Magellan was returning to the guards, leaving Hiccup behind in a little puddle of poison.
"Warden Magellan, excellent battle, sir. What should we do with Hiccup? Any orders?"
"He'll die soon," said Magellan. "But we don't want him just lying there. Throw him in the central tower of Level V until further notice."
"Yes, sir!"
The guard then came rushing over to Magellan.
"Warden Magellan, bad news, sir! There's a problem over at the staircase to Level III!"
"That's the area Hannibal and his men were guarding," he said. "What's happening there?"
"I don't know the details, sir."
Down on Level V, every prisoner was exposed to an arctic wind, and the one thing they wanted more than anything else was a little heat.
"Hey! Hey!" said a prisoner to a fellow inmate sitting there against the wall covered in ice. "Guess he's gone. He's either frozen or hibernating for the winter. Sounds nice."
Another prisoner can barely feel his fingers. "Damn, my fingers are shot. I can't move them; I can't even feel them."
"Sounds like frostbite," a prisoner laughed. "Sorry, your history."
Another prisoner tried to bite down on his bread and ended up breaking his tooth since it was so solid.
"I can't even bite my stupid bread," he groaned. "Can we stop by the Burning Heat Hell for a sec."
It was then that they noticed guards dragging Hiccup through the ice.
"Check it out. They're dragging on a newbie. Sucks to be him."
"Hey, pal! What's your name?"
"How much is your bounty worth? Come on, talk to us."
It was then that they noticed that he was covered in poison.
"Looks like he's nearly dead. Magellan's given him a taste of his poison."
Magellan had finally reached the staircase leading to Level III and found everyone flat on the ground, including Hannibal.
"I leave for a moment, and this is what I return to?" he said, then marched over to Hannibal. "Hannibal! I counted on you, and you let me down!"
He then grabbed and pulled him up towards his face and began shaking him awake. "Wake up, you imbecile! What the hell happened here?"
Hannibal woke up and was practically choking in his grip. "Warden, please! You're choking me!"
Magellan released him, and he fell to the ground.
"I was caught off-guard," said Hannibal, massaging his throat. "I'm sorry, sir."
Buggy and Mr 3 were still tied up, but there was no sign of Bon Clay.
"No! Don't torture us!" Mr 3 cried.
"Torture stinks like ass!" Buggy yelled. "And by the way, mine is very sensitive, so don't whip it."
"Some nutty martial artist ballerina did all this, and he was carrying the War Maiden," said Hannibal. "I'll be frank with you, sir; he took us by surprise."
"Silence!" Magellan roared. "No excuses; you let him slip away with the War Maiden, allowing them to escape to the upper levels, I assume?"
"It would seem that prisoner used to be part of Viggo's Baroque Works," said a guard. "He's the one they used to call himself Mr 2. He is rather old."
"I don't care," said Magellan.
"At any rate, I wouldn't worry, sir. I am confident that we'll catch him and the War Maiden in time."
"And what of the riot on Level II? Any updates?"
"It's winding down. Almost under control, sir."
"I want all the guards on Level IV to proceed to Level III immediately," Magellan ordered. "I also want all of Mistress Sadie's Demon Guards searching for the escapees." He then turned his eyes to Hannibal. "I'll leave the rest to you."
"Right, and what about these two, sir?"
"Do as you like; just make sure this mess is cleaned up and everything is in order by the time I get back," said Magellan, rubbing his stomach. I'm going to my private place for a bit."
He then walked off.
"Oh, my tummy," Magellan groaned.
"Ah, the runs," said a guard.
Hannibal then kicked one of the unconscious guards. "Hey, move it! Get off your asses! We still have two escapees we need to track down!"
"Yes, right away, sir."
"Uh, excuse me, Vice-Warden. What do you want to do with these two?" a guard asked, gesturing to Buggy and Mr 3.
"Oh, I want to ask them a few questions," said Hannibal. "Get an interrogation room, I'll take charge of them personally."
"Right! Understood, sir! I'll make the preparations!"
Hannibal then turned one of the guards. "And you'll accompany me."
The guard nodded and saluted.
They soon entered an interrogation room and threw Buggy and Mr 3 inside.
"Okay then, they're all yours," said a guard saluting.
"Right," Hannibal nodded.
The guards then closed the door, and Hannibal locked the door.
"So far so good, wouldn't you say?" said Hannibal.
