Chapter 50: Twintuition
It was a nice peaceful day on the Edge and the Riders were doing some experiments with dragon-proof chains. They had a dragon-proof chain wrapped around two blocks and were having their dragons' fire at it in the hopes to find its melting point.
"Now!" Hiccup yelled.
The dragons then fired several shots at the chain. Once the smoke dispersed, Hiccup, Hicca, Henry and Fishlegs went to examine it.
"Anything?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup placed a finger on it, but the chain was cold and he sighed. "Nothing. It's not even hot."
"Huh. That combination of blast just isn't enough to melt the chain." Fishlegs said.
"Well we'll just have to experiment a bit more until we find the right combination to melt through the dragon-proof metal." Hicca said as she turned to Henry. "There is a flaw in the metal, right?" She asked.
"To be honest, not sure but yeah. Dad's dragon-proof metal does have one flaw, but I don't know the right dragon power or combination. It's always tricky for me to figure out." Henry said as he placed a finger on his chin as he examined the dragon-proof chain.
"Um, hello, why are we not just using Changewing acid? We know that works. Duh!" Snotlout said obviously, reminding them of their Submaripper in the Straits mission.
"Oh, great idea Snotlout, let's just grab some of our Changewing acid from our supply hut." Henry said sarcastically before gasping, "Oh that's right, we're all out!" He reminded him.
"Well, then thank Snotlout for volunteering to milk Changewing for us." Astrid smiled.
Snotlout laughed sarcastically. "Funny, Astrid." He said.
'I hope she tells more Jorgenson jokes.' Hookfang said with a dragon's equivalent of a chuckle, much to Snotlout's annoyance.
"It's not that funny, pal. Let's remember who fills your ball." Snotlout retorted, Hookfang responded by setting his pants on fire. Snotlout glared at him. "Hookfang!" He growled.
Raeda chuckled from that. "You had that coming." She said to Snotlout as she whistled and Sparkfire came over with a water trough and dumped it on Snotlout, putting out his pants.
Snotlout however looked annoyed, "Thanks Sparkfire." He grumbled as Hookfang laughed so hard he fell on his back kicking the air.
'Your Welcome.' Sparkfire squawked.
"Look we're not going to always have Changewing acid on hand, Snotlout." Hiccup explained.
"Plus, as Henry and Astrid pointed out, getting acid from a Changewing is extremely difficult to get." Hicca added. "We know how hard it is to sneak up on a Changewing to even get one jar of their acid without it sneaking up on us first." She added.
"That's why we have to find the right combination of dragon fire to get through these chains." Hiccup finished.
"I think we just need more of our dragons' fire." Fishlegs suggested.
"Maybe putting more firepower in their blasts, it should be enough to get it started." Henry added.
Hiccup nodded and approached Toothless. "Okay, bud, here we go. One more time. Toothless, go." Toothless fired a plasma blast. "Midnight. Hookfang. Sparkfire." Midnight, Hookfang and Sparkfire all fired their fire attacks at the chain. "Barf, Belch."
However, Barf and Belch didn't fire, because they were fast asleep. Also their Riders didn't seem to be paying much attention either as they were laying down next to their dragon.
"Hello? Hi? Are you gonna help or not?" Snotlout asked the Thorston Twins and their dragon.
"No, Snotlout, we're not." Tuffnut answered. "Because as usual, Hiccup, Hicca and Fishlegs are overthinking everything."
"In delicate matters such as these, logic and reason can only go so far," Ruffnut said as the two of them got to their feet.
"You have to trust your instincts." Tuffnut said.
"Follow your gut." Ruffnut said next.
"You have to have the right inspiration." Tuffnut continued.
"In other words, you must have…" Ruffnut added.
"Twintuition," The Thorston twins said in unison.
"'Twintuition.' What are you talking about?" Astrid asked.
"Ah! We knew you were gonna say that." Tuffnut said. "You know why? Because of our…"
"Twintuition," They said in unison again.
"Okay, can you two explain to us what is twintuition?" Raeda asked in confusion.
"Yeah, because even we don't know what it means?" Hicca said on behalf of her and her twin.
"Yes, it's the direct precision of truth, fact, and insight, completely independent of any reasoning process or logic that we could possibly come up with." Tuffnut explained as he made movements with his fingers staring at them cross eyed.
"It really is the solution to any problem." Ruffnut nodded. She then looked at her brother. "Shall we?"
"We shall. Thanks to the power of our twintuition, we will break the chain." Tuffnut announce.
Then Tuffnut began running towards the chain and Ruffnut picked up Macey before throwing it to him. Tuffnut caught her without even looking and then with a yell he jumped into the air and slammed her down upon the chain.
