Everyone was still stunned by what they had just witnessed, though Hiccup didn't seem to notice.
"What are you hesitating for!" Atali yelled. "Man unworthy of our fears!"
"Nadia! Minden! You can do it!"
"Yeah, teach those interlopers a lesson!"
Nadia and Minden then began to calm down, realising the Empress was right.
"Rather silly to be so startled, right?" said Nadia.
Minden nodded. "Indeed. If he can't control that Haki of his, then we have nothing to fear. Additionally, the girl just seems to wave her axe randomly; she possesses no skill."
"If we're going to go all out, you better move her out of the way," said Hiccup, gesturing to Margaret. "We wouldn't want her to break now, would we?"
"Well, look at you making your little demands," said Nadia. "It seems you still don't understand the position you're in. Perhaps smashing that statue will shut you up!"
She then swung her tail directly at Margaret.
"No, don't do it!" Lila pleaded.
Hiccup transformed his hybrid form and took the blow, surprising them.
"You should be fighting for your life?" said Nadia. "Why are you protecting that statue?"
Hiccup coughed out a bit of blood. "Because this was my fault, and this is our fight. She has nothing to do with it!"
Astrid nodded, glaring at them. "If you two had any drop of honour, you would never have endangered her life like that."
Nadia and Minden looked at them, shocked.
"Very well," said Atali. "Allow the man to move the statue."
"But why?" Nadia asked.
"I would rather if he and the girls stopped their moaning and showed us what they're truly capable of," she said. "That way, when we grind them under our heels, not only will the man die a miserable laughingstock, but the girl will finally understand just how weak and useless men are."
"All right," Nadia and Minden nodded.
Hiccup then picked Margaret up and carried her to the far side of the arena.
"Just hold on a little longer; we'll figure something out once we take down these giant snake ladies," Hiccup promised.
He returned and stood next to Astrid as they faced Nadia and Minden.
"Let's do this," said Hiccup.
"My, where does that confidence come from?" Nadia asked.
"I don't know, but I shall enjoy beating it out of him," said Minden.
"Oh, he's not the only one with confidence, you know," said Astrid as she rested her axe on her shoulder. "You can go ahead and try. Now, are you two going to stop yakking your gums, or are we going to fight?"
"Insolent as ever, I see, but you shall have your wish," said Nadia.
Minden then fired a shot of poison at them, and they quickly only to be swatted by Nadia's tail. Minden then continued to shoot out poison, forcing them to be on the defensive.
"This seems too easy," said Astrid.
Hiccup nodded. "It's like she's not even trying to hit us."
The answer soon became clear to them as they were now standing in a poisonous cloud and finding breathing difficult.
"I don't even have to hit either of you," said Minden. "My poison can take many forms, all deadly."
"Minden's poison gas attack is my favourite."
"Maybe now they'll stop jumping around so much."
"We will be able to fight properly in this cloud," said Astrid covering her mouth.
"I know I'm feeling kind of woozy," said Hiccup as he attempted to stay upright.
"You're my prey, and I'm done toying with the two of you," said Minden. "I'm killing you slowly but surely. I'll weaken you with poison, corner you and then finally finish you."
Minden then struck Astrid with the butt of her spear, and Nadia struck Hiccup with her tail.
"The two of you may have been speedy before, but all it takes is one whiff of my poison to dull your senses," said Minden.
The two began striking Hiccup and Astrid with their tails, much to the crowd's enjoyment.
"Enough of this," said Hiccup as he transformed his hybrid form. "Plasma Blast!"
Unfortunately, his alien was a bit off, and his plasma blast missed Minden; he then tried to strike Nadia, but it had the same result.
"You're a mess," said Nadia. "Perhaps you would like to lie down. I'd laugh, but it's more of a tragedy at this point."
"No matter how strong a man, maybe I can reduce any man to a whimpering weakly," said Minden. She then turned her eyes upon Astrid. "You were foolish to side with this man, and now you will pay the price. It's time to die!"
She then spun her spear and slammed it onto the ground, but Hiccup and Astrid waved the jump back to avoid it. However, they were not able to avoid her tail, which slammed into them, sending them straight over the arena and down into the pit.
"The fight is over. Those blades will finish them for good."
However, they were no longer in the gas cloud, and Hiccup and Astrid were no longer affected by the poison.
"I'm feeling a lot better now; the poison is all gone," said Hiccup.
"That's great. Now, would you rescue us before we're skewered?" Astrid asked.,
Hiccup immediately transformed his animal form and grabbed Astrid, flipping her onto his back. They were flying around the pit, much to the crowd's astonishment.
"Look, they're down there!"
