Blocking the staircase to Level III was Hannibal, who certainly looked determined to stop their advance.
"So who exactly is this guy?" Hiccup asked.
"I think he's the Vice-Warden," said Astrid. "Bon Clay took his appearance and that we could sneak into Level V to rescue you."
"Okay, why did he open the doors all the way?" Hiccup asked.
"I do not know," said Throk.
The prisoners saw this as a golden opportunity and began charging in.
"Fire!" said a voice.
They then suddenly heard the sound of rifles being fighting and quickly jumped out of the way. The prisoners were not so lucky and soon found themselves ensnared in nets.
Hannibal laughed. "Take a look."
He jetted towards the staircase, and they saw several guards holding rifles.
"We've got 1,000 troops, armed with a thousand cage-shot bazookas packed into the stairway leading to Level III," Hannibal smiled.
Hiccup and the others grimace, knowing that getting through is not going to be easy.
"It's the end of the line. This is as far as you go!"
The guards on Level IV just stared as they had never seen Hannibal this serious before.
"What's going on with the Vice-Warden? He's all fired up."
"You think that's another imposter?"
Hiccup glared at Hannibal as he approached him.
"In order to guarantee the safety of all innocent citizens, you Dragon must be eradicated," said Hannibal as he took on a fighting stance. "I hereby sentence you to death on behalf of the warden."
The guards looked at one another.
"That can't be the same Vice-Warden I know."
"Move," Hiccup ordered.
"Try and make me!"
Hiccup then launched himself at Hannibal, who began to spin his spear over his head.
"I'm in a hurry!" Hiccup yelled.
Hannibal then swung his spear, but Hiccup managed to jump out of the way to avoid it just barely.
"Nice move."
"Hey, look at his spear, it's the Bloodsucker!"
"You shouldn't underestimate me!" Hannibal yelled, glaring at Hiccup.
"He actually knows what he's doing!"
"And here I thought he was good at complaining!"
The guards immediately began to cheer, feeling a massive boost in morale. Hannibal began to spin his spear around even faster and then suddenly caught fire.
"Infernal Hell Wheel!" Hannibal yelled.
He then launched himself at Hiccup and continued to spin his spear as quickly as he could, forcing Hiccup to back up. Hiccup immediately transformed into his hybrid form to block the attack, but Hannibal was relentless.
"Stop it!" Hiccup growled. "If you don't get the hell out of my way, I'll make you. I've got somewhere important to be."
"You've got to be joking?" Hannibal yelled as he kept up his attack. "What kind of Vice-Warden would I be if I stepped aside just because an inmate asked me."
He then swung one that swung with his spear, and Hiccup had a jump back to put some distance between.
"Beta Mode!" Hiccup yelled as he transformed into his beta form. "Dragon Champion Combat!"
Hiccup moved with such blinding speed within seconds; he was right in front of Hannibal, and then he was dealt a barrage of fists. The blood was so powerful that Hannibal almost lost consciousness.
Magellan had finally arrived at Level IV with reinforcements, and they met some of the surviving guards.
"We've been praying you would arrive," said one of the guards as he stepped out of the lift. "You've got to do something, Warden Magellan."
They then quickly rushed towards where the riot was at its height.
"Where are the ringleaders behind this uprising?" Magellan asked.
"They're in front of the staircase leading to Level III, but that's on the opposite side of the floor from here, and we're going to have to fight for the riot. So far, Vice-Warden Hannibal has kept them back, but who knows how long he can hold out.
Hannibal had already fallen to the ground after Hiccup's relentless attack, much to the horror of the guards.
"No, Vice-Warden."
Hannibal was not out cold, but he was so severely injured he could barely move. 'He took me down so easily, I don't even deserve to call myself Vice-Warden. If only Magellan were here.'
His memory turned to 20 years ago when he arrived for duty on his first day as a prison guard.
"Reporting for my first day as a jailer, sir!" Hannibal yelled, saluting. "My name is Hannibal."
Sal, who was the warden back then, looked at him critically. "They weren't kidding when they say you look like a cobra."