The Riders looked up as Tuffnut put on a proud face and cracked his back. "Oh, yeah," he said as he saw the other Riders just gave him wincing looks. "What?" He then turned around and saw the chain was completely unharmed. "Oh, come on! Okay, Macey, let's try this one more…"
However when he lifts up Macey, he discovers, to his horror, that he had cracked her causing her to fall off the handle. He quickly picked up the broken mace and stared at it in horror. "Macey? Macey! Can you hear me?" Tuffnut asked as he pleaded. "Say something. Say something. Oh, Thor. What have I done?" He then looked up into the heavens. "These chains!" He cried out.
(Linebreak)
It was late at night and Tuffnut was still crushed about what happened to Macey. He was beneath his bed holding the broken parts of Macey tightly and crying his eyes out. Naturally this meant that Ruffnut couldn't get any sleep.
"What's going on? What are you doing?" Ruffnut asked, looking beneath her bed.
"I don't deserve the comfort of a warm bed or soft pillows on which to lay my head." Tuffnut cried as he laid his head down onto the floor. "My body must suffer on this cold, splintery floor of despair. It's not even that splintery. Oh, no, no."
Chicken then walked up and began to peck at the floor creating a few splinters.
"Thanks, Chicken." Tuffnut said as he rested his head against the splinters. "I need those extra splinties."
"Oh, brother." Ruffnut moaned as she rested her head on her bed.
(Linebreak)
Hiccup was having a nice peaceful sleep when he was suddenly awoken by Ruffnut's yells.
"Hiccup, get up! It's an emergency!" Ruffnut yelled as she then tossed Tuffnut, who was still holding the broken pieces of Macey, into his hut.
"What? What? What is it? Hunters?" Hiccup asked as he rushed down the steps brushing away the sleep in his eyes.
He then saw Tuffnut holding the broken pieces of Macey.
"Oh, no!" Tuffnut cried.
"Oh, you know what? I'm going back to bed." Hiccup said.
"Please. Please, Hiccup. You're the only one who can fix her." Tuffnut begged. "I can't live without my Macey."
Ruffnut groaned. "Ugh! See what I'm dealing with?"
"Tuff, I'm not going to fix your mace in the middle of the night. The forge isn't lit and Meatlug and Hicca are sleeping." Hiccup pointed out.
"Hiccup! You don't understand." Tuffnut said, looking up at him with a pleading look. "I can't wait. I can't live without Macey. She completes me. Look at her, broken, alone. She needs emergency care. Right now!" He then stopped and thought. "Wait, wouldn't that be great if there was a place like that? Where you could go any time day or night, and you would be provided with the best medical care available?"
"Forget it." Ruffnut scoffed. "You'd die waiting in line."
"True." Tuffnut nodded and looked back at Hiccup with a pleading look. "Hiccup, what say you? Will you save my Macey?"
"Tuff, if it's that urgent, fly to Berk. Gobber would be happy to fix it." Hiccup said.
"Wait, all the way back to Berk?" Tuffnut starred in surprise.
"Hey, what about the Northern Markets?" Ruffnut offered.
Tuffnut lit up. "That's a great idea, sis. They're way closer."
"They're also way too dangerous." Hiccup added and gave them a firm look. "You're not going to the Northern Markets. They are crawling with Dragon Hunters. Do you hear me?"
The Thortston twins just stood there in silence.
Hiccup then looked at Toothless. "Come on, bud." He said.
The two of them then made their way back to bed, but did notice the grins on the Thorston twins and they head-butted one another.
(Linebreak)
A few moments later, they were on Barf and Belch heading to the Northern Markets cheering and singing 'Hooligan Tribe'. They soon flew past Snotlout, who was doing patrol as he merely just shook his head.
"What muttonheads." Snotlout said.
(Linebreak)
It was morning when they reached the Northern Markets and they landed on the outskirts of the village. After they left Barf and Belch into the forest, they made their way to the nearest iron mason and presented him with Macey.
"Hmm. This is Gronckle Iron." The mason said, examining it.
"You know it." Ruffnut said as Tuffnut paced up and down.
"I've never seen a Hunter carrying a Gronckle Iron mace before." The mason said, looking at them suspiciously.
"Um…" Tuffnut. He then looked to his sister and they got the same idea and head-butted one another. "That's because it's a Dragon Rider mace." He answered.
"Yeah. We took it from a Rider." Ruffnut nodded.
"The skinny one with the squeaky voice and the metal leg and the tousled brown hair and the male black dragon." Tuffnut said, talking about Hiccup.
"Yeah, then we broke it over his head," Ruffnut continued. "You know, we want it for our trophy wall."
The mason chuckled. "Impressive."
He then got up and made his way out of the tent and the Thorston twins smiled at one another.
"Twintuition," Tuffnut whispered.
"Hey! We've got two heroes in here," The mason's voice said, much to their horror. "They took out a Dragon Rider. No, check that. They took out one of 'the' Dragon Rider' leaders."
Suddenly the Thorston twins found themselves surrounded by Hunters.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, unaware that the Thorston twins were in trouble, Hiccup and the other Riders were still experimenting on the dragon-proof chains.
