Chapter 22: Taming Thunder

Spoiler alert: Alvin's not the only one who dies in this episode.


Alvin the Treacherous was many things. A leader, to some. A feared and capable warrior, to most. A traitor and a disgrace to the gods, to pretty much everyone.

And Dagur had just added "dead" to that list.

The Outcasts all stood dumbstruck at the sight of their fallen leader. It was no secret that Alvin hadn't produced any heirs, so now who was going to lead them?

Dagur pocketed the murder weapon he'd just used and addressed the leaderless Vikings. "It's high time you all followed a new law and order." He pointed to the corpse on the floor. "Either that, or you can join him."

When Mildew came into the room carrying a plate of yak ribs and saw the dead body of the Outcasts' leader, he dropped the plate in a state of total shock. He opened his mouth and pointed with a gnarled finger, clearly preparing to scream - and all that came out was a senseless stream of nonsensical sounds that was about as far from Norse as a person could get.

"Oh my gods," Dagur complained, "What is that babbler going on about now?"

Himinn chuckled. She recognized a lightning bolt to the head when she heard one. She wasn't sure whether to be glad or disappointed that she couldn't understand what the old hermit was saying. Tuffnut, she remembered, was fluent in "Post-Lightning Snotlout," so perhaps it wouldn't be too much trouble for Himinn to take lessons from him.

Mildew continued to jab his fingers at Alvin's corpse, shouting nonsense at the top of his lungs in a state of total and complete shock. But the Outcast soldier who had escorted the Haddock sister from another world to the throne room shoved Mildew out of the way so he could step forward and address the Berserker chief.

"Sir?" the guard called out to get Dagur's attention. "There's someone here who wanted to have a word with Alvin, but, uh...I'm sure she'd be interested in speaking with you instead. Right, Ms. Dragon Wrangler?"

Himinn hated Outcasts with a passion, but she had to give the guard credit for retaining some level of competence in spite of having witnessed the murder of his chief. Plus, she had to keep up the charade she'd gotten herself into if she had any chance at helping her little brother (or at least, one version of him) with getting a Skrill out of Dagur's hands.

"It's Himinn," she reminded the soldier as she approached, dragging Typhoon with her by one of the straps on her saddle (which the Windwalker did not like at all). "And as far as I'm concerned, a client is a client, no questions asked. I take it you're in charge of these blokes, now, Mr. the Deranged? Or should I just call you Dagur?"

The tension in the room rushed out like a deflated Drifblim as Dagur let out a hearty laugh. "Call me what you wish, my dear. I could use someone like you to show my new pet who's the boss around here."

"But of course," said Himinn, "Someone's gotta be strong and mighty enough to keep the beasts in line around here." She flashed what she thought was an apologetic look to Typhoon, but the dragon's response of an angry growl made her wonder if her expression was condescending instead.

"Finally!" Dagur cheered. "Someone who speaks my language!"

The Berserkers cheered as well, though some of them sounded more forced than sincere - especially from the Pokémon.

Speaking of which, Dagur had noticed one odd thing about Himinn. "Where's your partner?"

"My what?" Himinn asked, confused.

"Your partner," Dagur repeated. He jabbed a finger at the Bisharp standing next to him. "Deathblade here is mine. He's the most weapon-iest Pokémon in the world!"

Himinn knew that 'weapon-iest' wasn't a real word, but she couldn't think of any other adjective that would best fit such a creature. It looked like a walking arsenal of swords and axes, and she'd bet all of the gold coins in her pocket that the Astrid from her home dimension would have loved to have something like that on her side.

She remembered that Dagur was still waiting for her to answer his question, so she hastily lied, "Oh, yeah, of course, I had a partner. But I lost them to a dragon during one of my earliest assignments, this particular dragon in fact. So, now, I keep her as a replacement, and a reminder."

"What kind of Pokémon was it?" asked Dagur.

Himinn quickly ran through her mental list of Pokémon names she'd learned while Hiccup had filled her in on how their universe worked compared to hers. Servine. Blaziken. Greninja. She had a feeling that if she used any of those, it would arouse suspicion.

Himinn remembered someone that Snivels had mentioned when Hiccup was in the middle of his lengthy explanation. It was risk, using the name of a Pokémon she'd never met. All Himinn knew about them was that they were one of Hiccup's first friends, they could fly and breathe fire, and they had single-handedly bested a Pokémon stronger than them in their first-ever air battle. It may not have been much to work with, but they sounded like three good features to Himinn.

"It was a Charizard," she said. "His name was Char. Great name, I know, but I didn't choose it. We knew each other for practically our whole lives." She tried to sound choked up with sadness, but she probably sounded more like she had a chicken wing stuck in her throat. "I wanted to kill the dragon that took him from me, but I decided it would have benefitted both of us if I trained her instead. She lives, I get a new partner, we're even, fifty-fifty." She gave Typhoon's saddle strap a sharp tug. "I'm still mad at her, though."

Even the Outcasts and Berserkers had to wipe away a stray tear or two as Himinn lied her way into their favor. It wasn't often a Viking lost their partner in battle.

"Now that's my kind of girl!" Dagur shouted at full volume, thrusting his hands high into the air. "Three cheers for the Dragon Wrangler!"

The crowd gladly obliged. "Him-inn! Him-inn! HIM-INN!" they roared.

Himinn inwardly let out a relieved sigh. She'd bluffed her way in. And she couldn't wait to see the look on Dagur's face when he realized he'd been tricked. That'd teach Oswald's demented brat to disrespect her little brother...


As the sun rose, Himinn and Typhoon snuck back out to their hiding spot and reunited with Hiccup, Toothless, and their friends. After saying hello to the Go-Getters and sharing a mediocre breakfast (fresh gar - caught by Toothless offshore that morning), Hiccup pressed them for details about what they'd found out.

Himinn obliged him with a reenactment of how what had happened between the two chiefs and how well she had managed to sway the Outcasts and Berserkers. "Oh my Thor, little bro, you should've seen it," she enthused. "When Dagur diced Alvin with that knife, I actually thought for a minute that we were goners, too! I had to give them an origin story on the fly, and also try not to laugh at Post-Lightning Mildew, and I privately thought that maybe Typhoon and I couldn't do it but we DID IT and they are GOING DOWN!"

She flung her arms around her dragon's neck, which made Typhoon growl a little. She hadn't yet forgiven her rider for treating her like she was a brainless animal. Typhoon didn't care if it was just for show, Himinn was so gonna pay for it later.

"Okay okay, that's great," Hiccup said impatiently. "But what're they planning?"

"Well, Alvin's plan was to completely destroy Berk first and then give the Skrill to Dagur," said the Haddock sister from another world. "Dagur, however, wanted it to go the other way around, which, of course, explains the whole knife-to-the-chest thing."

"So, if Alvin's dead, who's in charge of the Outcasts?" asked Snivels, raising an eyebrow.

Himinn jumped right into the answer. "Under normal circumstances, it would be the chief's heir, or their second-in-command in the case that the chief didn't produce any children. But Mr. I-Like-Killing-Chiefs basically waltzed up and handed himself the role because no one else was going for it."

"You seem pretty well-versed in law," observed Blaze. "Are you in training to be chief? I mean, you are older than Hiccup."

Himinn shrugged indifferently. "Nope," she replied. "I can't be chief, even if I wanted to. In the event that the chief's firstborn child is female, but they have a male kid after her, then the male kid is the heir. Don't ask why that is, because I really don't know. But I'm ninety-six percent sure that if I ever asked, they'd give me some yak-dung of an answer like 'all of Berk's previous chiefs were men, so that's the way it's supposed to be'."

