Hi guys! Sorry for disappearing! A lot of stuff happened (see bottom author's note for more detail about a lot of stuff) but here's a new update! I know it's short, and I'm really sorry, but I'm really sick right now (not really "sick" but my migraines are killing me right about now - my mom actually considered driving me to the hospital the other night because of how bad they got). So right now I'm feeling really run-down.

But I wanted to post this, 'cause you guys are amazing and deserve a chapter. :) Thank you all for your continued support and I love you all very, very much! :) Enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER 25: ON THE RADIO/THE OUTCASTS

DAY: APRIL 23
TIME: 4:34 PM
YEAR: 2018

"You're good, you're good, you're good, you're good, you're-"

CRACK!

"Whoops! Too far!"

"DANGIT, TUFFNUT!" Snotlout shouted furiously, hopping out of the driver's seat, slamming the door shut behind him, and moving behind the van, where said Thorston twin stood, two glow sticks in hand. "YOU SAID I WAS GOOD!"

"Well, if someone was better at backing up the van," said Tuffnut, pointing a glow stick at Snotlout accusingly, "we wouldn't have this problem to begin with!"

"ARGH!" Snotlout yelled, burying his face in his hands. "WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!?" he shouted to the heavens.

"Um, you exist?" Ruffnut, who was standing nearby also with glow sticks, offered helpfully. "I mean, that's enough, isn't it?"

"I HATE YOU BOTH!" Snotlout proclaimed, and then knelt down, fastening the trailer to the hitch. "I swear, if this thing's screwed up because I banged into it, you two are going to be in serious trouble."

"Well it's not our fault you banged into it," said Tuffnut, scratching behind his ear with one of the glow sticks.

"YOU SAID YOU WOULD TELL ME WHEN TO STOP!" Snotlout reminded them angrily.

"And I did!" said Tuffnut. "I did exactly what I said I would do!"

"BUT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TELL ME BEFORE I HIT THE TRAILER, YOU DUNDERHEAD!"

Tuffnut shrugged innocently. "We can forget the minor details, can't we?"

Snotlout put up one finger, opened his mouth, and then thought better of it. "One of these days," he muttered under his breath, fastening the trailer to the hitch on the back of their van, "one of these days, Tuffnut, I'm going to come after you. And no one's gonna find your body."

"Whoa," said Ruffnut. "Is that supposed to be threatening?"

"Well," said Tuffnut, crossing his arms firmly over his chest, "now we know whose sound to screw up tonight. Mr. Snottyface here is gonna be experiencing some serious technical difficulties."

"We have a gig tonight," said Fishlegs, stepping out of Dragon's Edge HQ, his arms laden with chords and guitar straps. "It's important for us as a band, so please don't do anything that would ruin it, Tuffnut."

Tuffnut looked so disappointed it was hilarious. "But that's...that's not fair!" he objected, pointing a glow stick at Snotlout once again. "He's the one who rammed the van into the trailer!"

"He did what?" Astrid snapped furiously from behind Fishlegs. She was carrying her guitar in its case, wearing all her usual spikes and leather, looking just as intimidating as ever. She'd dyed a streak of her blonde hair neon blue for the occasion. "Snotlout, I swear, if you messed up our trailer-"

"I DIDN'T!" Snotlout said, springing backwards. "See!? It still latches on just fine - WAIT A MINUTE!" He realized just what it was he was saying. "Since when is this MY fault!? He's the one who did it!" He spun around, pointing his finger at Tuffnut.

(There was a lot of pointing going on this evening.)

"What? How dare you blame me!" Tuffnut cried, holding his hands against his chest, looking saddened - though it was obviously fake, and almost looked rehearsed, like he'd been training his whole life for this one moment. "You sadden me, Snotlout!"

"He has a point," said Fishlegs, opening the trailer and stoing away their cords. "You really need to stop blaming Tuffnut for everything, Snotlout. Take responsibility for your actions once in a while."

"IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH - you know what, nevermind!" Snotlout said, throwing his hands into the air. "I'm done! I'm done with every single one of you!"

"Looks like someone's in a bad mood," muttered Ruffnut to her brother.

"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Snotlout yelled at them.

"Why are you guys yelling?" Hiccup questioned, emerging from Dragon's Edge HQ, carrying his drumsticks. Toothless would usually be skipping merrily at Hiccup's side with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, but right now, the border collie was with Hiccup's father for the evening at the Haddock family home.

Tonight was the night. Tonight, they played their first gig at The Outcasts night club, where they would hopefully meet Alvin the Treacherous and thereby gain information on the infamous serial killer, Drago Bludvist.

"The stupid twins are being stupid again!" Snotlout told Hiccup, pointing once more at the said Thorston twins.

"Look, Ruffnut! A dragonfly!" Tuffnut sang in awe, pointing to a bug flying overhead. "I want to touch it!"

"That's a mosquito," Fishlegs said, deadpan. "They suck your blood."

"Ooooh...I want to touch it even more now!" said Tuffnut, starry-eyed. "But I want Ruffnut to touch it even more…"

Ruffnut tackled Tuffnut to the ground, rolling around on the sidewalk with him while Hiccup and Astrid watched on, looking like they'd rather be anywhere else but here, and Fishlegs continued loading their stuff into the trailer like nothing was happening at all.