Toothless, Midnight, Stormfly, Sparkfire, Henry's five dragons, and Meatlug fired their fire attacks at the chains. Once they were done, Hiccup, Hicca, Henry and Fishlegs made his way over to examine them.
Fishlegs placed a finger on it and quickly pulled it away as the metal was red hot. "Ow," He said and placed his finger in his mouth.
Astrid winced at his pain.
"That had to hurt." Raeda commented.
"Finally, we're getting somewhere," Hiccup said.
"We got the metal heated a bit, so it's a start." Hicca added.
"Yeah, with Ruff and Tuff and their twintuition on Berk, it's much easier to make progress." Fishlegs agreed.
"Negatively, I think if this chain is ever gonna break, we need all our dragons, including Barf & Belch." Henry pointed out.
"He's right. We need all Riders' dragons to break this thing if we are ever gonna stand a chance against those Hunters." Hicca said in agreement. "And right now, the Thorston twins are at Berk getting Macey fixed upp." She added.
"They went to Berk?" Snotlout asked. "Ha-ha, those dummies. When I saw 'em, they were going north, the exact opposite direction. So, unless the world is round, they're never gonna make it."
Hiccup realized what they had done. "Oh, for the love of—" He then rushed over to Toothless. "They're gonna get themselves killed."
He then took off and the other Riders quickly followed him.
"What is he saying?" Henry asked in confusion.
"Don't ask me, I wasn't there and my brother didn't tell me about what just happened." Hicca said with a shug, not sure herself.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Tuffnut was trying to make a story on how they acquired the mace and took out the Dragon Rider.
"Ignoring the pain, I wrapped my hands around the Dragon Rider's throat and admired his tousled brown hair, and then I squeezed his neck like it was a turkey's neck!" Tuffnut said as he did hand gestures.
The Hunters then cheered.
The iron mason then appeared with Macy. "One Gronckle Iron mace, good as new," he said, placed on the table.
"But then his dragon came at me. Oh! That this male Night Fury was black as my boots, and had eyes that glowed like the harvest moon." Tuffnut continued. "But when I held out a fist full of eels, he ran off like a little baby!" Ruffnut then noticed that one of the hunters left and then saw that Macey was gone. "Night Fury? They should call it Fright Fury!"
The Hunters cheered and Ruffnut saw a Hunter leaving the tent with Macey in his hands.
"Tuff, he took Macey," Ruffnut told her brother, grabbing his attention.
"Hey. Wait a minute. Macey," he yelled and they ran out of the tent.
They quickly ran after the Hunter through the market, but lost sight of him for a brief moment. Then Tuffnut saw him heading down to the port where Hunter ships were docked. They quickly ran after him, when he was already getting aboard and the two guards stopped them from getting on.
"No. Mm-mmm, where do you think you're going?" One of them asked.
The Thorston twins looked at one another with smirks before head-butting each other. They then jumped the guard before they realized what was going on and placed on their helmets.
"Twintuition!" They said in unison as they then rushed on board the ship and followed the Hunter down below deck. They then stood straight and made their way down the corridor.
"Nice haircut. Viking Cuts?" Tuffnut asked as they walked by a Hunter. "You're working hard, or hard… Is it hard to work?" He said, trying to be casual.
They then ran after the Hunter when he realized he was heading to the captain's quarters, but got there too late.
"Ah, foiled again." Tuffnut groaned. "All right, we're marching in there and taking back what is ours. We will not stop until Macey is home." Ruffnut then heard voices above as Tuffnut began to kick down the door. "I'm gonna kick open that door and I'm going to—"
"Tuff, do you feel that?" Ruffnut asked as he felt the deck move.
"You mean a burning sense of purpose?" Tuffnut asked, looking at her. "Absolutely. The unwavering resolve to turn my Macey—"
Ruffnut then grabbed and pulled him over towards a window. "No, no, no. None of that. The boat, it's moving," she said as they saw the land moving further and further away from them.
"And that, my friend, is not good." Tuffnut realized. "Not good at all."
(Linebreak)
A few hours later the ship finally docked at Hunter Island. They continued to follow the Viking who was holding Macey and then saw something that made her eyes widened.
"Whoa." Ruffnut breathed.
"Woha, cool!" Tuffnut said.
The Hunters were in some sort of dock and billed what looked like a giant ship made of dragon-proof metal.
"My fellow Hunters." Viggo's voice said as the Thorston twins looked up and saw Viggo himself looking down at the Hunters working on the ship. They looked at one another and nodded and started to merge within the crowd.
"In the very near future, the Dragon Riders will be but a distant memory." Viggo continued. The Hunters cheered and the twins joined in. "However, time is unfortunately not on our side. Thus, it is imperative that we complete Project Shellfire in a timely manner. Only then will we reclaim the seas and shores that by rights belong to us!" He declared.
The Hunters cheered yet again even louder and then Ryker gave them all an angry look.
"All right, now get back to work!" Ryker ordered.