"That is a very stupid law," said Brandyn. "From what I've seen and heard, women can be just as, if not more, successful and accomplished as men." He winked at Heather, who blushed faintly.

"You know," said Adhesive, "where I'm from, there's actually a history of women who have used their initials so their work wouldn't be pre-judged. Harry Potter's J.K. Rowling, Star Trek's D.C. Fontana..."

"Animorphs' K.A. Applegate," added Sticky.

Frowning, Hiccup stroked his chin in thought. If the Outcasts, Berserkers, and the Skrill were all working together, then they would need all the Go-Getters they had in order to stand a chance. If they included the Resistance, the Ultra Guardians, and finally Axel's ragtag group of regional variants, that gave them a bit of extra firepower. But even with those numbers, he feared the enemy would still not be all that easy to beat...not so long as they had the Skrill, which, in a thunderstorm, had enough power on its own to rival at least five or six of them combined.

"Two fleets merged into one and a Skrill is going to pretty tough to handle..." the Haddock boy muttered, anxiously.

"So what's our next move then, Onomato?" asked Adhesive.

Getting to his feet, Hiccup gave them their next set of instructions. "Himinn, Typhoon," he ordered, "I need you to get back down there and distract the arena guards. Toothless and I are going to free that Skrill."

At the sound of his name, Toothless got up from where he was laying amongst the rocks and snorted a puff of air from his nostrils, ready to get back into action.

"Hang on," Snivels interjected, raising his hands. "I'm the one who can speak Dragonese. Verne and I will go. Adhesive, can you be a lookout?"

The purple Poipole gave him a salute. "On it!"

Hiccup just sighed and motioned for them to go. Okay, time to get back to work...


Sometime Later

Snivels and Verne approached the Outcast training ring, ready to bust the Skrill out. The Noivern followed the Servine closely, his senses on high alert for any lurking dangers. But so far, they were in the clear as they proceeded with their mission.

The reason for that was soon made obvious. Snivels tripped over something he hadn't seen in his haste to get to the arena, and he looked down to see that it was an unconscious Outcast. Bemused, he scanned the perimeter and found more snoozing guards scattered all around the area.

"Looks like someone beat us to the punch," he commented quietly, as he started to get the arena door open. "Here's hoping there aren't any Berserkers in there..."


Himinn and Typhoon weren't that far from the sneaky Grass Snake and his mount.

"Okay, I've got another one," she told the Outcasts sitting around the table. "I was face-to-face with one of the biggest Shockjaws I'd ever seen, twice as big as this Windwalker!" She patted Typhoon's flank. "All I had to defend myself was a temperamental lizard and a wooden fork. I didn't think I was going to make it, and yet, here I am, alive and well! And do you wanna know how I beat him?"

"How?" one of them called out.

Himinn pulled herself up onto the table and struck a heroic pose. "I jab the fork into his eye, give his other one a good punch, and he's out like a light in a windstorm!"

Immediately, her audience exploded into cheers. Typhoon slumped down onto the floor, giving her rider an eye roll she couldn't see.

"And that's why no one messes with Himinn the Dragon Wrangler!" she shouted out.

"Tell us another one, Himinn!" another Outcast shouted out, raising his mug of ale.

"I'm here 'til Thursday, boys!" the young woman chuckled. "Try the yak chops!"


Meanwhile

Amber stretched herself awake, the joints in her wings creaking a little, as they were still relatively new and not quite exercised enough. She pushed herself to her feet and lumbered outside, hoping that the warmth of the sun would awaken her mind and body a little more.

She ended up wandering out into a dark and wild storm rather than a bright, sunshiny morning. There was sparsely any light aside from the occasional red bolts of angry lightning. Other than that, the sky was dark.

Frankly, Amber was disappointed. She loved feeling the sun on her skin every day, all bright and warm and everything. What was this storm doing here?

She turned to leave - and suddenly, a bolt of red lightning branched out of the clouds and struck her square in the back.

The amber-colored Charizard fell to the ground on all fours. She expected a world of pain to start flooding her body.

Instead, she started glowing a red aura that crackled with energy.

"What's happening?" Amber asked aloud.

Suddenly, she began to change.

She was becoming large. So large, so quickly, that her head was rising toward the clouds.

Bursts of flames engulfed her wings and erupted from her horns, and red puffs circled her fiery tail.

But what Amber noticed most was the power. It was coursing through her veins, rippling up and down her tail, wings, arms, legs; it was surging all throughout her massive body. It was an incredible, giddy rush.

One minute, she was a normal, everyday Charizard. The next minute...the power! The amazing, straining, burning, explosive POWER!


With Himinn doing her job and no guards in sight, Snivels pulled the heavy door open and raced freely into the training ring. Verne was close behind, his footfalls sounded loud in the silent arena as he ran over the rocky surface.

If Snivels remembered correctly, the cage in which the Outcasts were keeping the Skrill was the one furthest from the entrance. He kept his attention locked on that cell as he quickly dashed across the empty ring, and only slowed down when he was right in front of it. Breathing hard, the Servine peered into the darkness and called, "Hello?"

"You again?" growled the Skrill. A thick metal collar was locked around the base of his neck, marking him as a prisoner. Long chains ran down from rings on the collar's sides, each of them secured to rings on the walls of the cell to ensure that the Skrill didn't try to flee whenever the door was opened. "What do you want, Green?"

Snivels picked the cage's lock, then tugged on the bars of the cell and the door swung open.

"My name is Snivels," he corrected. "And this is Verne. We're getting you out of here before that demon kid turns you into a weapon."

"You mean Metal Face?" the dragon asked. "I'm not worried about him. He's no match for me."

Verne's ears twitched, apparently detecting something, and growled suspiciously. Snivels turned around and took a good look around at the training ring for the first time, taking in details that he hadn't noticed before - there were several scorch marks scattered around on the floor and walls. They were a sure indication that a struggle had taken place not long ago, and it surely involved the Skrill.

"I heard you calling for help after you broke out of the ice," Snivels told the dragon. "I know you were scared. You're still scared now. We're answering your calls. Now's not the time for you to be picky."

"I'm not picky!" the Skrill snapped. "I...I have trust issues, alright? I admit it. I'm afraid that no one will trust me, so I decide to not trust them first. Go ahead, laugh. I'm not a touchy-feely type of dragon."

"I had trust issues, too," said Snivels, "And you know what? The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. You can start with me, if you want to." He extended a leafy hand towards the Skrill.

There was the clicking of claws on stone floor, the clanging of chains being moved, and then a scaly snout pressed against Snivels's outstretched hand.

"...Can you get me out of these?" he finally asked.

"Not a problem," Snivels simpered. He stepped aside, and Verne shuffled into the cage. The Noivern spread his wings, now glowing white with a metallic appearance, and struck the chains with Steel Wing. The links snapped cleanly at the force of the blows, leaving the Skrill free to meander his way out.

"Now let's get out of here," said Snivels, mostly to himself.

The sound of approaching steps echoed around the arena, and a scratchy voice declared, "Just what do you think you're doing, you vile little beast?"

Snivels swiveled around so fast he nearly toppled over. Standing right in the middle of the arena, armed with a crossbow, with a wooden staff tucked under one arm and Adhesive caught under the other, was Mildew.

