Chapter 15: Appetite for Destruction

Same title, different plot. Might also be the case for a select few other episodes.


I had to learn the hard way that secrets are one of the things you can't keep forever. One way or another, they'll make themselves known.

But some are harder to deal with than others.


It was morning, and two larger-than-life dragonets sat within the cove, lazily digesting their breakfast of fish. They were Mortem and Bigwings, the Red Death and Screaming Death that Team Go-Getters had to bring home with them from Unova. Now, they weren't against keeping the dragonets, it was the thought of what Stoick would do if he found out that was the problem.

Communicating by making low gurgling sounds deep in their throats, the two creatures settled down to enjoy their full bellies.

But not for long.

You see, when dragonets reach a certain age, they hit a growth spurt. And when that happens, they need to eat larger quantities of food in order to fuel their growing body. The process applied to unevolving Pokémon, too, including most of the Legendary and Mythical beings.

So not even a hour had passed when Mortem awoke to the sound of his grumbling, empty stomach. He groaned in discontentment. He'd have to wait until lunchtime to eat again, like the good little (or rather, big) dragonet he was.

Bigwings, though, had other ideas. He wasn't going to wait until the next feeding time to eat again. He needed food, and he needed it now, so that's what he was going to get. So, after a few experimental flaps of his wings, he flew out of the cove and started for the village.

Mortem lifted his head and watched the retreating tail of the Screaming Death dragonet disappear through the trees and rocks of the forest. A louder, and more urgent, growl from his empty stomach was the only thing that had the power to persuade him to follow Bigwings.

Although he was just old enough to fly, Mortem instead decided to climb his way out of the cove, which wasn't as hard as one would think, given how big he was. As he followed Bigwings, the poor Red Death dragonet's innocence and naivety kept him blind to the consequences that would follow their actions.


The members of Team Go-Getters were unaware of what Bigwings and Mortem were doing. Mostly due to the fact that they were working on a certain project Snivels had come up with.

An orphanage and adoption center for dragon eggs and dragonets whose families had been lost, either in the war or in another form of tragedy.

The operation had barely been made public to the Resistance when the team found their hands full with several different species of dragons whose ages ranged from newly-laid eggs to juveniles.

However, being the island of Berk, it wasn't very long before things started to get progressively out of hand. And thus, what was supposed to be a calm morning feeding and playing with adorable dragonets had turned into a game to see who could catch the most of the rambunctious little rascals.

In one particular spot of the forest, the bushes shook before a little Mudraker tore through them and dove into a puddle of mud. Crooning happily, the dragonet started rolling around like a piglet, with no intention of stopping until every inch of him was covered with the cool, brown, heavenly sludge.

Grimacing with disgust, the Servine that had been following the dragonet inched out of the bushes and toward the mud he so did not want to get on himself. "This isn't funny anymore, Clay!"

The Mudraker dragonet looked up at the sound of his name, only to return to his muddy luxury two seconds later.

Snivels had to leave a trail of herrings to get Clay to follow him, keeping himself a good ten feet away from the muddy dragonet. Or was it twenty-five feet? He really wasn't sure.

Anyway, the Mudraker was more than happy to slurp down the slippery little squirts the Servine was placing for him to eat. Clay just didn't understand why some creatures would just leave perfectly good food on the ground.

Snivels didn't even notice when they'd reached their destination until he tripped over a Tide Glider that was nearly as long as he was. The aquatic dragonet let out a cry of surprise as the Servine toppled over her. "Sorry, Tsunami," he said when he realized what had happened.

The Tide Glider seemed to accept his apology, as she quickly got over it and went to play in the lake with Geyser the Scauldron. Clay followed, for where there was water there was most likely to be mud as well.

Of course, the Mudraker and the Tide Glider weren't the only dragonets the team was working to take care of. A nibble on Snivels's tail made him aware of Fearless the Flightmare's presence. The look in the dragonet's eyes told the Servine she wanted a little treat, which came in the form of a bit of algae which lacked the blue-green glow that gave Fearless's species their spinetingling reputation.

"Did I forget to mention that dragonet still gives Astrid the creeps?" asked a certain Blaziken, who happened to be passing by carrying a bucket full of rocks.

"Which one?" asked a genuinely confused Snivels. "The tough-as-nails, axe-wielding Trainer of Destiny, or the daughter you and Kickin Hawk named after her?"

While it was true Asta the Torchic was named after Blaze's trainer (Asta was a nickname given to help prevent everyday confusion), she was almost the exact opposite of Astrid the tough-as-nails, axe-wielding Trainer of Destiny, as Snivels had so accurately put it.