The hunters began to dispel going their separate ways. Ruffnut quickly realized they had stumbled on something big and dangerous.
"Project Shellfire. Sounds important." Ruffnut said, looking at her brother.
"No wonder they stole Macey." Tuffnut said. "Something this big would need one big, valuable, beautiful mace."
Ruffnut rolled her eyes realizing the seriousness of the situation. "I think this is bigger than Macey, bro."
Tuffnut quickly glared at her. "Bite your tongue," he snapped. "Nothing is bigger than Macey. Macey?" He then looked around for the Hunter and then saw him walking off with Macey.
Tuffnut was about to go after him, Ruffnut stopped him. "Tuff!" She said, removing her helmet. "I know this is gonna be hard for you to hear, but I need you to hear it, so I'm just gonna say it. There comes a time in every Viking's life when they must give up the thing they love the most." She told him, saying that he might have to leave Macey behind.
Tuffnut removed his helmet and narrowed his eyes on her. "Stick out your tongue." he ordered.
Confused, Ruffnut stuck it out and Tuffnut promptly flicked it with his finger.
"Ow!" Ruffnut yelled, rubbing her tongue. "Now you may not be able to handle the truth, but here it is. There are other maces in the armory." She said to him.
"Oh! How could you?" Tuffnut gasped with a look of betrayal.
Ruffnut placed a hand on his shoulder. "And you'll find one as good as Macey. Maybe even better. Mace technology has come so far!" She smiled
"Gods! No, no." Tuffnut sobbed. He then turned his back on her. "We better split up. You see, I have work to do, and that work doesn't involve a mace hater." He then placed his helmet back on and began to chase the Hunter. "Oh, Gods, no." He sobbed as Ruffnut watched her brother run away sadly.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile at the Northern Markets, the other Riders began to interrogate the iron mason that worked on Macey.
"Twins? What twins?" the Mason asked. "I see two twins right here." He gestured to Hiccup and Hicca.
Astrid looked at Stormfly. "Stormfly? Jog his memory." She told her dragon.
Stormfly then approached him and wrapped her tail around his ankle and lifted him up upside down. 'Remember anything now?' She growled.
"Oh, oh! Yes, yes, yes, the twin Dragon Hunters that wanted a Gronckle Iron mace repaired," The iron mason said fearfully.
The Riders just stared at him in confusion. "Dragon Hunters?" Fishlegs stated.
"Where did they get this mace?" Raeda asked.
"Well they said they broke the mace over Dragon Rider's head." The mason said. "You know, the one with the high voice and the one leg."
Snotlout laughed. "Oh, wow. Wonder who that could be." He said looking at Hiccup.
"Not now, Snotlout." Hicca told her cousin as they faced the mason again.
"Where did they go?" Hiccup asked him.
"I have no id—" The mansion tried to finish but then screamed when Barf and Belch appeared placing their heads right next to him.
'Tell us where they are,' Barf started, growling threateningly.
'Or get blasted to Valhalla!' Belched finished.
The Mason quickly answered, "Viggo's recalled all his Hunters to a secret island base. No one knows where it is."
Hiccup then pushed past Snotlout and Astrid. "Huh. See, I think you do." He said.
The mason whimpered. "Oh, but if I tell you, I'll lose my life. Not to mention my business."
The dragons then gave him a threatening growl.
"You can either die today or tomorrow, it's your choice." Henry advises. "So now, where's my father's secret island base?" He questioned while giving a threatened expression.
The mason whimpered.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, at Hunter Island, Tuffnut was still following the Hunter, who was carrying Macey. He began pushing past other Hunters and then saw the Hunter placing her down on some crates.
Seeing this as his perfect opportunity he is behind the crates and waited for the opportunity to grab Macey while he wasn't looking. He was just about to grab her, but then Viggo pulled it out.
He looked at it carefully, recognizing the Gronckle Iron texture, "Where did you get this mace?" Viggo asked the Hunter before he turned to Tuffnut, who quickly grabbed a plate with some leftover food and then hit behind the crates. Viggo then turned his attention back onto the Hunter suspiciously.
"I took it from a Dragon Rider I defeated." The Hunter boasted with a smile. Viggo didn't look convinced and gave the Hunter a 'tell me the truth or I'll feed you to Typhoomerang' look as the Hunter whimpered slightly. "Uh. I'm sorry. You're right. I stole it from two Hunters who took it from a Dragon Rider." He confessed.
"Which two Hunters?" Viggo asked, suspiciously.
"A pair of twins with blonde hair. Both really skinny guys. Or I suppose they could have been girls," he said nervously.
"My goodness!" Tuffnut gasped quietly with a girlish voice.
Viggo no doubt realized who these 'Hunters' were and shoved the mace back to the Hunter. He then made his way over to Ryker. "Project Shellfire has been infiltrated. We must be on high alert," he said. He then turned and looked at the Hunters close by. "Search the camp for the Thorston Twin Dragon Riders and bring them to me."