"What?" Hannibal cried. "Are you trying to hurt my feelings?"
"I've got a feeling that you're the only person who's going to be able to keep this snake in line," said Sal as he turned his eyes to Magellan, who suddenly appeared right next to Hannibal. "Well, Magellan."
Magellan saluted. "You can count on me, sir."
Hannibal just looked at him rather nervously.
Magellan then took on his first duty, processing the prisoners who entered Level I, which he was not happy about.
"Geez, that jerk, Magellan," Hannibal grumbled. "He's got some nerve assigning a genius like me to Level I. Any idiot can handle the intake for new inmates."
"The next ones arrived," said a jailer.
Hannibal then quickly jumped out of his chair and stood to attention. "Oh, okay."
"This one has a 50 million Gil bounty, the pirate Miss Olive." Soon, handcuffed, a very busty-looking woman with long blond hair stepped into the room. "She is extremely dangerous; take extra precautions with her."
Hannibal wasn't really listening as he was transfixed with a smile that Miss Olive gave him.
"Just my type!" he yelled. "Why did I shout that out loud?"
Once the jailer left, Miss Olive gave him an innocent look after he explained that he had to strip her naked. He then made the unfortunate mistake of agreeing to look the other way, and then she probably knocked him out.
"He was easy, like every other man," she smiled. "Such a fool."
"I couldn't agree more," said a voice behind her.
She turned around and was soon face-to-face with Magellan, who easily took her down. She was then dragged away in a prison uniform by a couple of jailers.
"Stop! Please!" she pleaded.
Magellan ignored her as he began to admonish Hannibal. "What the hell are you doing, letting your guard down? It doesn't matter if you're working on Level I or VI; all duties are equally important here. If one person fails, then the entire system will fail. You must keep that in mind at all times."
Back in the present, Hiccup walked past Hannibal as he began to make his way to the staircase but then felt someone grabbing his foot. He looked down and saw that Hannibal was getting back onto his feet, even with his face covered in blood.
"Let go!" said Hiccup, getting his hand away.
"I am not through with you yet!" he yelled as he stood up.
The jailers and guards just stared at him in awe.
Hannibal then swung his spear at Hiccup, who was forced to jump back.
"You won't pass!" he yelled defiantly.
The guards and jailers then cheered as they felt their hopes renewed.
"Follow the Vice-Warden led! Don't hold back!"
"Bring it on!" the prisoners yelled as they charged at them.
"I'd move if I were you," said Hiccup as he took on Beta Form again. "I will save my brother no matter what it takes!"
Hannibal then charged at him, but Hiccup struck him with a lightning-fast plasma blast, which struck him with so much force that he bounced across the floor.
Impressively, Hannibal managed to get back on his feet and charged at him once more. "You should be worried about saving your own life!"
He then began swinging his flaming spear at Hiccup, who nimbly dodged each and every single one of his attacks.
"Out of my way!" Hiccup yelled, striking across the face with his tail.
Hannibal hit the ground hard once more, but just like before, he picked himself up, refusing to let anyone get past him.
"Bastard," he panted. "You are not getting past me!"
"Dragon Champion Fist!" Hiccup yelled.
He then moved faster than Hannibal could blink and punched him as hard as he could, causing him to fall to the ground. Hiccup then began to proceed towards the staircase, only for Hannibal to grab his shoulder.
"Don't move!" said Hannibal, looking as if he was going to topple over any moment.
"Save yourself a trip to the infirmary and stand down!" Hiccup yelled, knocking his hand back. "I seriously do not have time for this."
Hannibal just stood there firmly, holding his spear, panting. "You're not getting past me!"
Meanwhile, on Level II, Buggy was still yelling insults at the poison-covered entranceway, and he was suddenly exhausted from all that yelling.
"You're the king of diarrhoea! You hear me!" Buggy yelled, whose voice was starting to sound rather hoarse. "You should wear a toilet seat for a Crown."
"He's been screaming insults for more than 30 minutes now."