"Both," admitted Blaze.

Hoping to change the subject, the Servine prince asked her, "Wanna help me check on the other dragonets?"

Blaze shook her head. "No, thanks." Then she stumbled when a chubby little Gronckle bumped into her from behind. Grabbing the dragonet by one of the wings, she asked, "What did you say her name was?"

"Bumblebee," Snivels said without hesitation. "You should see how she flies, it's a little more bee-like than any Gronckle I've ever known."

The familiar boom of an explosion made both the Servine and the Blaziken turn to see a smoking area nearby. Moments later, a baby Monstrous Nightmare and Hideous Zippleback that could have easily passed as miniature versions of Hookfang and Barf and Belch scampered past, with combustible smoke seeping out of one of the two-headed dragonet's mouths.

A large black shape dove through the trees, followed by a smaller blue one, and both of them sported some very unamused teens sitting in their saddles.

"We really need to find those guys better playmates," Hiccup grumbled.

Snivels looked up at his trainer and confessed in the humans' native language, "I've tried everything, Hiccup, but Flame and Yin and Yang are only interested in playing with each other."

"How many different species of dragonets do we have to take care of?" Blaze asked, casually tossing a palm-sized rock into Bumblebee's open mouth.

"As many as we can," Astrid told her, running a finger down the edge of one of the blades of her axe. "According to Mr. Blueblood, the more creatures we have, the better we're able to operate as a team."

Hiccup quickly added, almost enthusiastically, "There's strength in numbers, especially when there's a wider variety of species each with their own strengths and weaknesses."

Snivels nodded to both of them in thanks.

"Hiccup!"

The shout came from Brandyn, who had led Buck the Grapple Grounder over to a small ledge that overlooked the forest slope that lead to the village below. Hiccup dismounted from his position in the saddle and walked over to see a pair of recognizable dragonets. The large baby dragons were slithered and stomped down the slope, following their noses to where the food was - the Berk storehouses.

"Aren't Mortem and Bigwings supposed to be in the cove?" the blond Aetherson boy asked, his voice wavering with reasonable nervousness.

"Yes," responded Hiccup in the exact same tone. "Yes, they are."

Scrambling to the ledge, Snivels quickly realized that the two male trainers were correct. "No way this is going to turn out well. Adhesive!" That last word came out in the form of a yell.

The Poipole appeared within seconds, saluting the Servine. "Present!"

"Call the Resistance," said Snivels, "Or the Ultra Guardians, or anyone who can help us! We can't let those metal-heads down there hurt Mortem!"

Adhesive flew off to get his cell phone and was about to unlock it when he remembered something rather important. "It's Retro Day. I'm not allowed to use any technology for twenty-four hours." He flew back to the Servine and handed him the phone. "You're gonna have to do it!"

Snivels did a double take before letting out a shocked, "What?!"

"There's an emergency user's guide in the Settings," Adhesive said, calmly. "It'll tell you everything you need to know."

That sounded helpful. But at the rate Mortem and Bigwings were moving, Hiccup was sure they'd reach the village before Snivels even had a chance to figure out how to work Adhesive's phone.

"There isn't time," he decided. "Let me handle this."

He made a move towards Toothless, who obligingly displayed his flank so that Hiccup could more easily get to the saddlebag.

"You're going to fly all the way to the Giant Chasm?" asked Blaze, incredulously.

"Nope," Hiccup denied her. After a second or two of searching through the saddlebag, he found what he'd been looking for - a dragon whistle, this one in the shape of a Terrible Terror's head.

Making sure that the mouth piece was clean, Hiccup put it to his lips and blew. The screech that came from the instrument sounded loud and shrill enough to be heard for miles, and a response was not long in coming. With a flurry of wings, a green Terrible Terror - Snivels had said his name was Sharpshot - dove through a gap in the trees and perched expertly on the shoulder of the human who had called for him. Seemingly impressed with his own performance, Sharpshot chirped with pleasure.

"Interesting," Brandyn said, "I didn't know you had made a dragon whistle for those guys."

Putting away the whistle, Hiccup then reached into the saddlebag again and pulled out a piece of parchment rolled around a stick of charcoal. As he wrote, he muttered absentmindedly, "There's no need for me to fly to the Giant Chasm."

Several other Terrors, each a different color, and some of them dragonets, came flying in from through the trees, responding to the sound of the dragon whistle just as Sharpshot had. Heather and Ninjark quickly followed, having been in the process of counting the dragons to see just how many Terrible Terrors there were.

"What is going on?" panted Heather, who needed a moment to catch her breath.