"You heard the man. This way," Ryker ordered.
They then walked off with a couple of Hunters following close behind. The Hunter was amazed and then ran off and Tuffnut followed him, knowing he had to be careful if Viggo knew he and his sister were on the island.
(Linebreak)
It was late at night and Ruffnut was pretending to work on Project Shellfire so she could learn more about it. She then noticed Ryker walking by with several Hunters.
"Find the Dragon Riders," Ryker ordered as they climbed down the ladder.
Ruffnut soon realized that her disguise would soon be breached and started to make her way down the ladders. Unfortunately, she collided with Ryker.
"You! See anything suspicious?" Ryker asked her.
"No, I haven't seen anything." Ruffnut said, trying to mask her voice. She was about to leave, but Ryker grabbed her and several Hunters pulled out their weapons. He then removed her helmet and smiled when she saw her face.
"Well, well, well. Viggo's been looking for you," Ryker smirked as he and another hunter grabbed her arms and carried her away. "Come on." He ordered as Ruffnut realized she was in big trouble.
(Linebreak)
Ruffnut was soon taken to Viggo's tent and was forced to sit down at his desk.
"This is the only Rider we found." Ryker said, knowing her brother wasn't too far away.
"Can I offer you anything? Some refreshments?" Viggo asked as civilly as possible.
Ruffnut just folded her arms and remained silent.
Viggo then began to pour a drink of water. "I believe congratulations are in order. You successively infiltrated Project Shellfire." He then presented her with a drink. "Hiccup and Hicca must be so proud." He then poured himself a drink. "Of course, your Gronckle Iron mace didn't do you any favors, now, did it? But let us put all that in the past, shall we? I'm there to reward you handsomely." He promised.
"Oh, yeah? For what? And how handsome are we talking?" Ruffnut asked, deciding to play along.
"Well, that depends on you, and the quality of information you're willing to provide," said Viggo as he sipped a drink. "When are Hiccup and the others going to attack?"
"Hmm, tonight. They attack tonight," Ruffnut told him.
Viggo looked up at Ryker. "Now you see, brother, I told you she would be reasonable. Move the elite guard into—"
"Oh, no, wait. No, he attacked tomorrow," Ruffnut corrected as they. "Yeah. No! Next week? No, wait, that's not right. I'm not very good with dates. What d—"
Ryker then knocked her drink aside then glared at her. "Don't toy with us, girl." He warned.
Viggo got to his feet and drew his sword pointing it at her throat.
"Take your best shot, pal." Ruffnut said, without showing fear.
Viggo lowered his sword. "Oh, no. I have a better plan for you." He smirked.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Tuffnut was still trying to require his stolen mace and had followed the Hunter to where they kept their supplies. He then turned round the corner, but lost sight of him.
"How goes the project?" A voice asked.
"Better than I expected. They followed these plans perfectly." A second voice said.
Tuffnut quickly hit behind some crates and saw Hunter holding Macey talking to another Hunter holding a parchment in his hand. Tuffnut could only assume that they were blueprints for Project Shellfire. "Once we're finished, the Riders will burn and their dragons will be the torches," The Hunter continued as he and the other Hunter laughed and then went their separate ways.
Tuffnut looked at the Hunter carrying Macey then to the Hunter holding the plans and felt himself being torn. 'Okay, on one hand, I could save macey and totally rubbed all over Ruffnut's face, but on the other hand, I could snatch those plans and rub it in the others' faces.' Tuffnut thought before remembering Ruff's words before they split up.
"Is she right? Is this bigger than Macey?" Tuffnut wondered, he looked at Macey and knew what he had to do. "I think it is." He sighed before looking at his weapon sadly. "Can you ever forgive me, Macey? It has to be done." He said.
He then began to fall for the Hunter with the plans and watched as he entered the tent. When the Hunter came out he laid against the couple of barrels acting casually. The Hunter looked at him and he clicked his tongue and pointed his finger at him.
The Hunter walked off and then he entered the tent. He then saw their plans on a desk and quickly opened them up.
"Oh, my Thor. This is big. This is ups… It's upside down," Tuffnut gasped as he then turned it and it was right side up, but the change in perspective didn't change how bad it was. "Whoa. This is huge." He said, realizing that if Viggo was building this, things could get pretty ugly.
"Our scouts reported that the Haddocks and the Dragon Riders are approaching from the south." Ryker's voice said as Tuffnut quickly hit behind a barrel just as Viggo and Ryker appeared.
"Just as I suspected. Put the Thorston girl in place." Viggo ordered as they walked away.
Tuffnut then realized what he meant, "Ruffnut!" He gasped as he quickly ran to the edge of the dry dock and could tell the Hunters were prepping for something.
"It's nearly time." A Hunter said before turning to the others. "Everybody into position." He ordered.
Tuffnut then soon ran over the scaffolding as the Hunters began to leave and ran on top of the constructed ship. He looked over the edge and then saw to his horror that Ruffnut was tired to a pole and had two Hunters guarding her.
