Nadia and Minden, who heard the commotion, quickly rushed into the bathroom.
"What's the matter?" Minden asked. "I heard a loud crash."
"You okay? What happened?" Nadia asked.
The two of them then noticed Hiccup, who was doing his best not to look at Atali directly.
"Am I seeing things, or is that a man?" Nadia asked.
"What is a man doing on our island?" said Minden.
"It's a funny story, actually," said Hiccup, looking away. "The first, would you mind putting something on? The situation is embarrassing enough as it is."
Atali slowly stepped out of the bath, and Minden handed her a robe.
"This is the first time I've seen a man avert his gaze from you, your Majesty," said Minden.
"Sorry for dropping in like this, especially when you're in the middle of a bath," said Hiccup.
"My secret is out; he saw my back," she informed them.
Nadia and Minden gasped in horror.
"Then we mustn't let him leave the castle alive," said Minden.
"Ah, then I take a ride of this island is out of the question," said Hiccup, smiling innocently.
"What you saw is a secret we would die to protect," said Atali. "Or rather, one that we would kill to protect in this particular instance."
"Ah, then I'll take that as a no," said Hiccup.
"Enough of your babbling," said Atali as he folded her hands into a heart shape. "You'll be taking those secrets to the grave. Love-Love Beam!"
Hiccup raised himself as Atali struck him with her beam, but strangely nothing happened.
"Uh, was that supposed to do something?" Hiccup frowned.
"Love-Love Beam!" Atali yelled, firing her beam again.
However, it had the same effect or rather no effect, which confused everyone.
"Why would you transform into stone?!" Atali yelled. "Don't tell me he doesn't feel any excitement after seeing me in the bath? I am without flaw."
"But that is simply beyond the realm of possibility," said Minden. "The sublime grandeur of your nude form can beguile any creature."
"Perhaps his fear of death is overwhelming the impure urges within him," Nadia suggested. "He's a pitiful coward but a lucky one."
"I have no idea what you girls are talking about, but I get the feeling I need to get out of here," said Hiccup as he dashed off.
Hiccup jumped straight out the window.
"From this higher?" Minden stared. "He's out of his mind."
"I've got him," said Atali, kissing her lips, creating a physical heart. The heart then attached itself to the tip of her finger, and she aimed directly at Hiccup. "Now… Pistol Kiss!"
Hiccup had just transformed into his dragon form when he was struck by Atali's attack. The attack bounced off his scales, but he still felt the impact, which was rather rough.
"My scales barely protected me from an attack," he winced and crashed into the ground.
"That man is a dangerous intruder!" Atali yelled at everyone below. "Wing Maiden Pirates, go for capture him!"
"Uh, yes, mama," said Veronica, and looked at everyone confused. "A man? How did a man even get here?"
"Who cares? Let's just go and capture the bastard," said Daisy.
"Right," Veronica nodded.
Hiccup reverted back to human, but he was still quite winded from the previous attack. "That hurt."
He looked up and saw that he was now surrounded by the Wing Maiden Pirates.
"If you want to live, you'll do what we say," said Veronica.
"Of course, he will, Veronica; no man alive is stupid enough to defy the Wing Maiden warriors," said Daisy. "He's pretty scrawny anyway."
"It is a man."
"A real-life man in our village?"
Hiccup rose to his feet and began brushing the dust off his clothes. "I'm going out on a limb here and assume that you guys are the all-women pirate crew hurt so much about. I don't suppose you be kind enough to point me in the direction of your ship."
"Why do you want to know that? And why should I tell you?" Veronica asked.
"Oh, I was just hoping I could borrow it so I can find my friends," he said.
"That's ridiculous; all men are forbidden in Valkyrie Lily, which makes you a trespasser. Our Empress will not let you leave here alive."
"Men sure are dumb," Daisy laughed.
Veronica then fired her arrow, but Hiccup dodged it. "Seriously, the women on this island are so unreasonable."
"Sees him!" Veronica ordered as they dashed towards him.
