(Image: you after reading this chapter probably)

Previously:

When I give a confused look he sighs in frustration and continues. "It's been YEARS, Hiccup. The land is in turmoil."

I gape at him, "What do you mean years?"

"I mean years, YEARS. I have sailed every inch of the sea, flown every sky and climbed every mountain in search for you. We all have combed every archipelago in search for you."

"It's not been three days, Hiccup. It's been five years since you two disappeared without a trace."

Refer to the last chapter for Peter's recollection of the recent events

(Not edited)

Now:

I grab a hold of one of spider-man's arms and pull, struggling to try and pull him off the wall. "Tuff, Ruff, come on!" I call, straining against the invisible force keeping spider-man up. If we can just get him off then maybe he'll stop choking? I don't know, I'm just trying to help in anyway I can. Whatever it is, it's being controlled by the so-called Dr Strange hellbent on killing Spider-man. Tuffnut grabs spider-mans feet and Ruffnut tries the other arm. We all tug, but spider man doesn't budge.
"Aw, man!" Tuffnut wines, eventually pulling so hard he loses his balance and topples backwards when one of Toothless' plasma blasts sends the building shaking. I glance back to check on Toothless just in time to see him ensnared by vines thick enough to stop him. For now. Hopefully he can break free.

"Come on, come on." I hiss through my teeth, but my tugging is getting us nowhere and Spider-man is still choking. I think. He can't really move much, only managing to make guttural sounds from his throat. Maybe if I take his mask off he'll be able to breathe?

I go to reach up for it, but a sudden force sends me flying across the room and crashing into a hard wall. I gasp for breath, my side twinging and sending jolts of sharp pains up and down my body. Thank gods I'm wearing my helmet.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay down." A voice sneers, and I lift my head up from the ground to see the evil Strange glaring at me. I look around for the twins, seeing them on the ground on the other side of the room, both moving so I know they're ok. I struggle to push myself up, my arm giving out when my side practically screams at me to stop moving.

"Stop!" Tony shouts, still inside his unmoving suit. "Stop, don't do it!"

Strange turns away from Spider-Man and stares down Tony, his look cold and unnervingly calm at the same time.

"I'm doing what has to be done."

"No. You're not. The Strange I know wouldn't ever hurt the kid intentionally, even if he'd never admit it." There's a shake to Tony's voice when he says 'Kid', which tells me just how much he cares for Spider-man.

"I am not your Strange."

"You are no Dr Strange at all, if you think what you're doing is good."

"Its for the good of the multiverse. Spider-man causes too many problems. You don't understand now..." Evil Dr Strange gives a slow smirk. "But you'll thank me later."

Spider-man is completely limp, well as limp as he can be in the suspended condition, no longer struggling or fighting for breath.

"You're behind all of it, aren't you?" Tony says, anger lacing his words. "The storms. The ultrons. The aliens."

Evil strange regards him with a steady gaze. "It's only the tip of the iceberg, Tony. You have no idea what my universe is like. This is only a fraction." Something shifts in the corner of the room and I still, unsure what it is and whether it's good or bad.

I try again to sit up, but I have to stop when black spots appear in my vision and my side screams in hot pain. Yeah, I'm not going anywhere. Instead, I manage to fumble around my suit until my hand closed around my zippleback gas projectile. The last one. Releasing it in here would probably kill everyone without fire protection, but maybe if I time it right?

"You're insane." Tony shakes his head. At least he's got some movement back, maybe the machine is going to work again?

"In my universe—"

"I don't give a damn about what happened in your universe, it is NOT a good reason to come after us." Tony snaps. His gaze goes past Strange,  who doesn't notice.

"You'd thank me, if you knew any better. This little shi—"

"Yeah? You know what? I think I'm gonna stop you there."

In a flash of red, Dr Strange is flung sideways into a wall, and Wanda stands behind him, eyes glowing red. Tony follows through with a blast from his suit, now fully functioning, which sends Strange crashing back down as he tries to stand. He yells in pain, and starts moving his fingers. A circle of orange light forms in front of him and blocks the next attack from Tony, but in the process Spider-man drops from the wall.

"The scarlet witch." Evil Dr Strange gasps, actual fear in his voice as he looks not at Tony (who makes a beeline towards Spider-man), but at Wanda. What follows chills me to the bone and I'm not even on the receiving end of it.

Wanda tilts her head, a slow smirk appearing on her face as her eyes continue glowing eerily red.

"Is that... who you wish me to be?" She flexes her fingers, her red power forming into two glowing balls.

Evil Dr Strange sits up and starts moving his fingers again. At the same time, Wanda flings her arms and two red balls fly at Evil Strange. He blocks them with his magic and sends them flying back at her. They hit her, but don't hurt her. She simply tuts tauntingly and goes again, pulling up chunks of the floor with her powers this time and throwing them at him this time.

I decide to leave them to it, hoping I won't get caught in the crossfire. My hand still grips the zippleback gas canister, but I make no move to use it. In all the chaos, Toothless manages to bite through the vines and come to my side, helping me stand up. I give him a thankful pat as I throw myself into the saddle, gripping the bars tightly as black spots fill my vision momentarily again.

"S'ider-man." I murmur to Toothless as he looks back at me in concern. He bounds across the room, ducking under one of Evil Strange's powers as he flings magic at Wanda. We make it to him, Tony crouched over him. Spider-man is coughing and gasping for breath, but he's on his hands and knees— he's regained consciousness.