Ruffnut attempted to free herself from the ropes, but they were far too tight. She then had the strangest feeling that Tuffnut was close by. "Twintuition?" Ruffnut asked with a hopeful smile and suddenly a hammer flew out of nowhere knocking one Hunters down and she saw her brother swinging down towards them on a rope. "Tuff!" She yelled with joy.
Tuffnut then came swinging screaming and slammed into the last of the guards. He then rushed over to Tuffnut in order to untie the ropes, but more Hunters were making their way towards them.
"You gotta get out of here!" Ruffnut told her brother.
"I'm not leaving you." Tuffnut said firmly as he attempted to undo the ropes.
"Tuff! You have to run." Ruff yelled.
"No. I'm staying." Tuff said stubbornly.
"Please!" Ruff pleaded with her brother. "You can't save me if you're tied up with me."
Tuffnut then looked as one of the Hunters came charging towards him with an ax. "Actually, sis, that's a good point." Tuffnut said and then ran towards one of the ladders.
He quickly began to climb as the Hunter followed him. Once you reach the platform, jump off the platform above him. He then quickly jumped and grabbed the rope and began to swing to safety and the two Hunters lost their balance and fell off the platform.
Tuffnut climbed onto the constructed ship and ran as a Hunter chased after him. Ruffnut could only watch and hope that he managed to escape as the Hunter holding Macey began chasing after him as well. 'Good luck bro, at least for my sake.' Ruff thought.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, the Haddock twins and the others were not far away from the island.
"We get Ruff and Tuff out of there as quickly as we can," Hiccup said.
"Hiccup's what's going on over there?" Astrid asked, pointing at something on the island.
As they flew over the island they saw torches being lit and dry dock with the ship under construction.
"That hunter's ship design I'm familiar with." Henry commented.
"Whatever it is, I bet it's the twins' fault." Hiccup sighed.
"Then let's go down and get them out of there." Hicca suggested as they then dive down towards the island.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Tuffnut was running through the forest with the Hunters chasing after him. He narrowly missed being skewered by an ax which was tossed by one of the Hunters.
Tuffnut then picked up a stone and tossed it over his head which slammed into a Hunter knocking him out cold. This only let the Hunter hold Macey, but Tuffnut soon realized that he had reached the edge of a cliff.
He looked at the Hunter and realized that he was trapped, he then began looking for anything that he could use as a weapon, but saw nothing. He then charged towards the Hunter with his fists raised, but the Hunter merely hit him with his own mace.
Tuffnut felt the ground and sword chickens spinning around his head. He managed to focus enough to see the Hunter approaching him with Macey raised.
"Macey!" Tuffnut gasped. "What they say is true. If you love something, let it go free. Someday, perhaps it will return."
He then took off his helmet and tossed it at the Hunter knocking him out cold. He then retrieved Macey from him just as other Hunters appeared out of the forest. Tuffnut glared at them and breathed heavily and then yelled at the top of his voice.
The Hunters looked at each other nearly shut before meeting their weapons.
"I have two favorite things, yak jerky and kicking butt!" Tuffnut yelled before giving a smirk. "And I don't have any yak jerky with me."
He then charged at them and yelled with Macey raised. The Hunters were prepared to fight, but then dropped their weapons almost instantly and ran away when they heard a familiar wail.
"Hey, I gotta remember that line. It really works," said Tuffnut as he chased after them.
In actual fact the Hunters were running away from the Haddock twins and the other Dragon Riders as they flew over the island. Because the forest was so dense and it was so dark they didn't realize that Tuffnut was running directly below them.
Tuffnut then saw them fly overhead. "Hey. Save some Dragon Hunters for me." He said. He then quickly looked at Macey. "Sorry, Macey. For us." He corrected as he then chased after them screaming.
(Linebreak)
Viggo was looking through his spyglass and saw the Riders approach. He then turned to his brother.
"Open the gates." Viggo ordered.
Ryker then turned towards the man on the gates and signaled him. The man then pulled down on the lever activating the mechanism and the gates began to open. Almost instantly water began to rush in which was very unfortunate for Ruffnut, who was still tied to a pole.
"So this is your great plan, huh?" Ruffnut asked, looking up at Viggo and Ryker. She then watched as the water began to rise. "It's actually not that bad. Uh, kind of gruesome."
Snotlout, Raeda, Fishlegs, Hookfang, Sparkfire and Meatlug soon appeared and saw her immediately.
"Oh, there. That's Ruffnut." Fishlegs pointed.
"They're gonna go to drown her." Snotlout yelled.
"Then let's stop hovering like idiots and free her!" Raeda suggested.
Hunters then appeared and fired several arrows at them and they quickly avoided them. The other Dragon Riders soon appeared.
"Snotlout, Raeda, Fishlegs, you get Ruff out of there," Hiccup ordered. "Astrid, Hicca, Henry and I will take out the archers."