"I've had it up to here with you, you slimy serpent," snarled the old man, who had been cured of his lightning-induced gibberish. "You're not thwarting me this time!"

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?" the Servine asked in Norse, his sarcastic tone mirroring that of Hiccup. "And for the record, I'm not here to thwart you, I'm here to thwart Dagur."

Adhesive let out a scream muffled by Mildew's arm over his mouth as he struggled against his captor's hold. A moment later, the old man cried out in pain and dropped the Poipole, who flew right over to Snivels's side.

"He bit me!" Mildew shrieked. True to his word, a set of teeth marks had scarred the skin of his arm.

"I'm not happy about that either," gagged Adhesive, "Believe me. Does anyone have a mint, or something?"

Folding his arms across his chest, Snivels addressed the old hermit. "You just lost your leverage, Mildew. It's four to one, now. You best get out of here while you still can."

Fuming, Mildew readjusted his hold on the crossbow. "Enough! All you've ever done is get in my way, plot after plot! The cages, the armory, the flowers, the thunderstorm! And this! This is the last straw! I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago!"

He had the arrow aimed right at Snivels's heart.

He pulled the trigger.

Snivels ducked, and the arrow ricocheted off the wall behind him.

Two other Pokémon and a chain-wearing dragon also hit the deck as the projectile continued bouncing off the stone walls of the arena.

A minute later there was the muffled *thunk* of an arrow embedding itself in living flesh.

Mildew smiled wickedly, convinced that he was finally rid of the wretched creature that had foiled him so many times. But it quickly faded as his body registered an excruciating pain radiating from below his left shoulder. His arms slumped, the crossbow falling from his grasp, and he stumbled.

Now the group of four could clearly see the tail of the arrow sticking up from the upper left side of old man's back.

Mildew didn't need to look over his shoulder to know what had happened, but he did anyway. With his final breath, he uttered, "Son of a Bisharp."

Then he slumped to the floor like a slow avalanche.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

The sound running feet startled Snivels, but he needn't have worried - it was only Himinn and Typhoon, running through the door and not stopping until they'd reached the Servine. Himinn placed her hands on her knees and took a few moments to catch her breath.

"Sorry I'm late! I got a little carried away!" the other-worldly Haddock girl gasped out. "Where's the Skrill?"

As if on cue, the chain-wearing dragon burst out into the open with a threatening roar. Himinn stared at him, unflinching. While Hiccup's preferred approach to a dragon was to walk up to it while expressing desire not to cause harm, she'd rather let the dragon come to her.

The Skrill did that, but he didn't let up his stance. Even with a heavy metal collar and awkward half-chains dragging behind him, he was determined to show this newcomer what he was made of.

But a certain Windwalker wasn't going to let him get away with it that easily.

"Get away from my friend!" roared Typhoon as she brushed past her rider and planted her feet firmly in front of her new rival.

"No, Typhoon," Himinn said, gentle but firm. "Not yet."

With a snarl, the Windwalker backed up until she was sitting next to her rider.

The chained dragon was stunned. "That dragon obeyed her. Why? Who is she?"

"Our friend," said Snivels, who was now back on his feet. "And if you're willing to trust her, then she's your friend, too."

The Skrill took one step forward, sizing up the girl. She had no weapons. She wasn't making any move toward him. The only hostility he was getting was from the Windwalker sitting on her left. But that was normal. Skrills hardly ever got along with other dragons.

Himinn extended her hand, ever so slowly, turning her head away from the Skrill's gaze. Her eyes widened when they inexplicably landed on Mildew's corpse. "What in Odin's eye happened here?" she asked.

Snivels summed it up - "Long story."

Then the familiar feeling of smooth dragon scales brushed against Himinn's palm, and she found herself staring into the eyes of the Skrill. The dragon's snout was barely touching her hand, but it was good enough for her.

"Okay, let's go," Himinn said, already beginning to head for the exit.

The small group fled the arena as fast as they could to get the Skrill out of his restraints and off the island, away from Dagur's reach. Upon turning a corner, though, they got a scare big enough to almost stop their hearts. One second, they were looking over their shoulders to make sure they hadn't been caught - the next, Hiccup was in their faces. Both Haddocks yelped with fright, and Himinn reflexively struck out with her fist before she realized just who she'd run into.

"Guys!" Hiccup exclaimed, wide-eyed at nearly having Himinn's fist make contact with his fragile nose. "You need to get out of here before Dagur sees you!"

"What did you think we were doing right now?" Himinn asked. She sidestepped to reveal the still-chained Skrill bringing up the rear.

"Um, Hiccup?" said Snivels, a bit timidly. "You're probably not going to believe this, but - "

"Snivels, can you tell me on the way home?" Hiccup interrupted.

"Uh, this really isn't an 'on the way' kind of thing," Snivels told him, sounding strangely nervous. "More like a potentially gasp-inducing, shocking -"

But Hiccup waved him off, not wanting any kind of distractions right now. Whatever Snivs was worried about, surely it could wait until after the Skrill was off of Berserker Island. The future of the archipelago was at stake here.

"Yeah, just add it to the pile," he said dismissively. "Listen, we need to get the Skrill out of here, NOW."

Suddenly, an undoubtedly masculine shout came from the direction of the arena. It was joined by more shouts, then the sounds of pounding feet and rattling weapons.

The Go-Getters were no longer the only ones that knew of the Skrill's escape.

"Gotta go," Hiccup decided.

Snivels, Adhesive and Himinn unanimously agreed with him, and together, they hastily clambered back up the rocks to where their teammates were waiting. It was a somewhat long path, since none of them wanted to risk their presence on the island being discovered, and had thus hidden themselves a good distance away from any Outcast buildings.

As soon as Toothless had forced his bulk after them through the narrow gap between two boulders, Hiccup turned around and vaulted himself into the saddle.

"Snivs, Ad, Himinn, go get the others and head for the sky," the team leader ordered, sounding rushed. This situation was urgent. "Toothless and I are going to guide the Skrill away from here before Dagur can get his hands on it."

He was about to take off when Snivs's voice answered him. "But Hiccup, the storm's still up there. For all we know, there could be a rampaging Dynamaxed Pokémon waiting for us."

He had a very good point, one that made Hiccup hesitate. In all the excitement that had been happening since he and Toothless landed on Outcast Island, he'd forgotten about the Dynamax storm. It was too much for him to hope that it would be smooth sailing on the way back home.

There's just too much to worry about... Hiccup thought, rubbing his temples. The possibility of a Dynamaxed Pokémon or two made his plan ten times more complicated. He didn't want to have to figure something out now.

"I know, I know," he told Snivs, sounding weary. "We'll deal with it when we get there. I'll think of something. For now, the Skrill is our top priority."

He left no room for argument. Verne and Typhoon flew off with their riders to get the other Go-Getters, leaving Hiccup and Toothless with the Skrill. After taking a moment to look grimly up at the storm clouds overhead, they jumped into the air and made their way toward the coast. Their target - the Berserkers.

Hiccup was fairly sure that Dagur had been the one to try and let the Skrill out. He hadn't seen any Berserker soldiers or boats since sunrise, and the mess in the arena right after the tribe's arrival on Outcast Island was a little bit too convenient to be a coincidence. Once they noticed the Skrill's absence, the Berserkers would undoubtedly be chasing him again.

With that in mind, Toothless doubled his speed as the three of them flew out to the gray sea, thunder rumbling ominously far above.

