Astrid was still running as quickly as she could while Snotlout and Chopper tried to keep Lola at bay.
"I don't know what your deal is, but I don't care!" Snotlout yelled. "She's our friend, and we won't let you hurt her!"
"I'm telling you I won't stop punching until you stop running!" Chopper yelled as he battered her with several punches.
"Get away, Astrid, hurry!" Snotlout yelled.
"I'm going to crush you! You filthy hussy!" Lola growled.
'If only I had my gear, I could easily take her down,' Astrid cursed.
"The only one who Absalom is allowed to marry is me!" Lola roared, and she then tossed Snotlout and Chopper off of her. "Get lost!"
Astrid then tripped on a tree root and hit the ground.
"Now, prepared to die!" Lola roared as she raised her swords.
"Wait, you got it all wrong!" Astrid yelled in desperation. "I-I-I'm already married!"
Lola then stopped seconds away from skewering her and stared at her. "What?"
"What?" Chopper stared.
"Oh, come on," said Snotlout rolling his eyes.
"Y-you mean it?" Lola asked.
"Uh, yes," said Astrid. "My captain is my husband, and I do love him dearly. Personally, I think you and that Ab guy would make a cute couple. You two should totally hook it up, girlfriend."
"You think?"
"Of course I do; you were made for each other."
Upon hearing this, Lola dropped his sword and began to cry. "To be completely honest, I was beginning to lose hope. All this time, no one has ever offered me a single word of encouragement; you don't know how much it means. Thank you… thank you…"
"Raise your head up high; it's okay," said Astrid as she got to her feet. "You don't have to thank me for saying that we're friends. My name is Astrid."
"We're friends," Lola cried. "Astrid!"
Snotlout jaw hit the ground. "She bought that?"
Fishlegs then arrived completely out of breath. "Is Astrid okay because I heard screaming earlier…" He then stopped and saw Astrid and Lola sitting around a table, talking to one another. "…what did I miss?"
"I like just don't get it," said Lola. "I tell him how much I love him, and I am so tight that I nearly cracked his ribs, and he's just like whatever about it. I tried to be as sweet as I could, but he just won't notice me."
"Of course not, Lola; you're going about this all the wrong way," said Astrid. "You need to be more aggressive."
"Huh, what? Is that the problem?"
"I've only seen him briefly, but he seems to be far more stubborn than my husband. Personally, I think the only way for the two of you to get married is to knock him out and get him to sign that marriage certificate while he's asleep."
"Wait, is that really ethical? I mean, as a human being?"
"Lola, sweetie, your zombie," Astrid reminded her.
"A loophole! A rotten zombie loophole!"
"Remember, if you can't knock him out, you can always drug him."
"Hey, Astrid, weren't we going to run away?" Snotlout asked.
"Oh, by the way, Lola," Astrid continued. "I got something important back when I visited the treasure vault. I would like to go and pick it up, but I don't remember the way. Can you give me directions?"
"Of course, you big silly," Lola smiled. "You just go through Mistress Perona's room, and it's right next door, can't miss it. Just simply take the stairs—"
"Whoa, that warthog bought that hook, line and sinker," said Snotlout looking impressed.
'So Astrid is married to Hiccup all along? No wonder she so protective of him,' said Chopper.
"I'm still not sure what's going on here," said Fishlegs.
Then suddenly, they heard the sound of a twig snapping, and when they looked around, they could see the top of Absalom's hat over the bushes.
"Hey, Astrid, he's caught up to us," Fishlegs hissed.
"All right then," said Astrid and looked at Lola. "All right, Lola now is your chance to attack. I'll never see him again, and that's perfectly fine with me. There's nothing stopping you; you'll make a beautiful couple."
"I'll give it my best!" said Lola as she rose to her feet and grabbed her swords. "Thank you for everything, Astrid! You've given me the courage to fight!"
She then instantly dashed off towards Absalom, who was still wandering the garden.
"Absalom! I'm coming for you!" Lola yelled as she dashed towards him.
Absalom instantly panicked. "Lolaaaa!"
Astrid immediately turned to the others. "Okay, guys, this is our chance!"
"A non-violent solution, for us at least," said Chopper as they moved out.
"You know I would feel sorry for that guy there wasn't the fact he was a perv," said Fishlegs.
Astrid shrugged. "She's not such a bad girl; you just have to get to know her a bit."