"Team Go-Getter business," was Snivels's reply. "A certain duo of dragonets just started getting the growth spurt hungers."

Finally, Hiccup finished whatever he was scribbling down and rolled up the parchment tightly. He drew a piece of sturdy string made from Silkspanner webbing and motioned Sharpshot closer. The green Terrible Terror extended a leg, to which Hiccup securely tied the note. The other three trainers watched the whole process with unanimous fascination.

Through the demonstration, Hiccup explained, "Fjord and I have been working on something new. He says it's called 'air mail'."

"You really think that Sharpshot is going to fly straight to the Giant Chasm and back to Berk?" inquired Astrid. Intrigued, she gave her husband and his new messenger a long, studious once-over.

"Yep," the team leader replied in the affirmative. He gave Sharpshot a scratch under the chin, to which the Terror purred with delight. "Dragons are especially territorial, and combined with their amazing navigational instincts, it's a habit of theirs to return to their homes from wherever they get sent to."

"I've heard of carrier pigeons," volunteered Heather, "but that's pretty ridiculous."

"And how will we know if the Resistance got the message?" Ninjark wondered.

At first, Hiccup didn't answer. Instead, he tightened the knot on the string a little before giving Sharpshot a hand signal. Understanding, the Terrible Terror flapped his wings a few times before lifting off, his wings beating steadily as he flew up past the treetops and out of sight.

"When they send some Legendary Pokémon to Berk," Hiccup finally stated, and climbed back onto Toothless.

With another scoff, Astrid rolled her eyes and swore, "If that happens, I'll kiss Snotlout on the lips."

There was a pregnant pause.

"That's it, then," Snivels spoke up, his face the epitome of apprehension. "We're dead."


It wasn't too hard to find out where Mortem and Bigwings had gone. There was a big commotion near one of the storehouses, like the time just before the creation of the academy, when the dragons were going through a streak of disobedience. Only this time, instead of heading toward the mess, the Vikings were all running away from it, every one of them wearing a look of pure horror.

"The monster has returned!"

"It's going to eat us all!"

"Someone get the chief!"

Blaze sidestepped an adult male Viking who was running and screaming like a little girl. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say the dragonets went that way," she said, pointing in the direction from which the Viking had been running.

The part of it that made the most sense was that it was one of the larger storehouses, capable of holding enough food to feed a village as vast as the one on Berk for at least five winters (though that didn't mean they ever had that much food). Bigwings had his entire head in a medium-sized fishing basket, slurping down every morsel he could find. Mortem, however, was behaving more cautiously, sniffing every bit of food he laid his eyes on to see if what he found was safe to eat.

Snivels was the first to arrive on the scene. "Guys, you're not supposed to be here!"

Mortem stopped eating and gave the Servine a guilty and submissive look. Bigwings, however, barely acknowledged him at all.

"Go back to the cove," Snivels commanded in Dragonese, pointing towards the forest. "If Stoick finds you two here, he's gonna...!" He froze at the sound of a loud thump from behind. He slowly turned around to look, expecting the worst. Thankfully, it wasn't who he thought it was.

All four Trainers of Destiny sat atop their dragon mounts, which made them look bigger and more intimidating to Mortem.

"Please don't scare me like that," a relieved Snivels uttered in Norse. "I thought you guys were Stoick."

Finally, Bigwings pulled his head out of the basket to see what was going on. He let out a disappointed grumble when he realized that snack time was pretty much over for him.

Chancing a quick look around, Hiccup said, "Let's get them both into the forest before my dad really does show up."

The home of Team Go-Getters was as crowded as ever, but it was hard for Hiccup and the others to not notice the two large, wolfish Pokémon that easily towered over the four trainers. One was mostly blue and holding a sword in its mouth while the other was mostly red had a shield-like structure covering the front of its body.

The shield-wolf approached the group in big, slow strides. "It's nice to finally meet the four trainers Fjord has told us so much about," he said. He looked up at Sharpshot, who was sitting ever so pleasantly on top of his head.

At the sight of the green Terror, Hiccup suddenly sat up in the saddle in an attempt to reach the shield-wolf's eye level.

"You guys must be from the Resistance," he said. He would have been relieved if it wasn't for the death glare Astrid was giving him. "Thank you so much for coming on such short notice."

From the way her eye twitched, Hiccup could tell she wasn't taking the act of being completely wrong very well.

"I am Escutcheon," stated the shield-maned canid. He gestured to the other Pokémon with his head. "This is my partner, Rapier."

The sword-carrying canid bowed his head a little, uttering something incomprehensible around the hilt of the blade that he kept in his mouth.