Using the sharp rocks and sea stacks as cover, Hiccup and Toothless skillfully navigated the treacherous coastline of Outcast Island. There didn't seem to be any wild dragons around, not like the last couple of times they'd been here. Perhaps they had fled the area, not wanting to get involved with the various maniacal Vikings that had suddenly appeared.

If that was the case, Hiccup knew how they felt.

"Come on," he said softly, as they dove underneath an archway and swerved around a few spikes that jutted up from the ocean's surface. "Just keep close to the cliffs and we can avoid getting caught by that psychotic chief-killer."

The Skrill let out a short screech of annoyance and bumped against Toothless so that he and Hiccup almost crashed into a rock.

Hastily improving his grip on the saddle so he wouldn't fall off, Hiccup waited until his mount had become steady again before explaining, "You're gonna have to trust me on this. We're getting you out of here, and then you can decide where to go next. Preferably far away from here."

The Skrill snorted, but complied. "Whatever you say, Colon Boy."

"Colon Boy?" Toothless echoed, offended. "His name is Hiccup!"

"What kind of stupid name is that?" asked the Skrill. "Do his parents hate him or something?"

"His mother's been dead for nearly his whole life," said Toothless, having been told so enough times that he knew it was true. "His father...that's up for discussion."

Keeping his eyes open for any disturbance, any at all, Hiccup had Toothless fly lower so that they were harder to see. If there were any Berserker ships nearby, it wouldn't do for them to spot him before he could spot them. However, as it turned out, he didn't have to worry - for even though there were ships out there, they were too preoccupied with something else to pay attention to the skies.

Hiccup, Toothless and the Skrill flew around yet another sea stack and immediately saw something that made their eyes (well, just Hiccup's eyes) widen in horror. He was looking at a channel formed by two walls of sharp rocks and sea stacks, with hostile vessels sailing in from either end to meet in the middle. There were three Berserker ships plowing through the sea right in front of him, and cruising up behind them as backup were the familiar savage-looking vessels of Alvin's fleet.

Three ships...that must be all that Dagur has left, Hiccup realized, remembering how Gyarados, the giant turtle-thing, and the Skrill had destroyed quite a few of the ships from his Skrill-hunting party yesterday.

There was a flash of orangish light from up in the storm clouds, and a loud flapping sound signaled the approach of something big.

Really, really, REALLY big.

The boats dropped their sails at Dagur's command. There they floated - six ships forming a choppy diamond in the middle of the sea. The wind howled through the natural strait as the Vikings prepared to figuratively butt heads with whatever foe descended down upon them.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment. The waves, for a short time, were silent. It felt like the whole world was holding its breath.

Then a mighty roar echoed through the storm, loud enough to burst everyone's eardrums.

An explosion of flames sent the boats rocking violently on the ocean waves, and out of the red clouds flew the biggest Charizard Hiccup had ever seen.

At least, he thought it was a Charizard. It was orange and draconic in shape, but there was a scattering of yellow diamonds glowing against the white of its lower belly, its wings were literally made of fire, and there was a trio of reddish clouds circling the flame on the end of its tail.

This couldn't be Dynamax. Snivels and the Gyarados had only increased in size, and nothing more, when they Dynamaxed. This had to be something else.

But what?

Dagur looked small and pathetic next to the huge, fiery reptilian Pokémon, and yet he showed no signs of backing off. "Hit me with your best shot," he smirked.

Quietly, Hiccup got Toothless to land on the side of the nearest spike of rock. The Night Fury's talons tightly grabbed hold of the stone and found a secure foothold, allowing them to peer around the side of the spire and watch.

The Charizard roared, and a tornado of wind came bursting out of its mouth. The cyclone crashed against the waves, and they churned wildly, pushing the ships back several feet.

A small piece of metal was blown off its wearer by the powerful gust and sank below the ocean surface. Dagur reached up to cover his exposed face, but Hiccup managed to catch a glimpse of it.

It was a ghastly sight. Where a set of claw mark tattoos had once been, there was a trio of inflamed red gashes caked with dried blood and remnants of the black ink that had made up the decorative mark. His eyeball was still intact, as the lid had been closed when Amber had struck him with Slash, but the uneven stitches on Dagur's eyelid clued Hiccup in on the fact that it had been torn in half.

"Power through it, men!" Dagur yelled. His swollen red eye seemed to gleam with madness - for a second, he looked even crazier. "The Skrill couldn't have gotten far!"

"But sir!" Savage shouted over the wind, "We can't fight this thing! We need to go back!"

"I'm not losing that dragon!" snarled Dagur. "My soldiers found it frozen in my glacier in my territory, and it's my right to use it to get my revenge on Hiccup for messing with my face!"

The Charizard gave its wings a mighty flap, scattering tufts of flames and burning embers into the breeze. But Dagur never backed down. If anything, he seemed even smugger than before, wearing a wide grin on his face at the sight of the giant Pokémon. The unusual response brought a chill to the eavesdropping Hiccup's blood. All of the gathered Berserkers and Outcasts reached for their weapons, and soon the air was filled with the sounds of swords being unsheathed and crossbows being cocked.

It's like they have a death wish, the Haddock boy thought.

"We should go," he whispered into Toothless's ear. "Now, while they're distracted."

The Night Fury crooned in agreement.

So did the Skrill.

Slowly and carefully, the two dragons detached themselves from the rock and flew off, heading for Berk. However, on their way out, Hiccup turned around in the saddle to look behind him. The Charizard was circling above the ships, clearly agitated about something. When it tried to dive closer to Dagur's ship, a hail of crossbow ammo pelted their underside and it rose back up with a roar of fury at the Berserkers.

There was no way the other Go-Getters would be able to make it through that.

Hiccup pulled back on the saddle, prompting Toothless to stop and hover. "Keep going," he told the Skrill. "We need to go back and help our friends."

The wild dragon looked back at him once, rattling the chains attached to the collar that was still around his neck, then flew on.

On Hiccup's command, Toothless did a U-turn back toward Outcast Island where the other Go-Getters were waiting.

"Faster, bud!" he yelled, and the Night Fury took off with double the speed.

The remainder of Dagur's hunting party - now down to five damaged ships - was in quite a rough spot. The rest of the armada was several days away by sea, and by the time he got it all ready for an invasion, those pesky Go-Getters could have easily made it back home and prepared some kind of defense.

Not that Dagur had any doubts about losing a war with Berk. Oh no, his armada was the largest in the archipelago and he was going to get his Skrill back. But Hiccup could be a tricky one. He wanted to minimize the chances of falling victim to one of those tricks as much as possible, especially after what Hiccup's Charmeleon had done to his face.

Anyway...Dagur was down by one ship, two if you counted the one headed back home to fetch the rest of the armada. Fortunately, they didn't have to go all the way home. Thanks to Dagur's genius planning skills, he'd managed to get rid of Alvin and had swayed the rest of the Outcasts to his side. A bit of fear could go a long way - and here he was, standing on a dock to survey the new fleet that that fear had brought him.

Savage met the Berserker chief at the ship's bow and stopped in front of him. "I don't think our fleet can take any more of this," he reported, then hastily added, "Uh, sir."

Dagur let out a genuine laugh, momentarily forgetting all about his scarred face. "Keep fighting through! Once we get the Skrill back, we can lure Hiccup and his dragon-riding buddies into battle."

He threw an arm around Savage's shoulders, all buddy-like. The mustached man tensed up at the seemingly friendly gesture, even more afraid of his new boss than he had been of his old one. Alvin had been a barbarian...but at least the old chief had been sensible. This Dagur kid was just plain nuts.