Hiccup transformed into his hybrid form and took off before they had a chance to grab him.
"Did he just fly?"
"After him quickly!" Veronica ordered. "You heard the Snake Princess's orders. He can't escape no matter what!"
Soon, news began to spread throughout the entire village that they had an intruder.
"There's a man! There's a man on the island!"
"A man?"
"The Wing Maiden Pirates are trying to capture him right now. We should pitch in and help them out, too."
"You're right, let's go!"
Eventually, all the women took off except for Zera, who was still reading the newspaper.
"She's already put our land in peril, but to allow a man onto the island at a time like this is a smack of insolence," said Zera, shaking her head. "I've tried to hold my tongue, but frankly, I'm struggling to worry about our future with her in charge."
"Don't let him get away!" Veronica yelled.
Margaret and the village defenders had already arrived to witness the commotion.
"The Wing Maiden Pirates are back," said Margaret.
"And from the look of things, the man has returned to the village as well," Lila added.
"There he is!" Camie pointed. "Up there!"
Hiccup had landed on one of the buildings that was attached to the cliff wall as he began to ponder his next move.
"I think it's safe to say that the Wing Maidens have returned, which means their ship is here," he said. "But before I can grab it, I need to confirm with Astrid whether she's here or not while also trying to play cat and mouse."
He was then almost struck by a volley of arrows from the village defenders. He quickly transformed again and took off.
"They certainly don't know when to give up," he said.
"We better hurry up and kill him before the Snake Princess can interrogate him," said Lila.
"Do they ever run out of ammo?" Hiccup asked as he ran across the rooftops.
He then tripped and fell off the roof.
"He fell!" said Margaret, and he quickly chased after him.
Hiccup landed on the ground but landed directly behind the Wing Maidens.
"There he is! Behind us!" Veronica yelled.
"Today is not my day," Hiccup groaned, transformed into his animal form, and took off.
"Halt!" Veronica yelled as they ran after him.
Hiccup landed next to a café and saw someone was eating there. Normally, he wouldn't steal someone's food, but he had been running and hadn't eaten for three days.
"Well, I doubt they're going to hate me any more," he said and snagged a big chunk of meat from the plate.
Zera then felt her for kick the plate and looked up from the newspaper to see that her food was gone. She then saw Hiccup eating her food and watched as he ran off.
"Not so fast!" she yelled.
She then looked at the newspaper, which had an article about Hiccup punching a Celestial Dragon. She looked at the picture of his wanted poster and then at Hiccup, noting the resemblance.
'A pirate worth 300 million Gil,' she stared. 'But what is he doing on Valkyrie Lily?'
"I found him!" Veronica yelled as she and the other Wing Maidens arrived.
"Sorry, but I've got a run. Thanks for the food," said Hiccup and ran off.
"Hold on, let me have one last look at your face," said Zera.
Hiccup was not in the position to humour her hand and continue to run.
"I said stop!" she said and somersaulted into the air.
She struck from behind and hit him so hard that he crashed into some crates.
"Seriously, even the old ladies are strong?" Hiccup groaned.
The Wing Maidens then surrounded him.
"Ha, we got you cornered," said Veronica.
Margaret and the others had just arrived.
"We're too late; the Wing Maiden Pirates captured him," said Lila.
"There's nothing we can do, I fear we must prepare for the worst, my sisters," said Penelope.
Zera finally got a good look at Hiccup, and she could tell that he was the same person in the newspaper.
'There's no doubt about it,' she said. 'It really is him.'
Unbeknownst to the Wing Maidens, someone else was on the rooftops and was none other than Astrid.
"Damnit, I finally find him, and he ends up getting captured," she said.
Hiccup was now taken prisoner and escorted to the arena, where he was tied up by living snakes.
"Who uses snakes for rope?" he said. "You know what kind of snakes these are, but they feel as if they're made of iron."
"It looks like lockers against us," said Lila. "Let us hope they just skip the interrogation and kill him right away."