As the four trainers dismounted their dragons, Hiccup tried to avoid making eye contact with a very livid Astrid.

"Say it," she threatened quietly, "and those will be the last words you ever speak." Then, to emphasize her point, she cracked her knuckles.

The quiet ferocity with which she spoke those words was enough to make him shut his trap instantly. Not that he wanted to say anything about it, anyway. If he was being honest with himself, he had been secretly hoping that his message hadn't reached the Resistance.

"As you may have noticed, I'm usually the one who does the talking," said Escutcheon. "If you ever want to know what Rapier is saying, I'll be more than happy to inform you."

"We're just glad you're here to help," Hiccup insisted. "Do either of you know how to handle larger-than-life dragonets?"

Escutcheon thought for a minute before shaking his head. "Not dragonets, no." He then turned his body to show that he had a pair of satchels with egg-shaped bulges hanging on each of his sides. "But Rapier and I could use the practice for our own children."

"You have eggs?" Brandyn asked with interest. "Congrats!"

"Wouldn't they be safer with a babysitter?" Heather asked.

Gesturing to the Legendary duo, Ninjark reasoned, "They probably didn't have time to hire one."

Snivels, meanwhile, ended up getting pulled aside by Adhesive for a quick lesson on how to use a cell phone. The device was about the size of an average human hand - which was a rare find, considering how many Vikings inhabited the island - and was mostly screen with only one button at the bottom. The moment the Servine pressed it curiously, the whole screen lit up. Any amount of relief that would have followed the screen unlocking was quickly forgotten when he saw what image Adhesive had set as his screen background.

Now, it wasn't a surprise to find that it was a Hiccstrid kiss, but there was something odd about it. For one, Snivels didn't recognize the building behind them, and two, they looked a few years older than they were now.

Adhesive quickly figured out what the Servine was staring at and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I don't know how I forgot about that. Long story short: canon timeline, three years in the future. Now, select the icon with the gear in it, that's the Settings app. Scroll the screen down with your finger, third list below the owner's info has General listed at the top, select that. The emergency user's guide is listed third in that section."

Snivels listened to the instructions carefully to make sure he didn't miss anything important. Despite it being his first time utilizing a cell phone, it was actually easier to handle than he originally thought.

"User's guide," the Servine muttered under his breath as he selected it. Then he started reading as he scrolled down the list, "iPhone 25's features... unlimited data...mobile library expansion..."

"It's all pretty straightforward," said Adhesive. "You'll get the hang of it long before Stoick proves a threat to Mortem again."

"Again?" Snivels repeated. looking up from the phone's screen. "You mean, this has happened before?"

Adhesive shifted nervously, having realized what he'd let slip. "In another timeline," he explained. "Go into the Safari app, there's a list of quick-click links that'll take you to the written stories of the other dimensions. The one you'll need is listed second."

The Servine did exactly as the Poipole suggested. The moment the app opened up, he was greeted with a long list of suggested pages, most of them from the same website. He was about to tap the second option when the one that was listed first caught his eye.

"Monsters of Berk," he read aloud. Then his eyes lit up, and he tapped the link.

Adhesive fidgeted anxiously. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said in a tone the Servine couldn't quite place.

Snivels looked up at the Poipole with a small, reassuring smile. "I just want to make sure Ratha and Rathi are okay."


In the Monsters of Berk Universe

All the trees in the Berk forest were nearly set aflame by the fire that accompanied the thunderous sneezes emitted by a duo of juvenile Flying Wyverns. A moment later, their concerned and overprotective surrogate Nargacuga mother came rushing over.

"Are you two alright?"

The one-eyed Rathalos and his Rathian friend (who was really more like an almost-girlfriend he was head over talons in love with) looked at each other with matching looks of realization.

Someone's talking about us.


No-one spoke as they waited in the living room of their house - at first, anyway. But as the minutes crawled by and eventually turned into hours, someone had to say it.

"I thought my dad would have heard about the incident by now," Hiccup confessed to the others, once it became apparent that the chief wouldn't be arriving at their living quarters for a while.

"Maybe word got lost," suggested Astrid. She scanned the outside area through the window, spotting Mortem easily. The large dragonet had a boatload of fish piled in front of him, but he wasn't even touching it.

"If only we were that lucky," replied Snivels, his eyes scanning the screen of Adhesive's phone. He'd found the right link - though not after scanning through Monsters of Berk until it had become clear to him that there was no sign of Ratha or Rathi anywhere in it - and he was reading it through to see if Adhesive's claim had been right.

And right it was.

