If I were stronger, would you be proud of me? If I spoke less, would you listen to me? If I stopped dreaming, would you dream with me? Would you love me? Would you be proud to call me your son? I'm sorry Dad, I let you down, but you expect too much from me. Not everyone can be as perfect as you.

Hiccup sure wasn't over exaggerating about Snotlout's car. It was a metallic red Ford Mustang with a sleek yet at the same time, blocky body that drove insanely close to the ground. Both sides were painted with fluorescent orange flames. The inside of the car was glowing with soft red lights that shone down from the ceiling. Hiccup had, of course designed and painted the Ford almost completely himself, and had even made the fluffy red seat covers. Yes, graffiti was a hobby, but for years Hiccup had spent most of his time with his dad's friend Gobber, slowly but surely becoming a highly skilled engineer.

The boys paced, both soaked and dripping with water, across the road to the fiery red monster of a ride. As Snotlout unlocked, Hiccup examined his ghostly reflection in one of the Mustangs tinted windows. His expression was nothing short of miserable and his wet hair stuck to his forehead, adding to his gloomy appearance. "Useless, catch!" He looked up in time to cop a towel in the face. "Dry off before you get in, unless you want to make me some new seat covers." Hiccup looked at the towel and smiled half-heartedly. Probably been rotting in the boot, he thought. Reminding himself that he was cold, wet, and in need of a lift, he shrugged and started to dry off, messing his already messy hair up with the slightly smelly towel.

No more than five minutes later, the two of them were speeding 90km down a 70km street. The smaller of the two had his nose pressed to the window, watching the reflection of the car flicker like a flame as they passed the large tinted windows of various buildings. He proudly admitted, just quietly, that the site before him was quite impressive, as the painted flames looked almost like they were dancing, and the cars expensive silver rims lit up like disco balls as they were hit with the neon street lights. "I just gotta drop into the garage for a bit," Snotlout said, half to himself as he reached over and turned off the heater. The car had warmed up by now and the two of them, although still wet, were a lot more comfortable. Hiccup gave a grunt in response, not really minding. He had some work to do there anyway.

Except for the growling of the Mustangs engine and the slight crackling of the wheels over the wet tarmac, the city was fairly quiet. At 2:23 in the morning, it usually was. For Hiccup, Berk was all he knew, having lived there his whole life, he knew the streets inside out. Snotlout turned on some Birds of Tokyo as they drove out from the jungle of skyscrapers and into the suburbs. Hiccup could see his himself and his father's five story, five million dollar mansion at the top of a big hill overlooking the rest of the city. It was not only the biggest house on the block, but by far the biggest in Berk, perhaps even the whole country. From what Hiccup could see, all of the lights were off, except of course the lights of his dad's room. Stoick was much like an owl; unless working the next day, he was up late writing and replying to business mail. "Does he know you're gone?" Snotlout shouted over the music. Hiccup turned it off all together before replying.

"Probably not." Snotlout laughed.

"Of course he doesn't. I'm guessing you don't want to swing by to pick up some clothes on the way?" Hiccup shook his head without a second's hesitation. "Well I trust your wallet has plenty of cash to last you, then. My guess is you'll be gone a while."

"Yes, 'Lout. I know you don't have any, but there is such thing as common sense."

They pulled up out the front of an old brick building with layers of graffiti covering its old brick walls. Above two roller doors, was a sign that read, "Gobber's Garage" graffitied in fancy yellow block writing. Without turning off the engine, Snotlout got out of his car and unlocked one of the doors with a key he'd almost forgotten he had. "Be a good little cousin and see if Gobber's still up while I take the car in." Hiccup rolled his eyes, a groan escaping his chapped lips. He didn't like to take orders from his cousin, but did what he was told nonetheless. He walked into the dark, cluttered building, stepping over boxes of old and new car parts. He reached the door that up lead into the house and went through, turning on the lights as he passed them. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the brightness.

"Gobber!" He knocked on the man's bedroom door. "Gobber," He knocked again.

"Hiccup, what are ye doing here? We're closed." He spun around in a moment and found his nose up against the chest a tall, bulky blonde man with a handlebar moustache.

"Gobber! Uh, I was just looking for you!" He stuttered.

"At three o'clock in the mornin'?"

"Yeah, um…" his voice trailed off as Snotlout walked in, looking rather unamused. Gobber turned to him and grinned.

"Snotlout! What can I do for ye m'boy? Although Hiccup was the apprentice, Snotlout was the stronger, smarter, better looking older cousin. No one minded him waking them up at unruly hours of the morning even if it was just for a quick "Hi, how are you?". He was the favourite.

Hiccup decided he wasn't interested in whatever Snotlout had to say and rolled his eyes before tiredly carrying himself back down the hall and into the garage. While the two older men stood around talking about the multiple problems 'Lout was having with his car on one side of the workshop, Hiccup put himself to work on the other, less organised side.

Almost completely hidden amongst a mess of paper, boxes and rusty tools, was a car that put Snotlout's to shame. It was a dark blue Audi R8 that he'd bought about a month ago. He'd been making improvements such us giving it stonger tyers, a more powerful engine etc. and now only had the paintwork to do until he could call it finished. While digging out a large cardboard stencil he made during his last visit, he tuned in and out of the other's conversation.

"I take it ye getting 'er ready for The Vikings, then." Gobber said, giving Lout's car an oil change. The Vikings was an illegal street-racing group that Snotlout proudly called himself a member of.

"You're not wrong." Hiccup would've loved to be part of the group, but he had a few minor problems. One being he didn't get along too great with some of the members. They actually, really didn't like him.

"I've got what you might call an unfair advantage over the other contestants. I'm going home with the big money this year. I'm sure of it." Snotlout was a winner, but that didn't mean he got there the hard way. Hiccup knew all of his tricks, but was too afraid to dob him in, and he knew that Gobber too, wouldn't dream of it. He pulled his bandanna back over his mouth and picked out a can of electric blue spray paint, waiting for a pause in the discussion before spraying the stencils design onto the side of the car.

"Leave it a surprise aye? I don't wanna know what yer up to just yet."

Hiccup had always admired the many different designs of lightning bolts, but he'd never been a fan of drawing them. For some reason, this time he quite liked the way this these ones had turned out. He smiled, admiring the way they splattered down both sides of the car, gradually fading into the dark blue painted on the layer beneath.

"Looking good, kiddo. Too much blue, though. I think a more girlish colour like pink or purple would've done you magic, but." Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Gee, thanks 'Lout," He pushed his cousin's hand off his shoulder. "I'll make sure to remember that for future reference. Are we going now? I'm tired."

"Yes, we're going. You'll have to sleep on the couch though." Hiccup's jaw dropped in protest. "Aw don't cry. Would you prefer the floor?"

Hiccup sighed and rubbed his heavy eyelids.

"Actually, the couch sounds great."