"But they'll kill him no matter what, won't they?" said Margaret, not looking at all comfortable with the situation.
Hiccup looked at the stands; indeed, they were filled with women. "Looks like they weren't joking when they said this place had no men."
He then heard everyone cheer as Atali appeared and sat on her throne.
"I'm ready for my explanation now," she said. "Specifically, I would like to know how you got onto this island and what you want here?"
"Hey, I never even want to set foot on this island," he said. "I was sent flying through the sky and landed here on this island."
"An unlikely story; lying to me will only guarantee an exclusionary painful death," she said. "You're here because you want something."
"Yeah, I want off this island," said Hiccup. "I'm in a pretty big hurry, and I need to get going right away."
This and the outrage of all the Wing Maidens present.
"Who does that disrespectful punk thing here is?! The Snake Princess is right; that story clearly is an implausible fabrication!"
"Don't listen to him. He's plotting something!"
"You can't deceive us!"
However, Margaret was not so certain. She had seen a determined look on Hiccup's face earlier and didn't get the feeling that he had been lying.
"The only way you will leave this island is by dying, and your departure is imminent," said Atali.
Margaret then suddenly rose to her feet. "Wait! Snake Princess, he's not lying!"
All eyes immediately fell upon Margaret, and they watched as he jumped into the arena.
"I know how this must sound, but I don't believe this man is the kind of person who can tell a lie," she said.
"What is she doing?" Penelope and Camie stared.
Margaret's announcement certainly caused quite a commotion and a bit of confusion.
"Please, Snake Princess," she pleaded. "I believe he's telling the truth. This man is extremely honest to a fault. I honestly don't believe that he would try to float any harm upon our land."
"As much as I appreciate the defence, it might have been wise if you kept your mouth shut," said Hiccup.
"You're one of our warriors, aren't you?" said Atali, looking down at her.
"Yes, my name is Margaret," she nodded.
"Given that men are forbidden here under penalty of death, he sealed his fate the moment he arrived in our land. Why defend him?"
"Because I share the burden of guilt. The person who brought him here and allowed him into the city… it was me."
Everyone gasped.
"Margaret, no," Lila hissed. "You can't."
Suddenly rushing up to join Margaret were Penelope and Camie.
"Snake Princess, please steal your fury!" Penelope pleaded. "It was not her fault."
"It's true, we found him not out in the forest," said Camie. "We thought he was one of us, so we brought him back here."
"Penelope! Camie!" Margaret gasped.
"We are just as guilty as Margaret, but we had no way of knowing," said Camie.
"It was an honest mistake, Empress," said Penelope.
"Stop it, I won't let you do this," said Margaret. "I'm the one who said we should bring him back to the village, not you."
"Does she realise what she's doing," said Veronica.
"She's trying to be honest, but she's just been stupid," Daisy laughed.
"You don't have to do this, I can handle this myself," said Hiccup.
Atali then stood up and began to make her way down into the arena, and everyone fell quiet.
"I bear the sole responsibility for bringing the man here, Empress," said Margaret, falling onto her hands and knees.
"Please, Margaret," Penelope and Camie pleaded.
Margaret was completely terrified as Atali began to approach them.
"It's all right," said Atali and placed her finger beneath Margaret's chin. "Now lift your head, honest little Margaret."
Margaret did what she was told and looked directly at Atali.
"I have a soft spot for hopelessly sincere people," Atali admitted. "Now tell me, Margaret, do you wish for my forgiveness?"
"I-I do," she said.
"You may rise to your feet," said Atali as he stood up straight.
Margaret did what she was told, and Atali looked at Penelope and Camie, and they did the same. They all looked at her, mesmerised by her beauty, and it did look as if everything was going to be all right.
"Well, that's the Snake Princess for you. Not only is she beautiful, she is also filled with compassion."
"We love you, Snake Princess!"
However, her expression then darkened, and she raised her hands towards them in the form of a heart shape.
"Love-Love Beam!" she said.