Another timeline, one where Hiccup found the queen's egg on Dragon Island and adopted the dragonet as his own. The Mortem in that timeline had indeed been threatened by Stoick under the belief that he would grow up to be just like his mother.

Putting the phone on the table, Snivels glanced up at his friends. "It'll take more than hiding Mortem in the woods to save him from the chief's judgment."

"Or Bigwings," added Brandyn.

Adhesive twitched as he restrained himself from taking his phone back. "There's always the cove," he pointed out. Then his shoulders slumped, and he added, "Until they get bigger, of course."

Hiccup shook his head, unable to think properly with all the pressure that kept piling on. The chief couldn't kill Mortem - he was only a baby and had merely been following his stomach to any food source he could find. But, like Snivels said, they were rarely that lucky.

"Well, I'm open to ideas," he muttered, just loudly enough for the others to hear.

"We could arrange a training session for them at the academy," Blaze suggested.

"With Stoick?" asked a skeptical Astrid.

"We always say it's worth a shot," reminded Heather.

Snivels cringed. "But our plans aren't usually Stoick-related," he said.

"What if we asked Escutcheon and Rapier for their input?" suggested Ninjark.

Sighing in defeat, Hiccup looked around the room at all his friends. "Guys, whatever we're doing, we need to do it now. There's no telling what Stoick will do to Mortem and Bigwings when he finds out about this."

No-one replied, so he slumped down in his seat. The gang prepared to keep thinking for at least a few more minutes, but it was only seconds after their conversation when someone knocked very loudly on the door.

"Hiccup! We need to talk! RIGHT NOW!"

There was no mistaking the bellowing yell of the Berkian chief.

Adhesive hovered in the middle of the room with a dumbstruck look on his face. "I think it's like Beetlejuice, we said his name too many times."

Reacting by obligation, Hiccup pulled the door open to reveal his very big and intimidating father with the sternest scowl they'd ever seen. "What's this I hear about a monster raiding our food storage?" the chief asked through gritted teeth.

"I can explain," Hiccup attempted - right before Mortem raced past them, playing chase with the other dragonets. Cringing, the team leader corrected, "Actually, I can't."

Stoick stood silent for a long, terrifying moment, shaking with anger. "Great Hall," he finally said. "Now."

Then he stomped away, giving the Red Death dragonet a look like he was trying to murder him with his eyes.

The four trainers and their Pokémon filed out of the building as the enraged Viking vanished from sight.

"That was a little too anti-climactic," complained Adhesive. He then asked, "Should I gather the secondary characters? I mean, the rest of the team?"

Hiccup shook his head. "No, this is between us and my dad."

"Not to mention," said Brandyn, "how crowded it would get with all of us in the Great Hall."

As if on cue, a large white lion Pokémon charged in from above, having spent the whole morning flying through the sunlit sky. Not waiting for his friends to recover from the small quake his landing had brought, Ra launched into spontaneous and complicated patterns of words.

"Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. This is fantastically fabulous. Fortuitously felicitous. You want to know what a living nightmare is?"

A hesitant, but curious, Ninjark asked, "What?"

"Gaining a large vocabulary, an encyclopedic knowledge of the universe, and being trapped in a tiny, mute, unmoving evolution!"

Brandyn offered his Solgaleo partner a half-smile. "As nice as it is that you and Camazotz are getting used to having your voices back, now's not really the best time for you two to be playing with your new vocal cords."

A beautiful Lunala floated down on the other side of the group, her eyes sparkling as brightly as her wings.

"We are aware," crooned Camazotz. "But Ra and I were only able to talk to each other as Cosmoem. And now we can talk to anyone we want!"

Not wanting to get any further off track, Hiccup offered a quick recap. "Okay, Mortem and Bigwings have raided the storehouses, leaving a bad impression on the village, we need a plan to change that before my dad starts demanding their heads."

"He seems more mad at Mortem than Bigwings," Heather observed.

It was then that Escutcheon and Rapier approached them, the former a bit slower thanks to his shield-mane weighing him down - not that he couldn't handle wielding it.

"It's a story that can be discussed on our way to the village," the Zamazenta, his gaze directed at Hiccup.

The four trainers started forward when a Silvally suddenly blocked their path.

"I'm coming with you," Buddy said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"What is this, a Legendary brigade?" questioned Astrid. She didn't normally use sarcasm, but spending a lot of time with her husband had clearly rubbed off on her a little.

Regardless, Buddy stood firm. "Mortem is as much my responsibility as he is yours," he insisted. "And he's my friend, too. I'm not dropping him."