"That's our Captain Buggy, he's the best."
"Your mom should have flushed you, you turd!"Buggy yelled.
He finally stopped yelling insults and began to pant heavily. 'I'm all out of insults. I had a good run, but you can only stretch this turd thing so far.'
"Uh, you doing okay there?" Mr 3 asked.
"Magellan is pretty tough to eat up all this abuse, huh?" said Buggy, wiping his brow. "I've got to go and take a quick bathroom break."
"Wait, you don't mean…"
"…that he went and gave himself diarrhoea?"
"No, gotta piss, that's all," said Buggy.
"Good idea, we haven't peed in hours!"
They also ran up towards the wall and began to take a pee, and they all began to sigh in relief.
While he did his business, Buggy was desperate to come up with a way out of this mess. 'What the hell should I do? If I can't get through that wall of poison, not only will I be stuck, but my reputation will be ruined, too. Damnit, what's it going to take?'
However, while everyone was busy relieving themselves, Drago appeared and began to use his powers to absorb all the poison, clearing the entranceway.
"What a joke. Is that supposed to stop us?" said Drago."
"Try as they might to avoid destiny; fate marches are nonetheless," said Grimmel.
"Liberation!" said Drago as he unleashed a poison and allowed it to splatter all across the floor.
He then laughed as he and his crew marched on, heading towards the staircase that would take them to Level III.
One of the inmates who had finished relieving himself and returned to the entranceway suddenly returned.
"Captain Buggy, you need to see this."
"Is something wrong?" Mr 3 asked.
"The wall… it's vanished!"
"What did you say?!" Buggy yelled.
They wasted no time, and sure enough, the wall of poison had completely disappeared.
"How did this happen?" Mr 3 gasped. "There's not even a single trace of the poison left."
Buggy then began to laugh triumphantly. "My barrage of devastating insults finally got to him. That's right, it was a pain, but it paid off."
"Amazing, so you were really battling Magellan's venom with your venomous tongue."
"You're a badass!"
"Cool! Your pee was also part of your attack, right?"
Mr 3, however, knew that Buggy was lying through his teeth. "No, there's nothing about this that makes any sense."
However, no one appeared to listen to him.
"All right, I destroyed the blockade. Fall in behind and show me the freedom!"
The prisoners then cheered, and the old charged towards the entranceway.
On Level IV, Hiccup was still fighting against Hannibal, who refused to back down.
"I've already told you I'm in a hurry!" Hiccup yelled as he began swinging his fists. "Get out of my way!"
"Like hell, I will!" Hannibal yelled defiantly as he swung his spear relentlessly.
"Just move and make it easy on yourself!"
"You're not taking a single step!"
"I do not have time for this; I've got more important things to do!"
Hiccup landed another blow on Hannibal, sending him flying.
"I'm leaving now, and I'm saving Ace," said Hiccup.
Hannibal, however, miraculously got back onto his feet, though he was staggering and blood was dripping from his face.
"You keep on saying that you want to save your brother like it's some noble quest," Hannibal panted. "But I know that you're nothing but scum, both of you. All the pirates and rebels here, you don't give a damn about anyone but yourselves."
The jailers and guards were in tears as they watched Hannibal fighting against impossible odds.
"Stop Vice-Warden! You've done enough!"
"Don't stand up, you're going to get killed!"
Hannibal ignored them and glared at Hiccup. "As long as scum like you are free to terrorise the seas, decent people can't even sleep at night because they are worried about losing their loved ones. This jail was built to protect them; locking up evil criminals like you is the only way to give them some peace of mind. This fortress is the floodgate of hell, and I won't let the world drown in terror by letting prisoners break free! So, like I already said, you won't take a single step!"
The jailers and guards began to cry in admiration.
"Vice-Warden!"
Hiccup and Hannibal looked at one another, ready to class once more.
The men that Hannibal brought with him were stationed on the staircase leading to Level III, but then suddenly, they found themselves being sucked into some sort of black void which appeared beneath their feet.