She struck them with her beam, and they instantly turned to stone.
"What the?!" Hiccup stared.
"Why did you keep quiet," said Lila, looking away.
"They just turned to stone," said Hiccup and looked at Atali. "But why?"
Atali merely turned her back and began making her way back to the throne.
"I ask you a question," said Hiccup, but she ignored him. "What the hell did you do? Why would you do this to your own people?"
"Because they saved your life, and now they have been justly punished for their transgressions," she said without looking back.
"But they explained it was a misunderstanding," said Hiccup. "Turn back to normal now!"
"How amusing, you think you can give me orders, do you?" she said.
"Turn them back right now!" Hiccup demanded.
Atali then sat on her throne. "I believe now it is time to release Barbara."
"Barbara," Veronica gasped.
"The man is already dead, and he doesn't even know it," said Daisy.
"I already told you to turn them back!" Hiccup roared.
"This is the female warrior nation of Valkyrie Lily; here, strength is regarded as true beauty," said Atali. "Show us what little strength you may possess, and be grateful that I have given you death in battle."
Then, a giant panther entered the arena.
"Behind you stands the panther known as Barbara," said Atali. "The beast has served as the official executioner of Valkyrie Lily for generations now. When it's done, there won't be a single bone left to remember you by."
The snake then unravelled, freeing Hiccup. Barbara just walked around him, licking her lips, and looked at him like a tasty morsel.
"Oh my," said Atali with a smirk. "It appears that our furry friend is rather banished today."
"Indeed, we are in luck," said Minden. "It so all happens that Barbara hasn't been fed in several days."
"Ha, you should be happy, man," said Nadia. "Barbara normally tortures and always with its prey first, but she will eat you in a single bite today."
"I don't care about your feline friend," he said as he stood up. "All I care about is them. Turn them back now."
"Do you hear how that sounded! You're speaking to the Snake Princess!"
"Tear him limb from limb Barbara!"
"Now Barbara…" said Atali.
"Ate him!" the crowd cheered.
Barbara pounced, but Hiccup suddenly spun around. To everyone's surprise, he struck her with all his might. They stared openmouthed as she was sent flying straight towards the stands and was knocked out cold.
"He's strong," said Veronica. "He just knocked Barbara out with a single blow, and he didn't even use any Haki."
"Then that was just pure brute strength?" Daisy gasped.
"What the hell is wrong with all of you?!" Hiccup yelled as his expression darkened. "That woman up there just turned three of your own people into stone! How can you just sit there and laugh like that?"
"I never… that little savage has the gall to shout at us!"
"Don't listen to him; he's just an animal!"
"Sure, I feel sorry for those three, but the Snake Princess had every right to do what she did!"
"Of course, it was justice! They violated the law of our land!"
"What you don't understand is I'll be forgiven for anything I do," said Atali, smiling. "Absolutely anything, and the reason why is because I'm beautiful."
Everyone in the stands immediately went crazy.
Atali then looked down at Hiccup. "Just look at me, I'm sure you must agree."
Hiccup just gave her a resentful look. "Actually, you make me sick."
Atali stared at him in shock. This was the first time someone had spoken to her like that.
"Stay strong, my lady," said Minden.
"This simply cannot be happening," said Atali. "There is no man alive who can resist my allure. It's just not possible. So long as that man exists in this world, I shall never know peace again."
The Wing Maidens were also outraged.
"How dare you hurt the Snake Princess like that!"
"Makes the man suffer for his crimes!"
"Executing!"
At the very back of the stands, Astrid was watching the entire thing. "You've really put your foot into it now, Hiccup."
"Minden! Nadia! Defend my honour and take his head!" Atali commanded.
Minden and Nadia jumped into the arena and landed right in front of Hiccup with their spears at the ready.
"You guys will get the job done, your Highness," said Nadia.
Suddenly, the two of them began to transform into two giant snakes.
"So these girls have Devil Fruit powers too," said Hiccup, looking undeterred.