Buggy smirked. "Too easy."
"Yes, no one is working my buttocks tonight," Mr 3 smiled.
The two of them then sat up and smiled at Hannibal.
"Okay, that's that, now, what do we do?" Mr 3 asked.
"Don't lay down; you know what's next. We need to hurry up and…" said Hannibal, then touched his face and turned into Bon Clay. "… rescue Dragon before it's too late."
"You're still hung up on that?" Buggy stared. "Did you hear them saying that he's been poisoned by Magellan and taken to Level V. It's too late to save him. There's no way he'll survive and will be caught, tortured and die like dogs. It's a terrible plan."
"Why should we risk our lives to save someone who is good as dead?" Mr 3 asked.
The guard in the room removed their mask, revealing themselves to be Astrid.
"If it wasn't for Bon Clay risking his life, the same thing would have happened to you two," Astrid pointed out, then narrowed her eyes at Bon Clay. "You know I haven't really forgiven you for knocking me out cold."
"I am truly sorry, but I'm certain that Dragon Boy would have wanted you to survive at the very least," said Bon Clay apologetically. "And I will gladly die like a dog for him. After turning my back on him, I'm already dead inside. The least I can do is make things right. I thought it was, but it is and save myself and Astrid here then to suffer the same fate, but I swore if there was any chance he would survive, I'd return and put my life on the line to rescue him, and I meant it. So I must come to his aid."
"Yeah, that's a really touching story, but now you've escaped and almost a free man," said Buggy. "Why would you want to go back up their guns a blazing and risk your life again?"
"You really don't get it," said Astrid, rolling her eyes. "We are arresting our lives because he's our friend!"
"I couldn't put it any better," Bon Clay nodded. "We don't need any other reason."
"That's it?" Buggy and Mr 3 stared.
"Firstly, we've got to deal with that poison," said Bon Clay. "Surely they have some sort of antidote, but then where would it be?"
"You think there's still time to get an antidote?" Mr 3 asked.
"Nah, I wouldn't bother," said Buggy.
"Shut up already, both of you!" Bon Clay snapped. "This is something that I have to do. Don't die on me, Dragon Boy. Hold on just a little bit longer."
"Hiccup's a survivor; he'll hold on as long as he can no matter what he's been afflicted with," said Astrid confidently.
Disguised as Hannibal, Bon Clay went to the lab and demanded an antidote for Hiccup, but the scientists there gave him some bad news.
"No freaking way!" Hannibal yelled. "I mean, what do you mean you can't make an antidote? What is the hold-up?"
"No one ever survives after Warden Magellan douses them without much of his special attack. If it was one kind of poison, his is a special multifaceted toxin. There are just too many variables to account for. I'm afraid it's impossible, Vice-Warden."
"What the?! You're kidding!" Bon Clay yelled. "And you people call yourselves a medical team?"
The scientists just stared at him.
Bon Clay then quickly composed himself. "I mean, the answer lies ahead; just keep trying. We have to turn Dragon Conqueror Hiccup over to the Navy, and I want him alive for that."
"But even if we think we're on to a cure, if we administer any sort of medication incorrectly, you most likely die even soon."
Bon Clay was having a hard time keeping his face straight.
He then returned to the interrogation and informed the others.
"I told you, it's hopeless," said Buggy as he and Mr 3 untied the ropes around them. "Let it go and move on."
"You heard them; there is no antidote," said Mr 3. "You'll be throwing your lives away for nothing."
"Just let go of this nonsense and focus on escaping," said Buggy. "Let's find a way out of here together."
"He's right," said Mr 3, panting. "You need to learn when to give up, my friends. We'll melt away if we stay any much longer."
"You've got to face it; no matter how hard he may try, Dragon is past the point of no return," said Buggy. "Understand?"
"No, I can't accept this!" said Astrid stubbornly.
"It was reckless of him to go head-to-head against Magellan in the first place," said Mr 3. "There's a reason he has such a fearsome reputation. No one survived a battle with him, and it would take a miracle."
Bon Clay's face lit up. "A miracle?"
Buggy and Mr 3 stared at Bon Clay.
Astrid looked at him. "You've got an idea?"
"I nearly forgot about her, but she's in Impel Down," said Bon Clay as he stood up. "My hero, the miracle worker! When doctors give up on a patient, she can save them. She can save them from a dying country. Her list of miracles is legendary. She is the greatest, the Queen of all Queens, Mala!"
