It was time for the friends to have another movie night. The twins were hosting again and both had opposing opinions on what to watch. Unfortunately, no amount of bludgeoning would lead to one of them giving in and accepting the movie that their sibling wanted to see. To keep them from killing each other, the friends recommended that they just do a double feature. So, this is how the group was going to end up watching a western movie and a pirate flick. Of course, the fighting resumed shortly.

"Let's watch the cowboys first. They would lasso your pirate," Tuffnut taunted, wrestling with Ruffnut.

"The pirate is going to blow the cowboys up with a cannon!"

Tuffnut gasped, offended, as they kept fighting. This had been going on for a little while and Dagur's short patience shrunk even more. He caught each of their arms before they could whack at the other.

"This is never going to end! We're watching the western first. Is everyone good with that?"

"Yes!" the others answered, relieved to finally be able to start.

Tuffnut sent a proud look to Ruffnut and mouthed, "I win."

This nearly started another fight, but when the movie began, the twins were shushed. The movie was full of cowboys and sheriffs battling it out. When one cowboy missed his shot, Heather leaned towards Astrid.

"I bet we would've nailed that."

"Definitely," the blonde said. "It shouldn't have been difficult."

"Sh!" Snotlout said, frowning at them.

"We're not even loud," Astrid complained.

"I can't hear the horses trotting over the two of you."

"Why would you need to hear that?"

Snotlout turned up his nose, then nudged Dagur. "They just don't get how immersion works."

"They really don't," the redhead agreed.

Astrid and Heather rolled their eyes and the friends returned their attention to the screen, seeing the main character leaping off a train on horseback. After this, Hiccup could not help but notice that a look was directed his way during each horse trick.

"This is probably not going to end well for me," he thought.

The trainer pushed these ideas down so that he could enjoy the next movie. In the pirate film, there was everything. It had swashbuckling antiheroes, sirens, and a Kraken for good measure. The movie even had a scene when one of the crew who tried to start a mutiny was forced to walk the plank.

"They didn't actually do that," Fishlegs commented. "It's just something a lot of people made up."

"Must you make everything educational?" Snotlout questioned. When he looked away from Fishlegs, he saw a devious look on Dagur's face. "What?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just thinking about something."

Snotlout did not feel comforted by that. He continued to feel disturbed as that grin returned to Dagur's face in a sword fighting scene. Like Hiccup had done before, Snotlout tried to not think of this. The movie ended and the friends got ready to leave, but feelings of concern returned to Hiccup and Snotlout as Dagur put an arm around both of them.

"I'm glad we're such an adventurous group of friends."

"Yeah…" Hiccup said unsurely. "This isn't going to be a whole thing like with the desert trip, right?"

Dagur looked hurt. "Don't you have any faith in me?" He took his arms back and began leaving. "I need the ocean for this one."

The redhead was gone before either of the others could say anything else. Hiccup was not surprised when he heard his ringtone the next day. He saw the name on the incoming call and sighed.

"Well, at least it's after work this time," Hiccup said, picking up his cellphone. "Hello, Brother."

"Hey, Brother! Hold on, I'm going to merge the call with Snotlip."

Hiccup already felt bad that his other friend was being dragged into this as well.

"Okay," Dagur said happily. "You're both there now."

"Dagur," Snotlout said, sounding like he had been arguing for a while, "I'm not going on a pirate ship tonight. Minden and I are going out to dinner."

"No, you're not. I texted her first just in case you tried to say that. She said your date night is tomorrow, so try again, Snothat."

A frustrated grunt came from the dark-haired man. "Are you just calling me so that you have someone to push off the plank?"

"If it makes you feel any better, there's no one I'd rather push off a plank than you."

"That's worse! Maybe you should try again."

Hiccup put a hand on the bridge of his nose. "Why am I on the line too?"

"Because I've found a horse that you can do those tricks on."

"I don't ride horses."

"Yet!"

"Dagur, I'm hanging up."

Snotlout sucked in a sharp breath. "You're not getting out of this so easily, Hiccup!"

"See?" Dagur pressed. "We both want to do this with you."

"No, I just don't want to do it alone," Snotlout clarified. "There's a difference."

"Either way, it works for me."