Hiccup then fired a plasma blast down upon the archers and landed on the ground before filing another blast as a Hunter. With the path now clear, Fishlegs, Raeda and Snotlout made their way to Ruffnut.
"Hurry, hurry. We have to stop the water," Fishlegs urged.
"Snotlout, close the dam! Fishlegs and I will free Ruff!" Raeda told Snotlout
"Okay, Hookfang, let's show 'em how we do it." Snotlout said.
Snotlout and Hookfang then made their way towards the gate controls and quickly took out the guards guarding it with a fire blast. Snotlout then dismounted Hookfang and rushed towards the lever pulling it back to close the gates.
"Uh, Snotlout? Can we get some cover over here?" Fishlegs asked as he held out a crate to protect himself, Raeda, Ruffnut and Meatlug from arrows while the Henderson Girl kept her bow aimed.
"We're a little pinned down here!" Raeda said as she fired an arrow and was about to grab another, only to find her quiver empty, "And I'm out of arrows!"
"Make up your mind." Snotlout grumbled as he jumped onto Hookfang.
Hiccup was still engaging the archers and soon found himself surrounded on both sides. Fortunately, Hicca, Astrid and Henry appeared and fired several blasts at the archers taking them out. Hiccup immediately took to the air and joined his twin, Astrid and Henry to clear out the remaining arches.
Unfortunately, they were so busy that they didn't notice the Hunters manning a catapult and aiming straight at them.
"Fire!" The Hunter ordered as a boulder was launched and it struck Stormfly, knocking Astrid off her back.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled as she fell.
"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled and quickly dived down. He stretched his arm to catch Astrid and managed to grab her hand. "I got ya."
He quickly pulled up and they landed on the platform.
Viggo was observing the battle from above and smiled as everything was falling to place. "Let's finish this, shall we?" He suggested, looking at a Hunter.
The Hunters then grabbed several dragon-proof chains and began to pull them over the dry dock trapping the Dragon Riders inside. The Haddock twins looked up and saw Viggo and Ryker overlooking from above.
"You know, Haddocks, when your opponent presents you with the opportunity to wipe out all his pieces at once, it is the cunning player who seizes the moment." Viggo smirked. He then turned to the Hunters at the gate control. "Wider." He ordered the flood gate to open further as the Hunter pulled down on the lever opening the gate and letting the water run through.
Meatlug then knocked the pole holding Ruffnut over and Fishlegs quickly pulled her out of the water. The two of them then mounted Meatlug and joined the other Riders.
The Haddock twins, Henry and Astrid were hiding behind cover as the archers fired at them through the chain dome.
"You're a coward, father!" Henry yelled with a glare at his father and uncle. "Letting a flood take out your enemies when all else fails?!" He questioned hatefully.
"As I taught you my son, one must use whatever piece they have available if they are to achieve victory." Viggo told Henry.
"But we will stop you like all the other times!" Henry countered as he and the other Riders quickly mounted their dragons and took off and landed on the constructed ship with the other Riders.
"We sure could use some Changewing acid right now." Snotlout said.
"Sadly we seem to have neglected to stock up or supply," Raeda pointed out.
"Have your dragons concentrate their fire on the center link." Hiccup ordered, pointing at the link connecting to all the chains.
"We take that out, the whole dome will collapse." Hicca finished.
"Guys, we were unable to complete our test," Fishlegs reminded. "Are you both sure this is gonna work?"
"We have no choice, Fishlegs." Hiccup said.
"He's right. It's either try or we drown." Hicca then looked at Midnight. "Lay it on, girl."
The dragons then concentrated their fire onto the link and it appeared to be working.
"It's working!" Henry called out.
"We have to keep at it." Hiccup said.
Astrid then quickly deflected an arrow that aimed for Hiccup with her ax. "Yeah, but we should take cover first." She said to Hiccup.
"Take cover behind the crates!" Hicca called out.
The Riders quickly ran to cover as the Hunters fired their crossbows down upon them. Then they heard a yell and the sound of battle above them.
"What is that?" Astrid frowned.
"It's full-on Thorston Battle Frenzy." Ruffnut cheered.
The Hunters on the ledge turned and saw more Hunters running away and chasing after them was Tuffnut holding Macey.
"It's Macey and Tuff, back again!" Tuffnut declared and slammed Macey against two archers.
He then ran past Viggo's tent and towards the dry dock much to Viggo's annoyance.
"Get him!" Viggo yelled at Ryker.
Ryker immediately ran after Tuffnut and drew his blade. Tuffnut was making his way to the gate controls, but he realized there was no way he could get there in time before the water completely submerged the dock.
"Fly, Macey. Fly." Tuffnut yelled and tossed Macey at the gears.
Macey then landed right between two of the larger gears, wedging them in place and stopping the gate from opening even further.
"Keep blasting," Hiccup ordered, knowing that Tuffnut only bought them a little amount of time.