Before Savage could begin to think of a way to get out of Dagur's hospitality without offending him, he was suddenly saved the trouble. A shout came from above, drawing Dagur's attention away from his new subordinate.

"WHY WAIT?!" a dozen voices shouted at once.

His axe in hand, Dagur charged to the end of the dock and stopped when he saw a group of dragons, all with riders on board, right there above the water in front of him. Their mere presence, just hovering in place like that, mocked him. And the one in the middle was the most familiar, and mocking, of all.

"I'm right here, Dagur!" Hiccup called out encouragingly. "Me and my Night Fury!"

"And his dragon-riding buddies!" added Snivels.

Clenching his fists around his weapon and gritting his teeth, Dagur noticed with rapidly-growing anger that Himinn had tricked him, like some kind of common fool. There they were now, defiantly facing him down atop their dragons in broad daylight. Thanks to them, no doubt, Hiccup had learned of his plans to destroy Berk and Team Go-Getters, and he was taking action right now.

Once again, Dagur had been tricked by the scrawny little heir of Berk, and it positively enraged him.

"Hiccup..." he seethed under his breath, his temper dangerously close to getting the better of him.

The Haddock boy never broke eye contact with the insane teenager, his gaze one of amusement. He offered lightly, "We thought we could settle this like reasonable people. But we know you too well. There's only one way out of this - we fight. How does that sound, huh?"

"Roooooooowwrrrrr!" Toothless agreed, baring his teeth as if in challenge.

Hastily, Savage attempted to interrupt, tentatively creeping up to Dagur's side and saying, "Sir, don't let him bait you. We're already down two ships and -"

With one shove, the bone-wielding Outcast was shoved off the dock and into the water. Dagur wasn't interested in what anyone had to say. He was only interested in taking Hiccup and his little friends down. And he would enjoy doing so.


Thunderstrike had just past the storm that had encased the giant empowered Charizard. His plan was to keep flying until he was well away from any of the islands where he'd been held prisoner.

But his conscience kept telling him, You can't leave that poor kid back there all alone.

He's not alone, he argued, He has friends. He doesn't need my help.

You had friends, once, too, said his conscience. You would have gone back to help them if they were in trouble.

That's different, Thunderstrike insisted. We were at war. It was kill or be killed. Regina demanded food, and we would give it to her. We had to steal to survive, and I only aided a fellow dragon when I had to.

You can lie to yourself all you want, his conscience said. But you can't deny it - you need friends. Go back and help those kids before it's too late.

With a sigh, Thunderstrike dove into a turn and headed back the way he'd come.

This better be worth it.


The huge, fire-winged Charizard was still flying, trying to keep itself above the vast ocean. Each flap of its wings produced a gust of hot wind that made the water boil.

"This one could take everything we've got," Hiccup said, mostly to himself. Then he called to his friends, "Power up! This could get ugly!"

"Couldn't agree more," said Astrid. She reached for her pendant and grasped the rainbow-colored Key Stone that she'd fit into the center of the golden cross-like wheel.

Ribbons of bright, rainbow-colored light burst out of both the Key Stone and the Blazikenite secured in the metal cuff on Blaze's right upper arm, arching together like bolts of lighting in a mad scientist film. One burst of multicolored light later, there was a Mega Blaziken on Wavern's back.

"We're in on this, too," Heather said, exchanging a look with the Greninja sitting behind her in Windshear's saddle.

Just a few seconds later, Ninjark leaped off of the Razorwhip and was almost instantly surrounded by a veil of water. Heather directed Windshear into a dive, swooping below their rapidly-transforming friend. When Ninjark landed back in the saddle, he was in full Heather-Greninja form.

"Wow," breathed a thoroughly amazed Himinn. "You guys have some pretty amazing creatures in this world."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Astrid simpered. "Blaze, give them your best Flamethrower!"

Obligingly, the Mega Blaziken inhaled a large breath, and what came out was a burst of flame so large that it would have singed the hair off a yak from a mile away.

Heather quickly followed the blonde's example. "Ninjark, use Water Shuriken!"

In one swift move, the Battle Bonded Greninja grabbed the large liquid-based shuriken on his back and threw it at the Charizard with all his might.

Both attacks hit the giant Pokémon square in the head, and they finally looked up at the approaching group of young heroes. Everyone tensed, and the dragons readied their fire in anticipation.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the Charizard spoke.

"GUYS, IT'S OKAY! IT'S ME!"

Snivels stared up at the gigantic Flame Pokémon in complete befuddlement. "...Amber?"

She smiled.

"What happened to you?" asked Brandyn, stumped for once.

"I'M NOT SURE," Amber replied. "I GOT HIT BY SOME RED LIGHTNING, AND THE NEXT THING I KNOW, I'M LIKE THIS. I WAS OUT OF IT FOR A WHILE, BUT I'M OKAY NOW. SEEING YOU GUYS MUST HAVE JARRED SOME OF MY MEMORIES LOOSE OR SOMETHING."

"So, this is a friend of yours?" Himinn asked.

Hiccup gestured between the giant Charizard and his counterpart's older sister. "Himinn, Amber. Amber, Himinn."

Below them, Dagur snapped his fingers, and all of the Berserker warriors he had left grabbed their weapons and aimed at the Go-Getters.

"Me and my armada, against you and your little friends?" Dagur shouted up to Hiccup. He added gleefully, "I like those odds!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE?!" Amber roared.

The Go-Getters scattered to avoid a rain of crossbow arrows, with Hiccup and Toothless flying straight up before leveling off and charging straight at Dagur. Just as they were about to risk colliding with the ship head-on, they peeled away and flew toward the innermost part of Outcast Island.

"Get back here, Hiccup!" Dagur bellowed in fury.

He rushed to the back of the boat and pulled the rudder, turning the boat around in pursuit of the fleeing Night Fury, with a few of his men toppling over as the ship moved.

The clouds above and the ocean below started to roil angrily. Amber came surging forward with a roar. A giant burst of flame exploded from out of her back, taking the shape of a bird as it flew toward the fleet below. The G-Max Wildfire absolutely demolished a couple of Outcast boats.

Ra and Camazotz came down through the storm, a third eye - or, more accurately, a light blue symbol on Ra and a light red symbol on Camazotz - appearing on each of their foreheads. Instantaneously, the Solgaleo started glowing yellow and the Lunala a light blue. With the wind swirling around their Radiant Sun and Full Moon phases, Ra charged through the air, surrounded by orange-yellow energy, and Camazotz fired a light blue beam of energy, both aimed at the remaining ships. The combined Sunsteel Strike and Moongeist Beam left the boats in pieces.

Now only Dagur's vessel remained intact.

Perhaps he didn't notice, or he just chose to ignore it.

"You can run, brother, but you can't hide!"

Thunder rumbled from the clouds above, and what swooped down into the open was something that had Hiccup gasping in surprise.

It was the Skrill.

Hiccup felt the strangest sensation - a spine-tingling jolt of terror combined with relief. He came back. Makes sense - he doesn't like Dagur any more than we do. Still, he shouldn't be here - for his own sake, as well as for the future of the archipelago.

Hiccup didn't need to stick around to know what was going to happen next. And anyway, he'd seen all that he needed to see. Already, his brain was working to come up with a new plan before something could go wrong.

He didn't need to remind himself that that "something wrong" would likely be a fleet of Berserker ships and a Skrill arriving on Berk's doorstep.