Meanwhile, the three zombies that had awoken Moria ran around carrying Hiccup's coffin.
"Master, we're back!" Nep cried. "We've got him! We've got him!"
"Shut up about your stupid master, and let me out of here!" Hiccup roared from inside. "I can't see a thing! Where am I? Quit ignoring me!"
They eventually lowered the coffin and opened the lid, and he instantly glared at them.
"Who are you guys?" Hiccup demanded, and they immediately grabbed him. "Hey, let me go! Stop it!"
Moments later, they shoved him into a cage and then locked the door.
"You're lucky I'm in here because when I get out, you'll wish you stay dead!" Hiccup spat. 'What do these things want with me, though?'
Hiccup then felt a large shadow cast over him. When he turned, he found Moria standing there. He was a giant halting man with extremely pale skin, as if he had never stepped into the sun in his entire life. Moria just turned to look at him with a menacing grin.
Hildon was now flying over towards Perona, who was now emptying the Night Fury with a group of zombies.
"What kind of stupid pirate ship doesn't have any treasure?" Perona complained.
"They have a few chests and such, but all of them are empty," said a zombie. "We did pick up some money they had lying around, at least."
Perona sighed. "What a waste of time. I have to look at your uncute faces, and there's not even treasure. I thought this was the guy who beat Viggo, you think you have a bit more to show for it. Whatever, they've got plenty of food. Let's take that back with us, at least."
"Aye, aye!"
"Mistress Perona!" Hildon called as he swooped in towards her.
"Hildon?" she said, looking up at him.
"The master is calling for a meeting with the Mysterious Three," he informed her.
"What is that about? Did something bad happen?"
"It would appear that Dragon Conquer Hiccup has just been captured. This will be the debut of number 900."
"Number 900? For real?"
Hiccup looked at Moria, who was gazing down at him.
"What are you looking at, creep," said Hiccup.
"How rude of you! You can't speak to our master like that!" the blue zombie cried angrily.
"So this is the famous Dragon Conquer Hiccup, huh?" Moria smiled as he made his way over to his giant chair and sat down. "Well, you're energetic, if nothing else."
"And you must be Moria," Hiccup assumed. "I hear that, your real jerk."
The three zombies immediately panicked in fear, but Moria merely laughed.
"I've got to admit, I admire your confidence," he said. "I expect nothing less from a man with a bounty of 300 hundred million. You'll make an outstanding underling. You're just perfect for what I had in mind."
"Underling?!" Hiccup roared. "Who do you think you are?"
"Who do I think I am? Are you asking me that ironically?" Moria laughed. "It's obvious; I am the man who will become King of the Pirates!"
Lola, meanwhile, was trying to find Absalom, who had disappeared into thin air, much to her annoyance.
"Master Ab!" she yelled in pure frustration. "Get out of here and marry me right now, you big jerk! You turned invisible and ditched me again, didn't you?"
Astrid and the others had finally managed to reach the other side of the bridge and entered the building opposite the mansion.
"Did we lose them?" Fishlegs asked.
"I think Lola should keep him busy," said Astrid, but then she saw Absalom exiting the forest. "It's him, and he's coming this way!"
"Over here!" Snotlout gestured, and they followed him.
They followed him to something that appeared to be some sort of stuffed animal, but when he opened the sip on its back, it wasn't stuffed.
"Quick in here!" he said.
"What the heck is that?" Astrid asked as they stepped inside.
"I don't know, just get in here in high," Snotlout hissed.
It was a tight squeeze for the fall of them, but they all managed to fit inside, and Snotlout closed the zip. However, they had, in fact, stepped inside the zombie known as Treacle.
"What was that?" he said as he looked around.
"This is strange; there should be anyplace left for them to run," said Absalom and then looked up the stairs towards the building.
When he reached the top floor, he noticed Treacle walking by. "Hey, Treacle!"
"Absalom? I mean… Master Absalom," he said. "This is bad. It seems as if intruders have—"
"Hold on!" said Absalom as he raised his hand to silence him. "This is important. Did you see four pirates run past here? They just disappeared."
"Well, actually, that's the thing—"
However, before he could explain in more detail, Perona as she arrived in.
"Absalom!" she said. "What do you want? I told you I don't like you in my room."
"Perona," said Absalom.