"Then let's go!" Hiccup decided. He gave the group a signal, prompting them all to call their dragons and make a beeline for the village.


The moment the four trainers and their partners entered the Great Hall, they were bombarded with the complaints of angry Vikings.

"It's a menace!"

"It tried to eat my baby!"

"It ruined all my crops!"

"My soup is too hot!"

All eyes were on Tuffnut, who was sitting at a table with a bowl of soup. "What?" he asked, "I thought we were all shouting our problems."

Sarin the Nidorino took the bowl in his mouth and dumped its contents into his trainer's lap. Maybe that would teach him to keep his stupidity to himself.

The Chief and his Beartic stepped forward, the former raising a hand to silence everyone in the hall. "I am aware of this...new development, and I can assure you all that I will handle it rightfully so. The beast will cause no further trouble to us, or anyone else."

In a low murmur, Adhesive spoke his thoughts aloud. "Punishing a dragonet for the reputation his mother left behind is very harsh, even for Stoick. At least, I think even for Stoick."

"Dad," pleaded Hiccup. "Mortem is as much a dragon as Toothless, Stormfly, and every other dragon on this island, the whole archipelago, in fact! Other than scaring the entire village, he hasn't done anything wrong!"

"He?" Stoick repeated, skeptical of the fact.

"Females are a lot more vicious than males," Buddy said in a know-it-all voice. "If Mortem were a girl, this whole island would be up in flames by now. Furthermore, Red Death females are pledged to mate with the male who defeats them in battle, which is not an easy feat, even for their own kind." He then sat on his haunches with a satisfied look on his face.

With a shake of his head, Stoick told them, "That doesn't change what he did to this village. Or what he could do, for that matter."

Snivels let out a half-scoff half-laugh. "Last I checked, Mortem didn't send everyone on a suicide mission to the dragons' nest. You're the one who almost got us all killed!"

That comment sent the entire hall into an uproar. Vikings berated the Servine for speaking about the chief like that, but the Grass-type Pokémon prince didn't so much as flinch at their shouts. He didn't need to be told that he was right, he had a habit of knowing when he was.

"Enough!" bellowed Stoick over the shouts. Just like that, there was silence throughout the hall. He then eyed his son with a look of contempt. "Bring the beast to the arena. We'll carry out its sentence there."

"That's not very reassuring..." Astrid said under her breath. But even with the many anticipated mutters of the Vikings, everybody heard her speak.

The team filed out of the hall one by one. Heather, Ninjark, Brandyn, Ra and Camazotz, who had been silent the whole time, all exchanged looks of concern. They'd heard the story of the Red Death's defeat, but not explicitly.

And if it had really gone the way it was said - even if it was an exaggeration - they definitely had their work cut out for them.


The walk to the academy was an activity no one on the team was looking forward to. While it was reassuring to have Escutcheon, Rapier and the dragons guarding Mortem and Bigwings on the way, there was no escaping the inevitable 'trial.'

"The eggs will be fine," the Zamazenta insisted in Pokéspeak to his Zacian partner, who had just expressed his concern incomprehensibly around the hilt of his mouth-sword. Then, "I don't know if they're aware about 'us'!" And after a moment, "No, I don't think we have to tell them."

Blaze couldn't help overhearing what Escutcheon was saying, and although it made her curious, she knew better than to ask about something that was obviously a touchy subject for the two Legendary Pokémon. Taking a quick sideways glance, the Blaziken took in her trainer's posture and asked, "Still upset about earlier?"

"How could you tell?" was Astrid's sarcastic reply.

"It's not like this is the first time it's happened," said Blaze, then adopted a more tough-as-nails voice as she mimicked Astrid. "'I'm gonna win the honor to kill that dragon!' 'No one is kissing me on the lips, ever!' 'I'm never getting married in a month of Sundays!'" Then, in her normal voice, "You're like the Queen of Eating Words around here!" She faked a cough in an attempt to cover up her snickering.

A pair of bright blue eyes met her own and glared.

"...Well, you are!" the Blaziken protested.

Ignoring their argument, Hiccup stroked his chin in deep thought, trying to apply his natural intellect to the conundrum that was staring them all in the face. There had to be something they could do - there was no way they could let Stoick hurt Mortem.

"Snivels, do you have any..." he started, only to stop when he realized the Servine's nose was stuck on the screen of Adhesive's phone - metaphorically, of course. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Snivels asked unconsciously before looking up. "Oh, sorry! I was just reading." He turned the phone so Hiccup could see. "This Monsters of Berk stuff is very fascinating. You know what I like about reading? It's like you're seeing what's happening without actually seeing it. The technique is most effective when the amount of detail is just right. Like...Wings of Fire, for example. Those books can really come alive, if you know what I mean."