Lightning lanced down the chains that were still on the Skrill, providing an extra-sinister look to the already sinister-looking dragon. It was the most beautiful thing Dagur had ever seen.

"Come to me!" he called to the dragon. "We'll rule the archipelago together!"

The Skrill shrieked his rage to the heavens. Electricity sizzled across his horns, down his back, and over his wings, which produced a low rumble of thunder that rolled through the strait.

He struck, just grazing the top of the Berserker chief's helmet.

The boat gave a jolt as it ran aground on the shores of Outcast Island. Dagur vaulted off the ship, dragging Deathblade with him (quite literally, in fact).

As the chase went on across Outcast Island, Hiccup kept his eyes peeled for a good spot to make his standoff. There was no way he could avoid Dagur indefinitely. No, he had to fight back. If only he could find the perfect place to do it...

There it was!

It was a pair of long, spike-shaped cliffs spearing out into the air from opposite sides of a dreary canyon near the center of the island. His mind made up, Hiccup leaned down to give his dragon instructions. "Alright Toothless, let's land down there."

Obediently, Toothless folded his wings up against his body and dove for the canyon, only spreading them again when they were close to landing. The Night Fury's talons slammed into the rock all at once, and his own momentum sent him skidding in a circle so that he was facing the opposite cliff.

Sure enough, Dagur was close behind. The Berserker chief and his Bisharp appeared over the nearest mountain and stopped on the giant spike facing Hiccup. Triumphantly, Dagur shot Hiccup a completely insane grin and laughed, long and loud. "HOO-HOO-HAHAHAHAAAAA! Ready to see some superior warriorness? Just keep watching!"

But Hiccup wasn't scared. He merely kept an easygoing smile on his face and casually shot back, "Really, Dagur? I'm still here! Fire, Toothless!"

Blue fire gathered in Toothless' mouth, and multiple blasts shot from out of his jaws. Dagur didn't make any attempt to avoid the projectiles - instead, Deathblade threw himself in front of his trainer and blocked the fireballs with Night Slash. When Toothless was done firing, the Bisharp charged forward with Iron Head, which was easily dodged by the Night Fury.

"Is that all?" Dagur quipped, amused at the lack of resistance Hiccup was showing. "I was hoping for something more...challenging!"

"So was I," Hiccup replied evenly. "Is that all you've got, Mr. So-Called Berserker chief?"

Dagur didn't have time to reply. The other Go-Getters had caught up and were landing their dragons in a circle around him and Deathblade. Faced with a Night Fury's precision, a Servine's swiftness, Deadly Nadder spikes, a Mega Blaziken's burning wrists, shiny Razorwhip scales, a Heather-Greninja's shurikens, Grapple Grounder coils, two Legendary Pokémon, a couple of Poipole, and the electric shocks of a Windwalker and a Skrill, the Bisharp was more than ready to hightail it out of there.

Dagur, on the other hand, had no plans of running from a fight. Not when the dragon he wanted was standing just a few feet away from him. "You won't win, Hiccup! That Skrill is mine!"

An enormous Charizard came down from the sky, her wings still burning. Amber landed a good distance away, so she wouldn't accidentally squish her friends, her increased weight producing a series of tremors that sent vibrations through Hiccup's bones.

"IF I WERE YOU," she said, "I'D RETHINK THE CURRENT SITUATION."

Of course, this was the exact moment when her Dynamax-like power-up chose to wear off. Amber started shrinking so fast, she had to flap her wings to catch herself from falling. The flames around her wings, and on her horns, dispersed, as did the red clouds circling her tail. After just a few seconds, she was back to her normal size and appearance.

"Correction," said Amber in her normal voice. "I'm the one who should be rethinking the current situation."

While this was happening, the Skrill happened to look down at Dagur's feet. One of the teenaged Berserker's boots was dipping into one of several shallow puddles on the ground around him.

Now I've got him, the dragon thought confidently.

Another lightning bolt lit up the sky, this one a normal bluish-white instead of the intense red from the Dynamax storm. The Skrill took this as an invitation to go through with his genius idea. He burst into the air, up toward the storm, which welcomed him with open arms.

"No way I'm missing out on this," Himinn said to herself. She nudged Typhoon's sides, and the Windwalker took off after the Skrill.

"Going somewhere, my pretty?" Dagur crowed over the din of the storm.

No one was sure if he was referring to Himinn or the Skrill, but they guessed it was the latter.

The deranged chief took another step forward. This brought both of his feet into shallow water, which the Skrill noticed with satisfaction. Even better, Dagur hadn't noticed - although there was doubt that he would've realized the danger he was putting himself into in the first place.

"Don't worry," smirked Himinn. "We've got a little present for you!"

At her rider's urging, the Windwalker fired a blast of water at Dagur and Deathblade, soaking them both to the bone.

The Skrill fired, the discharge of electricity from his body was so severe that the walls of the canyon actually started to crumble, raining boulders into the canyon below. The ground shook, making Hiccup slightly nervous - it felt like the cliffs were going to crumble, even though he knew they wouldn't.

One lightning bolt, the biggest of all, came crashing down on Deathblade's body and Dagur's metal helmet. The Berserker chief and his Bisharp didn't even scream - they both went as stiff as a pair of boards, all of their muscles simultaneously freezing in place. After about a minute, the lightning stopped, and both trainer and Pokémon - their eyes betraying the sheer depth of the pain they were going through - stood there frozen with literal shock.

A large, dark figure floated up behind the pair, reached forward with both hands, and flicked the backs of their heads. Dagur and Deathblade pitched forward and toppled headfirst off the cliff, leaving Eidolon the Dusknoir there to dust off his hands and give them a look of contempt.

Hiccup watched silently as Dagur and Deathblade plunged down into the canyon and struck the ground.

"I think it's too much to assume that they're dead," Hiccup murmured, relieved. "But even so, I really don't think Dagur's going to be leading any invasions for a while."

"Amen to that," was what his wife said.

Two bright flashes of light - one multicolored and one aqua blue - and Blaze and Ninjark were back to normal. "That felt nice," said the Blaziken. "Like a good stretch."

"It's been a while," Ninjark agreed.

It was then that Himinn, Typhoon, and the Skrill landed. The older Haddock from another world dismounted her Windwalker and reached toward the wild dragon's neck. He shrieked and backed away, making so much noise that Hiccup was afraid that Dagur would awaken.

"Take it easy!" Himinn commanded.

The Skrill didn't listen to her. He thrashed his tail in warning and shrieked again.

Snivels practically threw himself off of Verne's back. "It's okay!" he called out to the Skrill in Dragonese. "She just wants to get that collar off!"

The Skrill relaxed a little but remained tense.

"There might be too many of us here," Hiccup reasoned. "Everyone, give him some room!"

Every creature, except for Himinn and Typhoon, took about five steps backward. The Skrill kept a wary eye on all of them. Sure, they'd freed him, and he'd decided to return the favor by helping them, but he still had those nasty trust issues. How was he to know they wouldn't try to chain him up like that maniac who called himself a chief?

Moving slowly, Snivels reached into the sack that was hanging off the side of Verne's saddle. He pulled out a Dragon Whistle that was shaped like a Skrill's head, put it up to his lips, and blew.

"SHRAAAAAARRR!" it growled loudly.

The Skrill growled back. "SHRAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!"

"No," Brandyn said over the din. "No. Call for help!"

Snivels glanced at the whistle and realized he'd been holding it upside-down. He flipped it over and tried again.

"SHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The Skrill's stance faltered, and he raised his head with a quizzical look. Who was calling for him? Another Skrill? It sure sounded like one.

"SHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

There it was again. Who was it?!

When his eyes landed on the Servine holding a Skrill-shaped whistle, he understood.

They needed his help. Maybe not now, but they would later.

He remembered what Snivels had said - "The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

Alright. I'll trust them. They saved me, after all. What have I got to lose?

He lowered his head, and Himinn came forward. Her fingers closed around the metal collar around his neck, and she ran her hands down its circumference, looking for the latch. She found it, pressed, and the collar fell onto the rocks with a *clunk*.

The Skrill shook himself vigorously to get rid of the remaining claustrophobia he felt from having the restraints on him for so long. Being trapped in a glacier was bad enough, but chains? Sure, being completely unable to move at all was torture, but try being held against your will with freedom just out of your reach.

The freed dragon looked straight into Hiccup's eyes and bowed his head in gratitude.

Snivels gave the Skrill-shaped whistle a short blow before putting it back in the saddlebag. "Shraah."

The Skrill copied the quiet noise from the whistle as best he could.

"Let's go home," Hiccup muttered.

One by one, they all took off for the island of Berk.

Hold on... he thought, suddenly. He turned to his left and found Himinn and Typhoon flying separate from the group.

Suddenly remembering something, Hiccup amended his previous statement, "No, scratch that. We need to get those two back to their home world."

The Go-Getters adjusted their course. Just like that, they were heading north, to a place that was very familiar to them - and even more so for the Skrill.


The glacier was in sight, and the Skrill hadn't yet made any move to fly away like his life depended on it. If anything, he was looking a bit twitchy, and he snarled a little at the sight of the cold, thick, unforgiving, solid ice.

Good thing we won't have to stay here long, Hiccup chuckled to himself, while making sure he and his friends were maintaining their current speed without issue. Otherwise, I think he'd up and fly out of here for good.

Soon, they'd flown close enough to the glacier to pick out details on its surface. It wasn't a perfect block of ice by any means, he saw - it had a shore and cliffs, big icy ledges of various heights that dropped off into the water, and cracks in its surface. One of the cracks was different than the others, large and pitch black, indicating that it wasn't just a regular crevasse. It led somewhere.

Hiccup knew that it would bring them deep into the icy heart of the glacier.

"Over there, guys!" he ordered.

Astonishingly quickly, the glacier's hard wall was rushing up to meet them, but Hiccup didn't look away. Right before they would've crushed themselves against the wall, the dragons slowed down and touched down on the slick surface, each of them slipping a little.

Somewhere close by, Hiccup turned his head at the sound he'd been waiting for. A Giratina had arrived through a portal from Himinn and Typhoon's home dimension.

Then, as expected, a Mewtwo descended from above and landed on the glacier with a firm kind of grace.

What Hiccup wasn't expecting, however, was a pair of Kyurem to walk up. He immediately recognized Fjord, and at first he'd thought the second one was Rei. Then he realized it couldn't be her, this Kyurem was much smaller than Fjord and it was colored normally.

"You've all met my son, Serac," said the larger Kyurem. "We're very pleased to see you were successful in rehabilitating this Skrill."

Hiccup never really had any doubt when Serac told them he was the son of Fjord. It was nice to get confirmation, though.

"Are you two ready to go home?" Drageist asked.

Himinn reached down and patted Typhoon on the head. "Ready as we'll ever be."

Hiccup urged Toothless forward a little so he could give the pair a proper farewell. "We can't thank you enough for your help."

"Not a problem at all," said Himinn, "I'd die for any version of you, if I had to."

Splice took a step forward and asked, "Do you wish to remember this encounter?"

Himinn shrugged nonchalantly. "I doubt anyone would believe me if I told them about you guys."

The Mewtwo decided to take that as a 'yes'. With a wave of his hand, Drageist's portal gained a whitish tint around the edges. Himinn nudged Typhoon's sides, and the Windwalker flew right through the portal home.

"Any chance we'll meet again in the future?" Brandyn asked.

"I'll let you know if I have any visions of it," Fjord promised. "Speaking of which, I believe you kids are nearly due to cross paths with the Monster Riders again."

"We're gonna see Sightless again?" asked Snivels, a little too eagerly. "And Blackhawk and Arachne?"

"Dammit!" squealed the Siren dragonet tucked into Heather's jacket.

"No!" scolded the raven-haired girl in her sternest voice. "We do not say that! Only Vikings say that word; they coined it, it belongs to them. Understand?"

Sonata ducked back into her mommy's jacket to hide. "Mama growlface. Sana bad?"

"No, Sonata," Heather said in her gentle, motherly tone. She reached in and stroked the dragonet's little head. "You're not bad. Mama just doesn't like it when you say that word. So, stop saying it, okay?"

"Akey," Sonata said.

Hiccup sighed, finally feeling a weight being lifted away from his shoulders. "Okay, guys, let's head home," he said.

They turned around so that they were headed south, and were about to fly off when they suddenly found their path blocked by a ghostly figure. Eidolon the Dusknoir hovered in place, staring down at them all with his one ominous red eye.

"What does he want?" Ninjark immediately blurted out.

Blaze reasoned, "His master is dead. He probably doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"We could take him to the Resistance," said Serac. "Now that Alvin's dead, Eidolon could be an asset to us. It's just like you always say, Dad, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'."

The Dusknoir looked either intrigued or irritated. Without a proper face, it was hard to tell which it was.

"Yes they are," agreed Hiccup, then raised his voice. "Let's take off, gang! It's high time we meet back with the others and tell them the whole story."

"One last thing," said Serac. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea to tell you this, but I've been hearing a prophecy in my head."

"A prophecy?" Snivels echoed.

"Serac has inherited my power to see the future," Fjord explained, "He's still very young, though, so his visions are weaker than mine."

"My first vision was very blurry," said his son. "I didn't even know it was a vision at first. I could hear a few words - Diaphragm. Beauty. West wind. Nothing."

"That's literally just a bunch of random words," said Blaze.

"Not as random as you think," Adhesive said in a squeaky, singsong voice.

Serac continued, "Just recently I've been having visions of red lightning. And now, whenever I'm close to a storm, it gets clearer and clearer. I don't completely understand it."

"Maybe we can help," Brandyn offered. "Please, tell us."

Serac raised his head, his eyes glowing slightly, and he allowed the words to flow out his mouth.

"Find the warriors of the two towers,
Find the seed hidden in the snow,
Find the birds and the Regis,
Find the one who is a king, but does not know.

Something is coming to cloud the sky,
Something is coming to shake the ground.
The islands will fall on the Darkest Day
Unless the Expansion can be found."

Silence fell. Serac took a few deep breaths.

"The Expansion?" Hiccup repeated. "What is that?"

"A branch of the Resistance," answered Fjord. "Their location is somewhere south, but it's been a while since any of us were last there. They specialize in a rare and remarkable kind of power that we believe is key to preventing the Darkest Day."

Hiccup felt like his head was going to explode. There was just so much to think about.

Fjord seemed to notice his exhausted expression, because the next thing he said was, "Why don't you kids all head home and get some rest? We'll keep looking for the Expansion."

With no further delay, the Go-Getters fell into a steady flight formation and flew off toward Berk as fast as their dragons' wings could carry them.

Serac stared after them for a moment before whispering to his father, "I gotta be there when Hiccup realizes he has a sister in this universe, too."