Hiccup felt a headache coming on. "So, you just have a pirate ship and horse ready for us?"

"It'd be weird if I called you both without having them."

There was a silence on Hiccup's side while Snotlout let out a loud groan.

"Fine," they both said.

"Great! Meet me at the docks in an hour. You two are the best!"

When the phone was hung up, Hiccup heard his ringtone again. This time, Snotlout was calling.

"We're never watching either of those genres with him again."

"Agreed."

It was a week before the next movie night. This time, Heather was hosting. She welcomed her friends and family, then led them into the main part of the home where some snacks were set out.

"I found this movie that sounded really interesting," she said. "It's a thriller."

The others looked excited by this and quickly got settled in their seats so that she could press play. As the movie began, the friends' eyes were glued to the screen. It was of a person convinced that they were being hunted, but there was no true proof which could convince anyone else. More and more, Mala felt her husband tensing up next to her. She was unaccustomed to him being so quiet during a movie. The others began to notice this as well, but they did not say anything. By the time the movie ended, nothing was revealed. The conclusion was completely ambiguous on whether it all was in the main character's head or not.

"I think it was all imaginary," Heather said. "Someone would have seen something."

"Unless the person doing the hunting was just really careful," Fishlegs offered. "It's possible that no one would see."

More of the others chimed in with theories, but Dagur offered none. Mala held his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"You seem tense," she commented.

Dagur let out a nervous laugh. "I do? Guess that I'm just thinking about the movie and how anything could be in our heads or real. I mean, maybe everything we're doing right now is just imaginary."

His laugh stopped immediately as he squinted at Mala. She kissed his cheek.

"We are really here," she assured him.

Dagur wanted that to make him feel better than it did. Alas, as it became night, he still could not stop thinking about everything around him. That poor main character. The entire world seemed to be a personal enemy. Dagur checked the rooms of his and Mala's home, making sure that there were not any burglars hiding. The third time he did this, Mala called him to come to bed. He did not sleep a wink, instead choosing to keep watch in case someone decided to break in. That morning, Mala noticed that he was wide awake and on edge. When this did not improve later in the day, she went to the group text chain.

"We will probably have to see all of you next week," she wrote.

"What's wrong?" Heather asked.

"The movie has gotten to Dagur."

Ruffnut responded next. "How messed up is he? On a scale of 1-10?"

"I am hesitant to give that answer."

"We'll take that as meaning 10," Tuffnut texted.

"Please do not."

It was far too late to stop the following series of events at this point. That evening, the twins went to their friends' home. Tuffnut grabbed some branches so that he could scrape them against the window. While he did, Ruffnut got some aluminum foil to wiggle noisily. The siblings snickered as they imagined their jumpy buddy's reactions. Their laughter died down when the door opened. It was instead replaced with shrieks of terror as they ran for their lives. Dagur chased them and they dashed around trees, then into each other. They rubbed their sore foreheads, staring up at him in shock.

"How'd you know it was us?" Tuffnut asked.

"Mala told me as soon as you started getting weird on the texts."

The blond frowned, then called towards the house. "Curse your fidelity!"

Scrambling to their feet, the twins scurried off. While they did, relief washed over Dagur. He went back inside and kissed Mala.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

The redhead gave her a big grin. "Way better! If anyone tries to mess with us, I'll take care of them. Just needed a reminder. Thanks, Malapoo."

Mala kissed him back. "You are very welcome. I knew the twins would not disappoint."

Dagur felt thoroughly cured after that. It was good because it meant that he was ready and able to enjoy the next movie they saw together. This one was at Fishlegs's home. Snotlout was already complaining.

"We're actually going to watch a documentary?" he whined.

"Yes," Fishlegs said. "It's really interesting. It's about this doctor who–"

"Lost me at 'it's really interesting,'" Snotlout said. "I don't trust your judgment."

Fishlegs frowned, but he did not let this get to him. The blond sat next to Heather and turned on the movie. To his mild surprise, Dagur plopped down on his other side.

"I thought you'd sit closer to Heather," the Ingerman admitted.

Dagur shook his head. "Not this time. I figured you'd probably know a lot about the movie."

Fishlegs smiled brightly. "As a matter of fact, I do. I'd be happy to share what I know."