"The only thing that I want is to save my brother," said Hiccup, looking undeterred. "So move it!"
"You just don't get it," said Hannibal, clutching his spear.
Then, suddenly, everyone heard screams coming from the staircase.
"Vice-Warden, help us!"
They watched as many jailers were being sucked into the black void, much to Hannibal's horror.
"Hey, what's happening in there?" Hannibal yelled.
"Put a cork in it already!" a voice roared.
Darkness then erupted from the entrance, and a large figure emerged within it.
"All this blabbering about what's right and what's wrong in the world!"
Hannibal's eyes widened as the massive fist appeared in front of him. "If you took a look at the world outside your damn prison, you'd see that it's not so black-and-white! So cut the crap!"
Drago then punched Hannibal in the face slamming him down to the ground, and then emerging from the black void above them were the jailers he had sucked into his darkness. The remaining jailers and God just stared in horror, and the prisoners themselves were shocked as well.
Astrid's eyes widened. "Hey, we met him at Jaya."
"What's he doing here?" Hiccup stared.
Drago then looked up and saw everyone staring at him as his crew arrived. "Well, if this ain't a trip down memory lane. It looks like we caught you boys and girls in the middle of something."
Jinbe clenched his fist. "Hello, Drago; mind telling us what the hell you're doing here?"
"Wait, Drago as is Drago Bludvist?" Astrid gasped.
Hiccup's eyes widened.
"Jinbe, what's with the hostility?" Drago smiled. "Why don't you loosen up a bit? Ah, of course, I completely forgot that both you and Ace are pretty tight. But there is no point in caring about him anymore."
"Drago!" Hiccup glared.
Hiccup remembered Ace mentioning that he was hunting for Drago to kill a fellow crewmate. Then, just a few days ago, he was informed that Drago had managed to capture Ace and used him to become a Warlord.
"I see," said Hiccup, clenching his fist. He then marched up towards Drago with burning hatred in his eyes. "So you're Drago Bludvist."
Drago looked at him, confused. "Uh, oh, right. I guess I never gave you my name, did I."
He then laughed. "Long time no see, Dragon Conqueror Hiccup. I forgot that we never actually met while I was on your father's ship, and I never knew that Ace was your brother, them as a surprise to me.
Though, what surprises me more is finding you down here. Unless you came all the way down here just to break out, I must admit you've got guts. Though if you stay here, you miss your brother's execution and the death of your father."
Hiccup glared at him.
Drago then noticed Viggo. "And this washed-up former Warlord over here, and yes, I mean you, Viggo. I heard that you got your ass handed to you, but I didn't know that it was Dragon Conqueror Hiccup who was the one to do it.
He then turned his eyes back to Hiccup. "The funny thing is I was trying to take Viggo's place as a Warlord at the time. So, I thought killing you was the best way I could think of to make the Government worthy of the position. And so here you are, fatally decided to save you instead. Ace had been chasing after me for revenge for my so-called crime on your father's ship, and I had been chasing you.
"I had hoped to team up with Ace, but that wasn't to be the case. Either way, it all worked out because we both got the fight we wanted. If he had just let us get away, were not only of disgraced Stoick's name, but he would also be turning back on his brother and leaving you to die."
"There is no such thing as coincidence when it comes to fate, truly," said Grimmel.
"Yeah, and you got lucky, kiddo; you weren't fated to die," said Mildew.
"Our captain achieved his goal of becoming a warlord thanks to your brother," said Chaghatai. "So you are thoroughly useless to us now."
Stone merely laughed. "Old Ace put up a brave fight, but it just didn't work out for him."
"You better make sure you pay your humble respects at his grave, Dragon," said Drago. "He went and took your place for ya because if it weren't for your brother, you'd be dead, and he'd be walking free."
Enraged, Hiccup took on his Beta Form. "That is the truth, then try and kill me now!"
"Dragon Champion Fist!" Hiccup yelled.
Drago was shocked by how fast Hiccup moved. In a split second, he was right in front of him and dealt a powerful blow to the chest.