After only a few minutes since their departure, the Go-Getters realized that they were being followed by Drageist, and they slowed down to a more leisurely flight speed.

"I can tell you're all rather bewildered by Amber's not-quite-Dynamax," the Giratina said. "We call it 'Gigantamax'. It's a special kind of Dynamax that's exclusive to certain species, like Charizard and Pikachu. Not only do they increase in size, but their appearance changes as well. The Expansion is best known for their practice in the utilization of Gigantamax, so, once we have their location, I would recommend you go to them for more information."

With that, Drageist waved a wing, summoning a portal, and disappeared back to the Distortion World.

Feeling that he'd had enough excitement for one day, Hiccup shifted his focus to what his friends were doing. Stormfly was idly doing simple aerobatic tricks while still holding formation, which Hiccup found quite impressive, and Heather and Brandyn were amiably chatting on the backs of their Razorwhip and Grapple Grounder.

But something else quickly piqued his interest and prompted him to steer Toothless closer to where Verne was flying. There in the Noivern's saddle, Snivels sat silently and stared straight ahead at the horizon with a stony expression on his face. In fact, he didn't even notice Toothless coming over until Hiccup cleared his throat - the Servine flinched slightly and glanced over at his friend in surprise.

"Something bothering you, Snivs?" Hiccup asked, concerned.

Hesitantly, the Servine nodded. "Y-Yes, actually..." he responded. "It was when Verne and I were in the training arena. We were getting the Skrill out of his cage...and Mildew confronted us. He was holding a crossbow. He tried to kill me. For real, this time."

Now, Hiccup hadn't known what he was expecting Snivels to say, but that wasn't it. It was a surprising bit of information, and something about Mildew that he'd never considered the possibility of before.

"Huh..." he said, looking at Snivels musingly. Aloud, he wondered further, "You know, that could be why he became an Outcast. Back when Toothless and I got caught, he said something about you not being around to save us. He could have a grudge...or, or maybe a -"

Snivels interrupted him by sharply shaking his head. "Hiccup, that's not what's bothering me. The real problem is what happened to the arrow he fired."

For once, Hiccup didn't have any clue as to what he was talking about. He blinked in confusion, his green eyes asking an unspoken question to him.

Snivels obliged him with the answer moments later.

"It struck him right in the back," the Grass Pokémon prince revealed. "I ducked, and it ricocheted off the arena walls and it killed Mildew. Hiccup, anyone who walks into that arena will think we killed him. I hated that guy, you know I did, but seeing how far a vendetta can take you, it just...it makes me feel sick."

All Hiccup could do at this revelation was take in an unsteady breath, shaken. But, nevertheless, he did believe it. It wasn't like Snivels to lie, especially about something that sounded so serious.

Even Amber was cowed into stunned silence, her expression completely unreadable but her eyes swimming with worry and fear. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking now.

Letting the air out of his lungs in a shaky exhale, Snivels said in a very small voice, "Back when we were trying to save the dragons from being deported, I knew that man would do anything to make sure we'd fail. He had such an intense hatred of dragons, he didn't care how it would affect anyone else if they were gone. He must have realized how my knowledge of dragons could foil what he had planned, and he blamed me for all the times his plans went wrong, even if it wasn't my fault."

"Snivels," Hiccup whispered, his heart going out to him.

"I'd do anything for my friends," he finished. The son of the deceased king and queen of the Pokémon of Orre looked straight into the eyes of the human he called his best friend. "But I would never kill anyone. It's just not right."

At Hiccup's urging, Toothless moved closer to Verne until the two dragons' beating wings were practically touching. The Go-Getters' bigwings was close enough to reach over and place an encouraging hand on Snivels's shoulder, which he did. He felt the tension in the Servine's body melt away as his head hung and his shoulders sagged.

"Don't worry, Snivs," he murmured. "Nothing could ever change the way we think of you. You've done a lot for us, especially me. I practically owe you my life. You and Toothless are like the brothers I never had. And I wouldn't trade that for anything."

Snivels gave his surrogate brother a grateful smile. Then he turned to look towards the back of the formation, where the Skrill was flying. "Well, Nuts and Volts," he said in Dragonese. "Are you in or out?"

The dragon seemed slightly offended by the nickname, but he answered, "In." Then he added, "By the way, it's Thunderstrike."

Something small and yellow whizzed past Hiccup's head, and he turned to face the front. Sticky was speeding ahead of them.

"Sorry, guys," she called, "I got an exam tomorrow, so I gotta get back home before dark so I can squeeze in some studying. I'll just pick up the Dracozolt egg and go. See you later!" She blew a kiss to Adhesive before she zipped ahead, disappearing over the horizon.

The purple Poipole's cheeks turned pink at his Shiny girlfriend's gesture.

The rest of the journey back from Outcast Island was silent.


Amidst the various blue and white specks that served as windows to the other dimensions, Archon the Arceus stood in silence. The Alpha Pokémon stood upon a rainbow floor in the middle of the vast void with a stoic look.

A large, spiraling gateway opened in front of him, and Drageist appeared.

"This is certainly a treat," Archon spoke, his tone wearisome. "You hardly ever drop by to visit. What's the occasion?"

Somewhat awkwardly, Drageist bowed his head in respect. "I've come to ask for your permission," he spoke in a slightly anxious but definitely confident tone of voice. "The time of the reunion between Team Go-Getters and the Monster Riders is drawing near, and I was thinking perhaps I could spice it up a little."

He flapped his wings experimentally in the empty space, feeling the windows tremble slightly from the vibrations.

"I don't see why not," Archon replied. "I certainly could use a little more excitement, especially since the happenings of the Multiverse tend to get rather tedious after a while. Like an author who's run out of new ideas for their books; it's the same thing over and over again. I do enjoy some originality."

Drageist's eyes shown with anticipation. "There's an incomplete timeline in the How to Train Your Dragon dimensional area we can use," he informed. "Remember, the one that you created just last week? You left it open for any imaginable possibilities that could randomly pop up. It doesn't even have a Hiccup in it yet."

Slowly, Archon nodded, his eyes giving off a look of vague interest to his fellow multi-dimensional Pokémon.

"You may use it," he said, softly. "But what for, exactly?"

"I've had some ideas," Drageist said. "But not nearly as fun as something I happened to spy on my daily rounds about a month ago."

His statement seemed to get a more alert reaction from his normally calm and collected supervisor. "Care to elaborate?" asked the Arceus, intrigued.

In response, Drageist shifted to his Origin Forme and curled his tendrils around to his front, tapping them together like an evil genius surveying their plan. "It's quite a brilliant idea," he giggled. The sound was soft, but deep. "A few of the alternate How to Train Your Dragon timelines have the cast trying to outdo each other in feats of alternating randomness and humiliation. In one instance, Snotface had to sharpen a sword by himself, and failed miserably. For another, Hiccup's soul mate had to consume that inedible beverage of her own creation. It's entertaining in that is-there-anything-those-kids-won't-do kind of way. You always want to see what will happen next."

He grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"They call it a 'dare war'."


Okay, so, basically, the Arceus create the timelines in the Multiverse and the Giratina guard it - stopping multi-dimensional threats, keeping the timelines on track, etc.

So much exciting stuff in this chapter! The Go-Getters are getting pretty stressed with everything going on, they need some time to unwind and have a little fun. But that's a whole other story, and I'm not waiting around until it's finished to keep up the good work with this one.

Leave some reviews please!