"How is he?" I ask.

"He'll live." Tony says simply, almost passively if it weren't for the fact that I can see his face, and I can see how relieved he looks. He gives Spider-man a clap on the shoulder. "We need to get out of here." He mutters quietly. I look over my shoulder, seeing Evil Strange spread his fingers as a red burst of power is about to hit him, and splits it up into tiny harmless sparkles that fizz out in the air. Wanda attacks him again, her magic encasing his hands this time. Sickening cracks sound through the air and I wince. Evil Strange yells in pain.

I then look for the twins, but they're not where they were before. I look around, confused, and see a green tail disappear through a hole in the ceiling. After a second two heads pop out of the hole and grin at me.

"That way." I say quietly, pointing up at the ceiling. Tony follows my gaze and nods. Barf pops his head through the hole behind the twins and spews a tiny bit of gas, letting me in on the plan. I give a salute to show I understand and they return it. Thank god they love danger so much, I can usually never get them to pay attention.

"Can you stand Spider-man?" I ask.

"Nope." He pops the 'p'. "I'm fairly certain if I try to do anything my body will give out, my guy. I feel like how mr Stark must feel in his age."

"Is now the time? Really?" Tony sighs.

"It's not my fault you're old."

"But it is your fault I'm getting grey hairs."

"Guys, guys," I hold out my arms before they can continue. "It's fine, let's focus. Toothless and I will cover you, get him up into the hole."

"Whadare you'nna do?" Spider-man asks, words slurring together as Tony lifts him up into his arms.

I hold out the canister, a bittersweet smile on my face as echoes of the past surface.

"You've lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your best friend..."

"I was so afraid of becoming my dad, mostly because I thought I never could. How do you become someone that great? That brave? That selfless? I guess you can only... try."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"A chief protects his own."

"Probably something stupid."

"We're going back."

"Good, but you've already done that."

I look down at the grenade again. "Something crazy." I take off my helmet and toss it to Tony, nodding down at Spider-man. "In case the flames reach you. It's fireproof."

Tony doesn't need to be told twice, slapping it over Spider-man's head firmly.
"Smells like fish." Spider-man chuckles.

"Don't die or anything." Tony says, helmet materialising over his head. Toothless spreads his wings, waiting. Tony takes off with spider-man in his arms, and I open the tail. We spring up into the air, flying directly at Strange to try and distract him, as Wanda ducks to avoid a huge orange magic whip. Strange's hands are deformed, fingers all bent and some bleeding. "I don't need my fingers to beat you, witch." He snaps at her.

Toothless fires a plasma blast that he barely blocks in time. Wanda lands a good hit on Strange thanks to the distraction, and Toothless angles his body so his claws are outstretched. We tackle Strange down to the ground just as zippleback gas starts filling the room. That means Tony made it.

"Go, go!" I shout at Wanda. "We'll cover you, don't fire any sparks." Toothless claws dig into Strange's body, causing him to groan in pain.

"Are you kidding?!" Wanda responds, shaking her head. With one arm she floats Bucky, who'd been heading towards the hole as well, up so he can pull himself in. He thanks her with a nod and squeezes past Barf and Belch. "I'm not just going to go!"

"Are you fireproof?" I retort, lifting up the canister. The gas has filled about half of the room now.

"Are you?"

"Eh... mostly." I chuckle awkwardly, rubbing my neck. "It's fine. Just go, make sure Tony and Spider-man get out."

"What is this stuff?" Evil Strange wonders with a snarl, looking around the room as the gas closed in. Toothless snarls down at him, a plasma blast building in his throat. Wanda reluctantly makes her escape, talking in the coms as she goes, but mine has become dislodged from my ear in the fight, so I don't know what she says.

"Didn't do your research on dragons? Really pal?" I ask in disbelief, glaring down at Strange. "You brought us here."

"No, no..." something unreadable flashes across Strange's face, and my heart starts beating faster. "I didn't bring you here. I brought you away."

Horror consumes me and I extend inferno, holding it down in front of his face and ignoring every protest by body screams at me. "What?!"

"At first it was an accident, I was working on the bridges between the multiverse. You entered on a fluke."

The gas has filled three quarters of the room.

"It wasn't personal until you got in the way. But I made it work. I never needed you here."

I glare down at him, unable to speak.

"I needed you gone."

"No. No." I whisper. I pull inferno away.

It's a long moment before he speaks again.

"I destroyed everything."

No

"There will be no one for you to go back to."

Astrid.

Enraged, heartbroken, I pull the pin on the canister.

I do something I never thought I could do to someone.

I grip Evil Strange by his hair, and move the canister down on his chest as the gas continues to spill. Toothless screeches in his face, expressing the same emotions I am feeling. Gods. No.

I shove it in Strange's mouth as he's mid taunt, effectively gagging him. He struggles, but Toothless has him pinned. He starts gagging. The gas from the twins has filled the entire room, stinging my eyes.

My whole body is numb. The thoughts that run through me are unlike any thought I have ever had before. I never wanted to have thoughts like these. I used to call myself the peacekeeper.

I bring inferno down to connect with the canister.

I don't think I can call myself that anymore.

And holy fuck I'm going off the rails. Just so you know, I had not planned Hiccup turning psychotic.

Anyway, I'm so sorry for the delay, I've been procrastinating and pre occupied with work and uni.

See you next chapter, with Peter.

Probably.