"Welcome back, Mistress Perona," said Treacle. "Is there anything—"
"Yeah, I need you to stop talking!" she snapped harshly. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"All right, but just this once, there is something—"
"Can it! Nobody cares!"
"Don't you think you're being a bit too strict with Treacle or rather way too strict," said Absalom.
"He's my underling; what's it to you?" Perona glared. "Anyway, did you hear Master is calling for us?"
"Did something happen?" Absalom asked.
"I suppose you could say that. Number 900 is making its big debut."
"Number 900? Then he must have found a powerful shadow; I wonder who—"
"It's Dragon!"
Treacle attempted to undo the sip on his back, but his arms were too short, but Snotlout opened it slightly so they could hear what was going on outside. They were now fully aware that they were actually inside a zombie.
"It's a miracle they haven't found us yet," Astrid hissed.
"Yeah, what were you thinking hiding in here?" said Fishlegs looking at Snotlout. "We were better off before!"
"What do you want from me?" said Snotlout. "You were all freaking about that invisible guy, and I found something to climb inside. How was I supposed to know that it was a zombie, huh? We'll run away as soon as we get the chance, okay."
"Master Absalom!" Hildon cried as he flew in. "That's where you're hiding; there's something important that I need to tell you."
"Yes?" said Absalom looking rather impatient.
"In addition to the pirates, I'm afraid we have another unwanted guest," he said regretfully.
"Go on then."
"It's him, the Humming Swordsman."
Absalom's eyes widened. "He's back?"
Meanwhile, at the destroyed bridge, Skull had just hit the ground leaving an imprint of the shape of his body on the ground. The zombie generals just looked down the hole, confused, not sure what just happened.
"Did someone just fall from the sky?"
Eret and the others were also a little perplexed by what just happened.
"Hey, is that what I think it is down there?" Eret asked.
"It can't be," said Heather.
"If it isn't, it's an awfully good replica," said Ruffnut.
"With any equal bad sense of humour," Tuffnut added.
"They're right," said Eret. "Looking at the shape, it can't be anyone else. Though that begs the question whether weirdo fell down from."
Heather looked at the nearby buildings wondering if he'd fallen out of the window or if he was pushed out.
"Even if you survive the fall's now a crowd of zombie generals," said Tuffnut.
"And we had a hard time against them," Ruffnut added.
Eret sighed. "We better go down and save him. What a pain in the ass."
However, before they had a chance to do anything else, the spider silk began to stick to the side of the building. Within seconds a spider's web was formed, which not only connected to their site and the building but the other side as well. Eret and the twins barely got out of the way before they, too, were struck by the webbing.
When they looked up, they saw the spider monkey was now standing in the very middle of the web.
"Hey, hey!" he said. "You think I'm going to let you get away just because you broke some measly bridge. I am a spider; I can climb whatever the hell I want. Monkey… monkey… monkey!"
Eret got up and began opening the canister he had been carrying since they left the ship. "Looks like we're going to have to pound the crap out of this guy first." He then pulled out a heavy-looking nunchuck and turned to Heather. "You think you can keep the spider busy for a sec?"
"What for?" Heather asked.
"Perfect as an open section right over there," he said as he walked away. "Anyway, I'm going to build a spider smasher."
The twins just looked at one another and shrugged.
"Hey, I'm right here!" the spider glared. "Don't ignore me! I'll show you what's what, bastards!"
He then raised his hand, and Heather noticed something about it.
"Sticky Spider Net!" he yelled and fired some webbing right out of the palm of his hand.
"He's got a spin around on his hand!" Heather noted.
"Time for Six Flower! " she said, and six arms sprouted around the spider monkey's right eye. "And Slap!"
The hands then slapped the spider monkey's eye, which was quite painful. I can, on pure instinct, his attack was still firing; he placed them over his eyes.
"You slapped my eye, you awful woman!" he roared, but then he discovered he had a new problem. The webbing that he had fired at them was now stuck in his eyes. "No, no! Damnit, you're playing dirty! This isn't fair!"
"Good work, partner; I'm ready to rock," said Eret as he returned. "Step aside."
"My, what is that?" Heather asked.
Eret and now stuck to stone pillars on either side of his nunchucks.
"Oh, this here…" he shrugged. "I just stuck my steel nunchucks into some stone columns, that's all."