The dragons then fired again at the link and it was starting to get white hot. "Just a little more guys!" Hicca told them.
Tuffnut watched as the dragons were almost there melting the link. He then heard a voice behind him and quickly moved just in time to avoid Ryker's blade. He started to run and Ryker chased after him.
In the chain dome, the dragons had almost melted the link.
"Almost there." Hiccup said.
The dragons opened their mouths and were prepared to fire another series of shots, but sadly they had reached their shot limit.
"Uh, Hiccup," said Snotlout.
"They're out!" Hiccup yelled.
Hicca then remembered, "Not all of them. Where's Barf and Belch?" She asked, as the Zippleback was nowhere in sight.
At that moment, Macey shattered and the gate then continued to open even wider and more water began to rush into the dry dock.
Tuffnut was still running away from Ryker, when he saw Macey's handle land in front of him. "Macey," He gasped.
He quickly ducked just in time to avoid Ryker's blade which sliced right through a torch. He then grabbed Macey's handle and began to run down the opposite direction with Ryker close behind.
Inside the dome things were worse as the water had reached the deck of the ship they were on. "Tuff, you need to find Barf and Belch! They're gas blast is the last push we need to break the chains!" Hicca called as the water continued rising.
"A little busy at the moment!" Tuffnut yelled as he then reached a dead-end and then turned to face Ryker holding up Macey's handle. Then, from out of nowhere, Barf and Belch landed right on top of Ryker.
"It's about time you two decided to show up." Tuffnut retorted.
Barf responded by spraying gas in his face causing him to cough. 'Be grateful we came back for you at all.' He retorted.
"Point taken." Tuff said as he mounted onto the dragon.
The water was almost reaching to the Rider's necks and that's when they noticed Tuffnut riding Barf and Belch above the dome. "Come on, guys, let's finish this once and for all." Tuffnut said.
'FIRE IN THE HOLE!' Barf and Belch roared, then used their gas and spark attack and shattered the link containing the chains.
"They did it!" Hicca cheered.
"We're home free now!" Henry called out.
"Dragon Riders, to the air." Hiccup commanded.
The Riders quickly mounted their dragons and they flew up into the air far away from the island.
Ryker approached Viggo, clutching his arm. "We still have men. We can catch them." He said to Viggo.
"No. Now is not the time," said Viggo calmly. "Project Shellfire must still be completed." He told him as the Dragon Riders flew back to the Edge.
(Linebreak)
Once they were back on the Edge, the Thorston twins then performed a small Viking funeral for Macey.
"There do I see my father, my mother, my brothers and sisters." Tuffnut recited with his helmet over his chest as Ruffnut raised a bow and arrow and had Belch ignite the arrow. "They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever."
She then pointed the arrow down to the small boat they created for Macey's handle, but missed. Hiccup and Hicca rolled their eyes and looked at Toothless, who fired a plasma blast and ignited the boat. They washed at the both submerged under the water in the trough and Tuffnut placed his helmet back onto his head.
"Sorry it had to end this way, bro." Ruffnut apologized honestly.
"There will always be a mace-sized hole in my heart, where she once lived." Tuffnut said.
The Haddock twins then approached them. "Guys—" Hiccup started.
"We know what you're gonna say, okay," Tuffnut stopped them. "Our twintuition almost got the whole team killed." He said.
"Uh, yeah, something like that." Hiccup said.
"Something a lot like that," Hicca added with her arms crossed.
"But without following our twintuition, we would never have found these." Tuffnut said holding the blueprints for Project Shellfire.
He then noticed the blank looks on the Haddock Twins, and noticed that he was holding the plans upside down. He then quickly turned the plans the right way up. "These! They're plans for something huge." He told them as the Haddock twins' eyes widened as they took the plans.
Astrid and Henry soon joined and looked at the plans. "They look like blueprints for some kind of ship." Henry noted.
"Yeah but, what's that dragon?" Hicca wondered, pointing to the inscription of a horseshoe crab shaped dragon, with two long horns.
"What could Viggo be up to?" Astrid asked them.
"Whatever it is, I don't think it's for hunting dragons." Hiccup said.
"It looks like Viggo is trying to build a weapon." Hicca concluded with a worried tone.
"Knowing my father, he can make a weapon that is determined to wipe out his enemies if he thinks he could win this war." Henry said seriously as he saw that his father had yet to pull out his most powerful piece yet.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile Viggo and Ryker were aboard the ship they had been working on and it was carving through the water faster than any ship possible. He was also unlike any ship in existence, because it didn't have the main deck and had several hatches plus no sails or even a rudder.
Ryker approached Viggo looking quite annoyed. "How? How could you let them just—"
Viggo quickly grasped his throat, cutting him off and glared at him. "You never listen, do you brother?" He asked and released him. "We are still right on schedule." he told him.
Viggo then opened a hatch and both he and Ryker entered it. As the ship sailed through the water there was a shadow beneath the waves of something large that appeared to be connected to the ship.