Adhesive floated over to see what all the talk was about. "Nice to hear you're enjoying Monsters of Berk," he said. "It's one of my favorites!"

"And now it's mine as well," Snivels said, smiling. "I'd love to meet Sightless again someday. I hope he's not getting into too much trouble."

"Actually," said the Poipole, "Sightless isn't exactly a male."

"Wait," Snivels said, raising a hand. "What do you mean 'not exactly'? It's simple, Sightless is either a boy or a girl."

"Not necessarily," Adhesive noted, then launched into an enthusiastic and informative nerd-ramble. "The Gore Magala is actually the juvenile form of an Elder Dragon called the Shagaru Magala. Both species are completely genderless, like Magneton and Klinklang, so they don't require mates in order to reproduce."

Snivels stared at the Poipole with a confused and somewhat disturbed look. "So...Sightless is really an 'it', not a 'he' or 'she'?"

"I'm afraid so," said an apologetic Adhesive. "You can keep calling Sightless a male, though. You know, for simplicity's sake."

Snivels pressed the home button on the phone, revealing the background photo. "So, what's the story behind this, then?"

Adhesive stopped progressing, signaling Snivels to do the same so they could continue the conversation alone, and in Pokéspeak so the humans wouldn't be able to understand what he and Snivels were saying, should they try to overhear.

"Let's just say that was when 'perfect' became my new favorite word," the Poipole said with a happy sigh. Then he frowned. "I'm still bummed about missing the wedding, though. The one in this world, I mean. It's practically my dream to see a Hiccstrid wedding in person, and the last time that happened was, like, the fourth of Never-ary."

Keeping a cautious eye on the rest of the team, so they wouldn't fall too far behind, Snivels asked, "Well, what about all the other worlds?"

Adhesive sighed sadly before listing, "The one in the canon timeline is not for another six years or so, except in my world, where it's already happened, but I was only permitted to see it in the theatre. How to Raise a Dragon, I had to take my college final exams, so I ended up missing it. Legends are Born, the timeline mysteriously disappeared except for the dare war portion, which is really weird. Living with the Haddocks, my mother got sick and I had to take care of her. How to Become a Trainer, I had to work the evening shift to erase any possible remnants of that computer virus Hroar used to cover his tracks. Monsters of Berk," - he paused to think - "nothing's come up yet, but, you know what they say, hope for the best and prepare for the worst." He then eyed Snivels with a grateful expression. "And honestly, no one's stuck around long enough to hear all of that."

"It's easier to make friends when you know more about them," was the Servine's reply. "Even when I don't entirely understand what they're saying, I'm more than happy to listen." He then held up the phone to the Poipole's eye level. "So, how about you teach me how to contact the Ultra Guardians?"

Adhesive smacked one of his tiny hands against his large forehead. "Of course, calling for help! I don't know how I forgot about that! Okay, so, what you wanna do is - "

"We should catch up with the others, first," said Snivels, seeing the group had advanced quite a bit without them. "Then we call for help."

"Good plan," Adhesive spat out before he took off after the group, with his new friend following with a smile.

They nearly bumped into Brandyn and Heather, but both the Servine and the Poipole managed to slow down enough to avoid a collision. Adhesive gave the two trainers a passing wink before he and Snivels continued on their way.

"So," Ra began, leaning his head in between Brandyn and his - ahem - special friend. "Cama and I couldn't help but notice you two have been rather...close to each other recently."

Brandyn gaped at him.

"We may not have been able to speak to you," said Camazotz, "But we could still hear you." She turned her smile to Heather. "You two make a very effective couple."

Ninjark, who was only half-listening, asked, "Effective what?"

Ra opened his mouth to answer, but halted when he saw Brandyn slowly shaking his head, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Nothing," the Solgaleo lied.

The Greninja looked confused, but accepted Ra's answer nonetheless.

"So, you're not gonna tell anyone?" Heather asked the Sun and Moon Legendaries.

"No," confirmed Camazotz. "We won't tell."

"But you should," Ra added.

Something bumped into his side, and the Solgaleo found Escutcheon trying to squeeze past. "Sorry," uttered the Zamazenta, weaving his way through the group (with difficulty, thanks to his shield-mane) until he reached the irritated Astrid.

"Rapier and I are aware of the impact our presence has had on your pride," Escutcheon said gently. "Perhaps you'd like to talk about it?"

"Yes," admitted Astrid, "but not with you."

Escutcheon then gestured to Hiccup with his head. "Go on, then."