The spider monkey was still trying to get his hands free, but his webbing was proving to be rather sticky.
"Because one monster is this big, you got a smashing extra hard!" Eret roared. "Heavy Nunchuck!"
He then swung his reinforced nunchuck right into the spider monkey's face.
'Where did all that power come from,' he groaned. 'There's no way this guy is human.'
Eret didn't let up and struck once again, this time from above and then again, this time from the opposite side. He kept on bashing him with his nunchucks non-stop, and the zombie generals could hear his cries from above.
"Arachkey isn't looking so good."
"Who are these guys?"
"At any rate, we had better go help him; come on!"
"I said stop it already!" Arachkey roared furiously. "Sticky Spider Net!"
He then fired some webbing, striking the nunchucks and knocking them out of Eret's hands, but he didn't look too concerned by this.
"No more smashing me in the face; too bad for you!" Arachkey laughed. "Looks like it's time for revenge!"
Eret merely raised his left arm, and it transformed into its cannon form. "Weapons Left!"
Eret then fired his cannon right in Arachkey's face, catching him completely by surprise. He was about to attack again, but then he heard Heather and the twins screaming behind him. When he spun around, he saw the three of them had now been tied up in webbing by another group of spiders, except these ones had mouse heads.
"What the hell are those things?" Eret stared.
"Mousy, mousy, mousy!" the mouse spiders laughed.
"I was careless; I'm sorry," said Heather. "I didn't think they'd be other spiders here."
"Hey, we were caught by surprise as well," said Ruffnut.
"Yeah, don't blame yourself," said Tuffnut.
Eret immediately rushed towards them to help, but Arachkey struck him with some webbing while his back was turned, sticking him to the floor.
"Serves you right," Arachkey groaned. "Monkey, monkey, monkey… That's what happens when you let your guard down. These guys are my minions; they're called Spider Mice. There are more than 500 of them here on Breakneck Bog. Once we set our eyes on you, there's no escape; we never once failed to capture our prey. From the shadows… from your blind spots… from where you least suspect it, we attack, and thanks to Doctor Hogback's modifications, our silk webs are unbreakable."
The spider mice smiled fiendishly.
"We picked up your friends one by one, silently carrying them through the ceiling of the mansion without anyone noticing a single thing. It doesn't matter how strong they are; once they are wrapped in our webs, they're helpless. One little mistake and they become nothing more than another offering to our master."
"Don't worry about your friends; as soon as we carry you off, you'll all be reunited. Hope you enjoy the ride!"
Even the twins realised that they were now in trouble, it really did look as if this was going to be the end of them, but then they heard singing echoing throughout the courtyard.
Yo hohoho, yo hohoho Yo hohoho, yo hohoho
Yo hohoho, yo hohoho Yo hohoho, yo hohoho
Everyone looked around to find the source of this singing, but with the echoes, it was difficult to pinpoint.
"What's that?" Arachkey frowned.
Gather up all of the crew; it's time to ship out Binks' brew.
Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide.
O'er across the ocean's tide. Rays of sunshine far and wide.
Birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by.
Yo hohoho, yo hohoho Yo hohoho, yo hohoho
Yo hohoho, yo hohoho Yo hohoho, yo hohoho
"Stop it! Who the hell is singing that!" Arachkey demanded.
Heather and the others recognised the song; it was the same one Skull sang when they first met him. Then to their amazement, appearing in front of them completely out of nowhere was Skull himself.
"My goodness, it looks like you came to this island after all," he said as he rested his sword, which had been inside his cane apparently, upon his shoulder.
"How did you get all the way up here?" Heather stared.
"I jumped, of course; I'm quite light," Skull explained. "Now, since you're here already, I suppose there's no point in holding back. I'll tell you everything I know about this island."
"Who are you? Your not a zombie," said Arachkey. "Does that mean you're with these pirates?"
Skull merely walked away from him.
Eret stared at him. "Hold on, what are you—"
"Worry not, my friend, I'm not going anywhere," Skull assured him. "I'll put an end to this promptly."
He then stopped in his tracks and began to sheath his sword slowly. "Three Verse Humming: Arrow-Notch Slash!"
The moment he sheathed his sword, Arachkey cried out in pain as a huge slash mark appeared across his body. Everyone was completely stunned as no one had seen Skull swing his sword; in fact, he never even turned to face Arachkey.