The friends turned on the movie. In it, the doctor had just discovered the cure to a disease and then went out celebrating with family and friends. Fishlegs leaned over to Dagur.

"This is actually inaccurate. From what I've read, the cure wasn't found until a couple years later. They just had the information which could be used to work on making it. The part about the family and friends hanging out is right at least."

The redhead looked intrigued by this. "If they wanted to speed run it, they really should have just done a time skip."

"Exactly! Why risk making it an untrue story?"

"It just makes no sense. I've heard a bit about this doctor too."

"Really?" Fishlegs asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I found out that the inspiration behind finding the cure was because of a cousin who got sick."

The blond's eyes widened. "How did I miss that? Of course that would lead to an overwhelming urge to find the cure."

"Hey," Snotlout chimed in, "our friends group only needs one nerd. Occasionally two when Hiccup finds out a new animal detail, but we definitely don't need three."

Dagur promptly ignored him and Snotlout realized that they were not going to stop, so he spent the remainder of his time trying to keep the twins from eating his popcorn. As soon as the movie was over, the duo kept talking about various facts. Gradually, the friends began to leave, but this hardly made the pair stop. Heather sighed and hooked her arm around Mala's.

"I'll give you a ride home. I don't think they're going to give it a rest before morning."

"Thank you. That does seem very unlikely."

The guys kept talking, offering quick waves when they saw the ladies leaving. Heather made sure that no more true stories would be watched for at least a month. Her choice was as unrealistic as possible. She chose a fantasy movie with elves and sorcerers. The visuals were a combination of CGI and practical effects, warranting many oohs and ahs from the audience. Gradually, Dagur started to frown. This turned to an expression of disappointment as the movie continued. When it ended, the redhead seemed positively let down by what he had seen.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked, seeing the look on his face.

"They didn't do anything with those sorcerer minions. They could've had them cause some type of uprising or something, but they were just cannon fodder."

"Good point," Snotlout admitted. "It would've been neat to see something more creative."

"Yeah! And what was with the main character? She didn't kill anybody."

"Well, she didn't necessarily have to," Hiccup said.

"She still knew how to fight," Astrid added.

"Good thing because she had a lot more people to fight since she didn't kill anybody!" Dagur countered. "If I were her, the movie would have been over at the fifteen minute mark."

"It's not always about being ruthless," Fishlegs said.

"It should be about being efficient." Dagur crossed his arms. "She was way too nice on top of it. That bad guy had me ready to strangle him, so I know she was mad. In that one scene, she had his hand caught and it didn't even break! I mean, do you know how easily hands break? Sometimes, I don't and then they just go crack on you and someone's screaming like yesterday."

Mala's eyes widened slightly. "Yesterday?"

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, but somehow, the guy gets free and is able to go torment whoever he wants. I blame her mercy. Half the runtime was spent with her trying to learn magic."

Hiccup regarded his friend in confusion. "What does that have to do with her being merciful?"

"Because there was a simple solution. As soon as you find out you have magic, grab all the scummy people in the village and use them as test dummies. She could've used the skills she learned to take out the sorcerer. It would be so easy to kill somebody with magic. Doesn't even take that much without it."

Hiccup put a hand to his temple, almost chuckling. "And this conversation is why we don't go to the movie theater. It's probably better that no one else hears you say something like that."

"I'd just convince them I was right."

"From behind bars."

Snotlout gestured to himself. "But I'd bail you out if that happened."

Tuffnut laughed. "Like you'd ever be the first call."

The shorter man looked hurt. "Well, Hiccup's busy sometimes. Mala is too. I'd probably be after them."

"What about me?" Heather asked. "I should be on that list."

"After you then."

"Fishlegs is responsible," the brunette added. "He'd be a good emergency contact."

"I'm somewhere on that list!"

Ruffnut patted his back. "Whatever makes you feel better, Snothat."

"You don't get to use that nickname!"

The squabbling continued for a little bit longer as Dagur considered the order of people he would contact after being apprehended by the police. It ended with the twins reluctantly accepting that the redhead would be the only one who got Snotlout to respond to a different name. The Jorgenson was the next one to pick their movie. He had been considering this movie for a while and finally gave into the desire. His friends came to his place unaware of what they would be watching. This way, they would have less time to tease him if they decided to do that.