Snotlout, meanwhile, threw his hands into the air once more. "You're all dead to me," he said. "All of you. Except you, Hiccup, you're cool sometimes."

"You just need him 'cause he's our drummer," Astrid muttered, popping her gum between her teeth.

"Well duh."

When they finally managed to get the twins under control (or, under as much control as the twins could ever be, which was less than any of them would have liked), they loaded themselves into the van and started down the road, towards The Outcasts.

"So, we don't actually start playing until around six or seven-ish," Snotlout said, the van's radio playing quietly in the background, "so we should have plenty of time to set up. We probably won't meet up with Alvin until after the gig."

"So, how long are we playing for, Snotlout?" Fishlegs inquired.

"Eh, 'couple hours or so," said Snotlout with a shrug. "I think they said three hours when I was on the phone with their representative, but they said two would be fine tonight, since it's our first time playing over there."

"Did you send us the set list?" Tuffnut asked.

Snotlout sighed. "Yes," he said, sounding dead inside, "I did, at least seven times."

"Whoops. Didn't even notice. You sure you sent them?"

"Yes, Tuffnut."

"Geez. Don't sound so angry. It's not my fault you didn't send us the set list-"

"I DID SEND YOU THE FRIGGIN' SET LIST!"

"Oooh!" Ruffnut said, gasping. "Language, Snotlout!"

"I SAID FRIGGING!"

"LANGUAGE!"

"ACK!" Snotlout stopped at a red light and slammed his head on the steering wheel, inevitably activating the van's loud, blaring horn. He was honked at by three other cars before the light changed, and they continued down the road. "YOU ALL SUCK!" Snotlout yelled.

Tuffnut hummed something under his breath, but it sounded suspiciously like "Laaannnnguuuaageee…"

They continued down the way for a little while longer in tense silence (no one really liked car trips filled with yelling, and any talking now would surely bring on another Snotlout-Yelling-Fest), listening to the radio; an alternative rock station that most of the members of Dragon's Edge enjoyed listening to (it was probably the only station they'd ever been able to agree on).

About mid-way through their drive, they caught the words of the radio's DJ between songs.

"And next up we have the rising stars Dragon's Edge, whose first hit single just made it into the top ten list of most popular song!"

"Wait, seriously!?" Tuffnut yelled, leaning forward. "We're in the top ten!?"

"No way!" Hiccup said, grinning. "Which song is it?"

Snotlout looked equally thrilled, and he turned up the radio's volume. "Here it comes, everybody!" he said. "Our first hit song!"

The DJ finished talking, and the song started.

A familiar drumbeat.

A familiar guitar intro.

And then…

"Oh no," Astrid groaned, burying her face in her hands. "You can't tell me...this isn't happening...how did this become our hit single?"

The lyrics kicked in.

"Astrid Hofferson lived down the block…"

"DARN IT!" Astrid screeched, digging her fingers into her hair. "SNOTLOUT, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Shh!" Snotlout hissed, turning up the volume. "I'm trying to listen to our hit single here!"

Tuffnut, sitting shotgun, was snapping his fingers and swaying along with the song. "This song's got a great beat to it!" he said, and then, he started singing along. "Astrid Hofferson was still in denial, she threatened to delete her friends off of speed dial-"

"You're all going to die-"

"EVERYONE!" shouted Tuffnut, ignoring Astrid entirely - something one had to be either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid to do. "SING WITH ME!"

The chorus kicked in, and Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout sang, loudly and as off-key as they possibly could, "ASTRID HOFFERSON, ASTRID HOFFERSON, SHE IS ASTRID HOFFERSON!"

Astrid glared. "So what about you, Hiccup?" she questioned, turning to the drummer sitting beside her. Hiccup was the only member thus far to not break into song. "Are you going to join them, too?"

Hiccup blinked at her.

And then, he grinned fiendishly.

"She is Astrid Hofferson," Hiccup sang.

And Astrid smacked him. Hard.

Author's Notes:

HEY GUYS! So sorry for not doing this sooner. I got into another fandom for a while and I've been feeling really sick lately (because of my migraines - they have a lot of bad side-effects, like nausea and dizzy spells etc., etc., etc.,) so I haven't been able to update this for a while. I'm really sorry.

And it's a shorter chapter, too. I feel bad about that…

The next chapter's gonna take place in The Outcast club (I can't remember if it was The Outcast or The Outcasts and I don't feel like going back and checking it right now, so I'll just have to fix that when I'm feeling better), so it should be pretty interesting. I dunno, that's up to you to decide.

Anyways, sorry for the short chapter and the lack of updates. I'm gonna go to bed now 'cause I'm pretty sure I'll pass out if I don't. If you found any typos in this chapter, just ignore them; I'll go back later when my headache stops and fix them.

Thank you all so much for your support on this story! I love you all!

Oh, and final announcement: I'm seriously considering getting back to writing HTTYD fanfics full-time again, maybe doing another B season or finishing season 3B and 1B. I haven't had a chance to watch the new episodes, though, and I've had a lot of sick days lately, so we'll see how it goes.

That's all! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! :)

Cheers!

-BeyondTheClouds777