"Persistent, aren't they? Nadia! Minden! They're still alive; be careful!"
"We've got to do with that poison if we want to beat them," said Hiccup.
"Leave that to me," said Astrid, grinning.
Minden was now looking over the edge of the arena and began shooting poison at them. However, Hiccup dodged them, flew into the air, and positioned themselves directly above the arena.
"It's all you, Astrid!" said Hiccup.
Minden then fired another shot of poison at them, but Astrid had already jumped off of Hiccup.
Astrid then raised her battle axe and swung it down into the arena. "Valkyrie Storm!"
She unleashed a powerful gust of wind, which slammed into the Gorgons. It was so fierce that they were finding it difficult to stay upright; even the people in the stands could feel the wind slamming into them. However, Astrid's main goal was to blow away the poison, which she successfully accomplished.
She landed on the arena, and Hiccup landed beside her, returning to his human form.
"Now that's a much better," said Hiccup.
"Yeah, all that poisonous gas was getting on my nerves, and now we can beat you two up like we're supposed to," Astrid smirked.
"She created a hurricane by swinging her axe like it was nothing?"
"I didn't know such a thing was possible."
"I'm more fascinated by the man; I had no idea they could turn into dragons."
"Maybe he defeated one and took its power like how the Gorgons got their powers?"
"So you're going to beat us up?" said Nadia, amused.
"With as much as the two of you have been losing, I admit I have my doubts," said Minden.
"That's because we weren't serious before," said Astrid. "You see, all we've been doing is studying your fighting skills."
"And now it's time for us to go all out," said Hiccup as he transformed into his Beta Form. "Beta Mode!"
"What's he doing now?"
"That transformation is different from his previous ones?"
"All out?" said Nadia. "Do you mean to imply that you've been going easy on us?"
"Their arrogance knows no bounds," said Minden. "Think nothing of it; the weakest beast always barks the loudest."
"Perhaps you have forgotten from all the beating up, we don't you, but we can read every one of your movements," said Nadia.
"We'll see about that," said Hiccup and opened his mouth. "Plasam…"
"It's no use," said Nadia, swinging her tail at him.
However, he kept moving around at such a blinding speed that she couldn't land a hit, and then suddenly, he appeared right next to her.
"Shot!"
He quickly fired a plasma blast, but this one moved much faster than his previous one. Nadia barely had time to raise her hands to block the attack, but she was stunned by the impact.
"You're not hurt, are you?" said Minden. She then looked at Hiccup. "Whatever powers you may possess, I assure you ours are greater still."
"Now, who is arrogant?" said Astrid.
Nadia narrowed her eyes. "You'll pay for those words, girl. All the two of you have done is awaken our wrath." Her hair started to take the form of snakes, eight of them exactly. "Medusa Hair: Eight-Headed Serpent!"
"Go, kill him!"
"We love you, Nadia!"
Then, one of Nadia's snakes launched itself at Hiccup, and he quickly dodged it. However, it took out a chunk of the barrier surrounding the arena.
"She bit through the fence!"
"Even though those snakes are made from her hair, those fangs hit as hard as iron."
Nadia continued her onslaught against Hiccup, but he was moving so fast she couldn't keep up.
'Why can't I hit him?!' she said, startled. 'I know what he's going to do, but somehow I still can't keep up.'
Hiccup then jumped at her and then wrapped his tail around her neck. Then, using all his strength and momentum, he slammed her onto the ground. Minden stared in shock before swinging her spear at him, but he was able to dodge it.
"Nadia," she said, looking down at her. "Are you all right?"
"Don't forget about little old me," said Astrid as she stood there behind her.
"Don't bother," said Minden as he turned to face her. "As you've seen, your attacks simply bounce off me. No matter how strong you may think you are, you cannot break my defence."
"Let's find out," Astrid smiled as she raised her palm. "Valkyrie Impact!"
Astrid then launched herself at Minden as quickly as she could, and Minden raised her palms, bracing herself for the attack. Astrid then slammed her palm into hers, activating the impact dial inside her gauntlet. The force of the impact slammed into Minden like a ton of bricks, and her spear shattered as she toppled over.
The crowd was stunned as this was the first time they had seen the Gorgons fall onto their backs. The two of them picked themselves up, clearly confused by what had just happened, and Atali looked down at them, annoyed.
"Nadia! Minden!" she scolded, giving them a twinge of fear. "If I recall, you were supposed to kill them, not indulge them in their foolish games."
"B-But, your Highness," Minden stuttered.
"Their transgressions are, in a word, unforgivable," said Atali. "I refuse to tolerate them any longer."
"Y-Yes, of course, we're very sorry, sister," Nadia nodded. "We'll finish him immediately."