"Do you really think she can help?" Astrid asked hopefully.
"If she can't, no one can," said Bon Clay. He then turned towards Buggy and Mr 3. "Come on, we need to find out where they're holding her now."
Buggy and Mr 3 were less enthusiastic; instead, they looked confused.
"We need to what?" they said.
Within moments, they were at the staircase leading to Level V; the jailers immediately saluted Bon Clay, disguised as Hannibal, approaching. Astrid was still on her guard disguised while Buggy and Mr 3 were tied up again, pretending to be their prisoners.
"Sir!" said a jailer.
"Level V?"
"Yep, that's where we're headed," Bon Clay nodded. "Prisoner transfer, these two were sentenced to freeze to death."
Buggy looked at Mr 3. "What the hell is he doing? Why are we going down?"
"What choice do we have?" Mr 3 hissed. "We could try to escape on our own, but by now, the security on Level III has been tightened by Magellan's order. We'd never get past that many guards. We're safer like this for now, but as long as we stay with the Vice-Warden, we can at least move around without any hassle."
"Look, I know that, but his obsession with saving Dragon is going to be the end of us," Buggy pointed out. "We can't keep this up forever, you know."
"Yes, but perhaps a plan B will present itself in time."
"Quiet," Astrid hissed. "Do you want to give the game away?"
"We don't even want to be part of this game," said Buggy in a harsh whisper.
After handing Bon Clay a list of prisoners, the guards opened the door and soon began to descend the stairs leading them to Level V.
"Keep walking, scumbags!" said the guards escorting them to Buggy and Mr 3.
'I realise that this is a bit of a longshot, but I have to do anything I can,' said Bon Clay and began reviewing the list of prisoners. 'This list of prisoners is presenting more questions than answering, I'm afraid. For example, Mala Emporio, Mala's full name, has been crossed off in red ink. Has she been released already, or has she secretly been executed?'
He then turned to one of the guards and said, "Tell me something. Did we let this prisoner go free?"
"What?" the guards stared and then saw Mala's name. "Oh, you mean Mala. You know what happened to her a few years ago."
"You know what?" Bon Clay blinked.
"Wait, Vice-Warden, you forgot?" said the guard, surprised.
"Huh? Oh yeah, of course," said Bon Clay, chuckling.
"Excuse me, but I'm new here," said Astrid, making her voice sound as masculine as possible. "What exactly are you talking about?"
Bon Clay sighed in relief and looked to the guard. "Tell him."
"But there are prisoners present, sir."
"I don't care, tell him!" Bon Clay demanded.
"Ever so often, people disappear in Impel Down. We're sure they didn't just break out, as some of the missing could barely move. They just vanish without a trace, and no one seems to know the cause. We've come to call it the Demon in the Way. All the guards here have come to fear these unnatural, strange disappearances. We believe that those missing have been dragged to the Gates of Hell; that's why we call it what we do."
"So people just up and vanish," Mr 3 gulped.
They continued to make their way down as they tried to make sense of this new information.
"Creepy," said Buggy. "I wish I never heard that."
"Yes, same here," Mr 3 agreed.
Buggy then shivered. "The door isn't open, and it's already freezing."
"And we're even wearing heavy clothes," Mr 3 added.
They soon reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in front of the door that led to Level V.
"This is it," said the guard. "As a fair warning, the Army Wolves are quite hungry today. I'll take them from now on, just as usual."
"You'll take what?" Bon Clay frowned.
"Well, your weapons and coats, sir," said the guard.
Bon Clay just stared at him.
"Honestly, sir, we don't know how you do it. You always tell us that you show every single prisoner the courage of the Vice-Warden and then march forward into the freezing hell without a weapon or even a coat. Sincerely, with big admirers for it."
The other guards nodded in agreement.
"No way!" Bon Clay cried.
Buggy and Mr 3 sniggered upon hearing this.
Astrid winced. 'I don't know if the Vice-Warden is stupidly brave or bravely stupid.'
"Also, because they're inappropriate prisoners to have, we'll be taking their coats as well," a guard added. "Now, hand them over."
"Our coats too," Buggy and Mr 3 laughed but then realised what they had just said. "Say what?!"
Soon, everyone, apart from Astrid, had their coats and weapons removed and made their way outside.
"Right, take care now."
"And don't forget, transponder snails won't work, thanks to the cold and all."
