth to it."

Hiccup nods. "Well, in any case, I'm really glad you helped out."

Then Hiccup got his usual look of concern, making Dagur ask, "Ok, what is it?"

Hiccup states, "First Grisly and Vidger were able to control the minds of you and Heather, now they've done just that to a Drago Zord. I can't even begin to imagine how they got their hands on it, either. Whatever Grisly has planned, I think this is as good a sign as any that we'll need to make sure we're all on top of the top of our game for when the time comes."

The Rangers already knew a tough fight was ahead of them, but with this information of taking control of the Skrill Zord, that fight just became even tougher.