They quickly surrounded Hiccup and Astrid, who stood back to back against one another.
"Medusa Hair: Eight-Headed Serpent!" said Nadia, performing the same technique as earlier.
Minden then suddenly lit herself ablaze.
"She's on fire," said Astrid.
"Medusa Hair: Salamander!" Minden yelled, creating two snakes out of our hair covered in flames.
"There's nowhere left for you to run," said Nadia.
"If they don't get bitten, they're going to get burnt for sure."
"Oh, this is my favourite attack."
The Gorgons positioned themselves poised to attack, but Hiccup and Astrid got ready to counter. The moment they did, the Gorgons attacked them.
"Plasma Barrage!" Hiccup yelled, firing multiple plasma blasts in quick succession.
"Phoenix Slash!" Astrid yelled with her axe ablaze and unleashed a slashing attack.
Hiccup's plasma blasts tore right through Nadia's snakes, and Astrid's attack cut right through Minden's, surprising the two of them and everyone else. Then Hiccup spun around and punched Minden, and Astrid turned around and kicked Nadia, causing them to lose their balance.
They then crashed into one another, and since Minden was covered in flames, he ended up burning Nadia, setting her clothing alight.
"No, Nadia!" Minden cried when she realised what he had done. "I didn't mean to. Hurry, get away from me!"
Minden quickly shut Nadia back but suddenly found herself being pulled towards her.
"Something is dragging me closer!" she yelled. She looked down, and her eyes widened as he discovered that the tails were tied in a knot. "Our tails! How did they…"
"I'm burning!" Nadia cried as she moved around in pain.
"Nadia, stop!" Minden cried. "You're pulling me!"
Hiccup and Astrid looked at one another and smiled as they enjoyed the show.
Nadia finally lost her balance and began falling towards the pit.
"Watch out, Nadia!" Minden cried. "Don't fall! That's the pit of blades! Grab hold of the stands!"
Nadia quickly reached out and grabbed hold of the stands before she fell into the pit.
"Whoa, that was close," she said.
The crowd was speechless about what had just happened.
"Nadia, no!"
Atali looked immensely annoyed and furious. "This is absolutely pathetic."
Her eyes then turned towards Nadia, and she saw the clothing on her back burning away, revealing what they would hide from everyone. Thanks to the smoke, no one could see it, but it was quickly fading away.
"Her back is exposed!" she said, horrified. 'Nadia, you can't let people see that.'
Hiccup then suddenly jumped onto Nadia's back, surprising her.
'He can't be…' she stared.
Everyone in the crowd was unaware of the situation and assumed he was attacking her while she was down.
"He's going to knock her down and skewer her!"
"Isn't winning and not enough, you animal?"
"Do you have to kick while she's down?"
"Are you here to mock me?" Nadia glared as she, too, was unaware of the situation.
"Don't move," said Hiccup. "Even if you guys are trying to kill me, that doesn't mean I'm trying to kill you."
"While all the insolent…" she growled and looked at Minden. "Minden, this is your chance to finish him off! Don't just stand there, hurry!"
Minden just stood there stunned. "I can't. Don't you understand? He isn't mocking you, Nadia. That man is protecting us."
Eventually, everyone in the crowd began to notice what was happening.
"Oh no, Nadia's clothing burnt off in the fire! Her back is showing!"
"If he gets off her, Gorgon Eyes will be exposed."
"Hurry, look away! She's going to turn us all to stone!"
Nadia's eyes widened. "I didn't even realise."
"It's just like your Empress said before, right?" said Hiccup, remembering the reaction they had when he saw truly on her back. "You would rather die than let people see this thing on your back, right? Like I said, don't move."
Astrid smiled and shook her head. "That's Hiccup for you; he always has to play the hero, especially when women are involved."
Atali then stood up. "This match is hereby over! Everyone, you must leave the arena at once! Do not gaze upon the Gorgon Eyes!"
No one needed to be told twice, and then they immediately ran towards the exit as quickly as possible. Once everyone was gone, Atali just stood there remembering those horrible memories from long ago, the same memories that scarred her for life.
Overcome by this, she collapsed onto her throne.
"You know, I was trying to kill you just a moment ago," Nadia reminded him. "Why are you protecting me?"
"That mark on your back has nothing to do with our fight; we can easily settle things later," said Hiccup.
Zera was the only one who had not left the stands and just watched, looking at Atali.
"You owe your lives to the man who tried to execute," she said. "You must make a decision, but what will it be? You may be able to for this country; the time may come when you can no longer for yourself, Princess. If you truly want to move forward in this world, you must accept what you wear on your back."
Atali just sat there trying not to cry but could not hold back the tears.