"Safe travels."
They then closed the door behind them, and the three of them were now shivering from the sheer cold.
"Boy, it's chilly in here," said Astrid.
"At least you got a coat!" Buggy moaned.
"It's unbearable," Bon Clay shivered.
"Do you think we can unlock the handcuffs now?" Mr. 3 asked as he scraped the frost off his glasses.
"I can barely use my hands; it's so cold," said Bon Clay, his hand shaking as he tried to unlock their handcuffs.
"It's like the wind is punching me in the face," said Buggy as he danced around to keep himself warm.
"Hold on, I've almost got it," said Bon Clay, finally unlocking Mr. 3's handcuffs. "It's unlocked!"
"Yes, you did it, thank you," said Mr 3, relieved.
They heard some hungry growls and saw large wolves approaching them with snow-white fur.
"One, two, three, four… eight," Buggy counted. "Don't tell me that these aren't Army Wolves, are they, but why? Should they be on the floor of the Wild Beasts of Hell?"
"What do you mean?" Bon Clay asked.
"Oh, I think I know why they're not," said Mr 3. "It's because they'll eat the other beasts like the basilisk and the sphinx. It's for their protection."
"No way!" Bon Clay yelled. "These mangy little fleabags are really that dangerous?"
Astrid pulled out her battleaxe. "And they look very hungry."
"We've got to deal with these damn things too?" Buggy moaned as he tossed his cuffs away. "That cold was bad enough!"
"I've got another reason for my teeth to chatter," said Mr 3.
"Fine, want to fight. Let's make it quick," said Bon Clay, taking up a fighting stance. "Because I've Dragon Boy, I need to say."
"I'm not leaving until I rescue my captain!" Astrid roared.
The wolves pounced on them, and Buggy and Mr 3 instantly ran away, leaving Astrid and Bon Clay to deal with the wolves.
"Screw this, I'm not going to be their dinner!" Buggy yelled as they ran as quickly as they could.
"What?! You're running already!" Bon Clay stared.
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting them to stick around," said Astrid as she removed her mask.
One of the wolves tried to swipe at Bon Clay, but he skidded backwards, and then Astrid knocked back the wolf with her battleaxe. More wolves attacked Bon Clay, but he slipped over the icy ground when he tried to take a fighting stance.
Then, as a wolf landed on him attempting to fight it, he quickly rolled away, knocking it off. A wolf then managed to pounce on Astrid, and she tried to fend it off by using the handle of her battleaxe; she eventually managed to kick it off and joined up with Bon Clay.
"These things are tough," said Bon Clay. "I can see why they don't need Demon Guards on Level V."
"Or any other guards, for that matter," said Astrid.
"Well, I refuse to die like a dog or man or at all!" Bon Clay vowed. "Dragon Boy, I'm coming to save you…" He then tapped his face, returning back to normal. "…time to show these wolves a power that transcends gender."
He then took up his fighting stance, began to spin like a top, and headed straight towards one of the wolves. However, then a gust of arctic wind blew by, and he was immediately frozen on the spot.
'I-I can't move,' he said. 'I'm frozen stiff.'
The wolves started to surround Bon Clay, but Astrid quickly jumped to his defence with a tight grip on her battleaxe.
"You want a new have to go through me!" she spat,
Buggy and Mr 3 were watching from a safe distance.
"You really want to stick to that guy?" said Buggy, pointing his head at Bon Clay. "He's nothing more than a popsicle for wolves like now. And the girl will hardly trust us after we bailed on them again."
"I admit I didn't think the situation would go up the deep quite so thoroughly," Mr 3 admitted.
"We need to find a way out of here now."
Then, another arctic wind blew by, and they were immediately frozen.
"And if we don't move, those wolves are going to find us and rip us limb from limb," Buggy shivered.
The two of them got to their feet and began jogging on the spot to stay nice and warm.
"I know I complained a lot back on the Burning Heat Hell, but frankly, I think this is even worse, and that is not counting the wolves," said Mr 3, then stopped briefly. "I'm getting tired."
He was then frozen in place as another arctic wind blew by.
"Hey, keep running! Keep running!" Buggy yelled.
Mr 3 used all his strength to jog once again. "But I can't keep this running forever; it keeps you warm but drains all my energy. It's easier said than done since we haven't been here for so long, but let's try to devise a plan before we freeze, too."