"What are we watching?" Dagur asked.

"I found a musical," Snotlout mumbled.

"That'll be fun!" the redhead exclaimed happily, surprising his friend.

Feeling much more excited, Snotlout got the TV ready and turned on the movie. The musical numbers were fun and Dagur found himself bouncing in the seat during some of the catchier songs. A plan formed in his mind as more of the characters began to sing. Near the end, he and the twins joined in for a reprise. Once the movie had fully ended, Dagur went over to Heather with a big smile on his face.

"You should sing some of those songs. That one from the very beginning was pretty. You'd sound good singing it."

His sister looked unsure. "I don't know. I'm not really familiar with the lyrics."

"Oh, we can take care of that."

Speedily, Dagur pulled up the lyrics on his phone, then handed it to Heather.

"Go on."

"Dagur, I never actually agreed to this."

"But you also didn't explicitly decline."

"I still could, you know."

Dagur's mouth curved down. "Please," he said in a sing-song voice.

Heather handed him the phone back and he frowned. Nearly immediately afterwards, the redhead's eyes lit up with an idea.

"Please sing the song, Heather," he sang. "You'd sound great."

"That's not going to work," she said. "And you're not even trying to rhyme."

"Then maybe you should do better by singing instead."

"You know we're both stubborn."

"But I could sing all day. Could you listen to it all day?"

With a groan, Heather held out her hand. Eagerly, Dagur handed her the phone again.

"Thanks, Sis!"

"Whatever," she grumbled, looking over the lyrics.

The friends gathered together on the sofa as Heather put on the show under duress. Next, it was Hiccup and Astrid's turn to host. The inventor had chosen a science fiction film to the surprise of no one there.

"It's supposed to have some really impressive tech in it," he informed the others.

"Why's there an alien in the back?" Fishlegs asked, looking at the screen in confusion.

"That's how the new tech got to Earth. Then some inventors find it and…well, I don't want to spoil it. The surprise friendships are great."

"Wait, you've already seen it?" Snotlout asked.

Astrid nodded. "A lot," she emphasized.

"I don't think it's been that much," Hiccup said.

"Babe, I've got it memorized."

Hiccup chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, well it'll be new for everyone else at least."

The friends got situated and the movie was turned on. Hiccup was not overly surprised by his second sofa buddy being Dagur.

"Since it'll involve inventing, I want to know how much of it they're doing right," the redhead explained.

Hiccup nodded understandingly. Then Astrid leaned forward to address Dagur.

"He can tell you everything you could ever want to know about this."

Hiccup was not sure if this was a compliment or a complaint, but he knew it was true. This was something he was able to prove too as the movie progressed. He pointed to the screen.

"That's the proper way to recalibrate the device," he stated.

"How come it's exploding?"

"The materials aren't understood very well yet, so they'll have to learn about those before they can start building with them effectively."

Dagur looked intrigued, but it did not take long before he became skeptical. He let out a scoff when some acid shot onto someone.

"How's he not dead?"

"He's the main character."

"Yeah, the main character who got acid to the face."

"If he died, the movie would have to end here."

Dagur frowned. "Then the writers should've had him duck."

"Just suspend your disbelief," Hiccup suggested. "It's a lot more fun that way."

"Sounds like another way of saying to overlook plot holes."

"It really is a fun movie."

Side-eyeing the brunet, Dagur saw how much Hiccup liked it and sighed.

"Fine. It'll be suspended in mid air."

This made his brother smile. "You'll like it a lot more now."

When the movie ended, Dagur had to disagree with that prediction, but he chose to not disappoint Hiccup with the news. So, he put on a pleased enough-looking smile to satisfy his friend. The next time, he found a movie that the others agreed to watch. Horror. The friends entered the home, wondering if they had been transported to a Halloween world. Spiderwebs were everywhere (that they hoped were fake), there was a spirit projection in the hallway, and some blood on the walls (that they really hoped was fake).

"Well, we can't say the ambience isn't here," Heather commented.

Dagur beamed. "What's horror without the right setting? Now, strap in because this one is supposed to be one of the scariest movies of the decade."

Fishlegs let out a fearful whimper in anticipation. "Maybe I should just come back later."