As it turned out, Hiccup had a similar idea, and the two halves of the married couple ended up meeting each other halfway. Then nearly ran into each other, but they caught themselves and proceeded to walk together.

"I'm so sorry about earlier," he stated with as much sincerity as humanly possible. "I honestly wasn't sure if the air mail was going to work."

"It's fine," she insisted. "I'm actually more mad at myself than at you. I should have been more careful about what I said." She then nudged him playfully. "Besides, everyone on this team knows there's only one guy who can get to me that way."

Finding himself amused, Hiccup simply couldn't resist giving her a semi-teasing jab. "Well then, how would you feel about a romantic midday flight over the sea?" he asked with a wry grin.

With a roll of her eyes, Astrid flashed him a half-hearted grin back before saying seriously, "As much as I'd love to say yes, now's not the right time. Mortem needs every amount of protection we can give him."

The team leader made a huge show of putting his finger to his chin and humming thoughtfully, trying to make it seem as though waiting to spend time with his soul mate was far more trouble than it was worth. The theatrics were for his own personal amusement, of course - for Astrid was never more trouble than she was worth. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Fine, it can wait," he finally allowed.

This time, his wife matched his teasing grin inch-for-inch. "You know you love me." Then, to make it less awkward, she slugged him in the shoulder.

"Do I?" he asked teasingly, giving her his own light punch on her shoulder. "Yes. Yes, I do."

That was when a certain Red Death dragon tore right past them, and the entire island seemed to be shake as he bounded toward another storehouse up ahead. A white serpentine dragonet covered in spines soon followed.

Hiccup winced at the sound of crashing barrels, tearing fabric, and the dull *thunk* of stray spines embedding in wood. When he dared to open his eyes, the place looked like a warzone.

Countless bits of wood were scattered everywhere, laundry that had been hung out to try was now in shreds, and every house you looked at had Screaming Death spines stuck in the outside walls. And in the middle of it all were Mortem and Bigwings, chowing down on salmon and roasted chicken and yak chops galore.

Team Go-Getters picked themselves up off the ground, unable to look away from the mess.

"Is it just me, or do they look bigger?" Snivels said in mild disbelief.

It wasn't just him. Hiccup recalled Mortem being around the size of two adult Gronckles standing on each other's shoulders, but now it was more like two and a half. And Bigwings had definitely gotten longer by at least five to eight feet.

"WHAT IS ALL THAT NOISE?!"

Stoick's shout nearly made every creature jump about a foot in the air.

Oh, this is not good, Hiccup thought with dread.

The entire Berkian council, Pokémon included, were just about to enter the academy when they heard the commotion the dragonets had accidentally caused in their pursuit for food. The sight they found when they arrived at the source of the noise did not please the chief at all. If humans had fire, Hiccup was pretty sure Stoick would have been spewing flames out of his mouth.

"Contain that beast!" the chief commanded, pointing furiously at Mortem.

Brumous obediently stomped forward, rearing up on his hind legs.

"No!" Snivels protested.

Too late. The chief's Beartic sucked in a deep breath and released a wind with light blue sparkles in it from his mouth into the air. Small clumps of ice formed in the wind and grew longer and larger, forming into sharp icicles.

The Icicle Crash rained down around Mortem and Bigwings, some a little too close for comfort. The two dragonets bunched together as the icicles formed a makeshift cage around them. Any other dragon could have easily melted their way out, but neither Mortem nor Bigwings had mastered their fire yet.

Vikings and Pokémon alike moved in with chains, which they clamped around Mortem's legs and mouth. Feeling threatened, Bigwings lashed out at them, scattering them momentarily before they came running back to restrain him, too.

Snivels frantically tapped at the screen of Adhesive's phone, hoping that he could somehow manage to call someone, anyone, for help. But haste makes waste, and the Servine failed to get the device to do what he wanted it to.

"Dad, stop," Hiccup pleaded. "They're not dangerous! Just leave them alone!"

Toothless, Stormfly, Windshear, Buck, Verne and Wavern started forward as a whole, only to stop Stoick held up a hand to silence his son. "I've seen enough," he growled. Then, to the council, he commanded, "Cage them in the arena."

He pointed a finger at Mortem. "I want that monster executed."


That sneeze gag was for you, Cottonmouth. Hope it made you laugh!

And Adhesive continues to just demolish the fourth wall. Too much? I can make it stop whenever.

Also, Escutcheon and Rapier are closer to one another than any of you might think. That's all I'm gonna say for now.

Maybe not the best kind of chapter for Halloween, but it's better than nothing. Have a spooky evening, everyone!