Buggy then stopped briefly, only to be frozen in place once more, and he, too, used all his strength to keep on jogging.
"How cold can it get?" he cried.
The two of them then jogged away.
As they jogged, they saw that they were approaching some empty cells.
"Oh, look, a jail cell," said Mr. 3. I bet we can avoid the wind inside there."
"Wait!" Buggy and a slipping on the ice.
He began rolling down the hill, becoming a human snowball, and Mr. 3 also caught himself. They kept on rolling down the hill until they crashed into the wall and found themselves with their legs sticking out of the snow.
After freeing themselves from the snow, they took refuge inside the jail cell, but the situation didn't improve. They were still freezing, and now they were locked in place, barely able to move.
"Damnit!" Buggy cursed. "The wind isn't blowing here, but the floor froze my butt, and now I'm even colder. If we stick around, we will freeze head to toe. We've got to come up with something quick."
"Right, let's do it," said Mr 3.
Buggy looked at him, confused. "Wait a sec, you got a plan? What?"
"Think back, you remember when we formed that alliance to break out of here, don't you?"
Buggy nodded. "We had olden joined forces."
Mr 3 then grabbed his hand and pulled himself over towards him. "Let's huddle again."
"That's it! Good, we can snuggle up close to get nice and toasty."
The two of them then began to snuggle up towards one another and began to rub one another. However, try as they might, they couldn't get even a bit warmer.
"Damn, I'm not getting any warmer at all, and this is gross," said Buggy.
"Now that is just hurtful!" Mr 3 snapped.
The two of them immediately separated and put some distance between themselves.
"Enough, let's find a way out of here!" said Buggy.
"That's fine by me," said Mr 3.
They then exited the prison cells, still shivering, but no sooner had they stepped outside than they came face-to-face with a pack of hungry Army Wolves.
"What?!" they yelled.
"You're kidding me, they followed us!" Mr 3 yelled.
"And now there's even more of them!" Buggy yelled.
The wolves then pounced on them, and Buggy began to dance around to avoid getting bitten.
"He tastes better than me, I guarantee it!" Buggy yelled.
"What are you saying?" Mr 3 yelled as he danced around, too. "I'm a wax man; I'll taste absolutely dreadful."
They soon found themselves back to back with one another.
"The only one is this guy!" they said, pointing at one another.
The wolves didn't seem to care who they ate, so long as they ate something and attacked them.
Hiccup, meanwhile, was trapped in a prison cell in utter agony; the other prisoners were giving him a wide berth because of the poison and were watching him squirming.
"Come on, this is messed up. Do we really have to sit here and watch this kid die?"
Hiccup then attempted to stand up, only to topple over. 'I have to save him; he's the only brother I've got.'
He then remembered Zara's words warning him of what he may face within Impel Down. However, he refused to give up and returned to his feet again. His vision was blurry, and he kept seeing Ace's face. He attempted to break down the cell door, only to fall over.
He stood up again and continued bashing down the cell door, and the other prisoners watched.
"Ace…" said Hiccup.
He continued to attempt to break down the cell door and then eventually collapsed.
"Stop fighting already," said a prisoner. "Listen, you can't survive after taking that much reason. I'm sure you can't see, but can you at least hear me? Just accept your death graciously."
"I won't!" Hiccup roared. "I don't intend to die until I rescue Ace!"
"How do you expect to save somebody when you can't even save yourself? Who is it anyway, some friend of yours? How stupid, in prison and every man for himself got it."
"No one is coming to help you. That's just the way things are. We're all alone down here."
"In the Sea of Fire, you trample over someone else to stay alive. When you face the beasts, you take another prisoner straight into their hungry jaws. You'll die if you care about anyone but yourself. So, quit all the I want to rescue someone crap. Understand? It makes me sick."
Hiccup just lay on the ground, panting.
Then, the prisoners noticed someone new was approaching.
"Look, someone is coming."
"Make that two, and I don't recognise either of them. They don't look like any of the jailers."
"Wait, one of them is a girl."
"And the other guy is naked."
Hiccup was too weak to look up and coughed out some blood, but Astrid and Bon Clay stood in front of the cell door. Astrid looked worn out, and Bon Clay shivered as he stood barefoot while holding a set of keys.
"Dragon Boy, we have come here to rescue you," said Bon Clay.
"We're not going to let you die," Astrid promised.
"In the name of everlasting friendship," Bon Clay added.