Snotlout gave him a thumbs down. "You made us watch your documentary. You've gotta get scared with the rest of us now."

Resigned, the blond sat down, already appreciating the comfort Heather offered by holding his hand. This was very necessary the more the movie played. It seemed to have every kind of horror in it from spirits to demons to gruesome transformations and mutilations. Fishlegs had passed out somewhere in the middle and Heather kept swatting at the twins to keep them from drawing on his face. When she looked away, she saw that her brother also had a pen, but he was not near the blond.

"What are you doing?" she asked, eyeing the notepad.

Dagur stopped abruptly, putting the pad on the side of his leg. Mala turned to her husband.

"Are you taking notes?"

"Notes? Now, why would I do something like that? Don't you trust me?"

The following silence from everyone was telling. Dramatically, Dagur turned his head from them and put the notepad over his heart.

"After all we've gone through."

"That's mostly why we know you're up to something," Hiccup commented.

"Well, I guess there's just no way to prove that," Dagur said, dropping the innocent act as a devilish grin spread over his face.

Unfortunately, he was right. So, the group went home that night, feeling concerned but not having a way to deal with this. When Fishlegs got up the next morning and got out of his bed, he felt something soft on the floor. Looking down, he found a big tarantula and shrieked. After the initial shock wore off, he realized that it had squeaked when he stepped on it. The blond picked up the toy and frowned. Snotlout knew no more fortune. He made it to his car and was about to check the rearview mirror before heading to work. Blinking, he checked again to see if he was really looking at anything strange or not. Snotlout figured that it was nothing and put the car in reverse. When he began driving, a figure reappeared in the mirror, but it was not behind him. Letting out a yelp, he jumped out of the car and ran back inside. Then he recalled the spirit projection from before and cursed his friend. At the twins' home, they were running as well, but they went outside. Bats were chasing them. Swatting at the flying rodents, they managed to shut the door behind them before the creatures could escape.

"Wait," Tuffnut said. "Don't we want the bats to get out?"

Ruffnut paused, then nodded. "Oh yeah. I guess we do."

Hesitantly, she went to the door. She opened it before ducking, but it was without a reason. None of the bats flew out. They remained hanging from a line attached to the ceiling. Heather also got a rude awakening that morning. She had been sleeping soundly until an evil-sounding voice started speaking in a language she did not understand. She rolled off the mattress and onto the floor in shock. When the brunette was down there, she saw a recording device beneath her bed. She angrily grabbed it and already knew who was responsible. Her wake up call was barely nicer than what Hiccup and Astrid had to deal with. Suddenly, their floor was shaking. It woke the pair up.

"What's going on?" Astrid asked, confused.

"I don't know," Hiccup answered.

He moved to grab his prosthetic off the nightstand and stopped. The floor was caving in. Astrid looked over and saw this too. Briefly, the couple panicked until logic told them that this was unlikely. Carefully, Hiccup tossed a pillow onto the ground and saw how it sank nowhere. He glanced up and saw a projection device hanging above them. That afternoon, Dagur's phone would not stop buzzing from all the texts.

"I am going to kill you!" Heather wrote.

"You gave me a tarantula?!"

"He gave us bats!"

"That's nothing. He almost killed me by putting a prank in my car!"

"Seriously? Dagur, you also can't keep breaking in. Astrid's too angry to text right now, but she says she'll kill you too if you do that again."

Dagur laughed as he read off the messages. No one was as fun to mess with as his friends and siblings. Well, there was one more person. It happened that night. Mala was used to going to bed before her husband did, so she did not think it was bizarre. What she did find bizarre was the odd object next to her. Lifting more of the covers, she found a fake snake that was designed to wiggle on its own.

"Dagur," she called.

Her voice was just calm enough for Dagur to know that he was in trouble. He peeked around the corner, valuing his life far too much to smile even though he wanted to laugh at the sight of the reptile in her hand.

"Yes, Malapoo?"

Mala got out of the bed and handed the snake to him. "The couch," she stated coolly.

"But–"

"Until these pranks end. Otherwise, if it is not Heather or Astrid killing you, it will be myself."

Reluctantly, Dagur took the fake reptile and went downstairs to the sofa. Maybe he had taken it a bit far. Still, he always had such fun with the others. This just increased whenever they had a movie night.