The Haunted- How things have changed

Chapter 10: All Fists on Deck

The man limped back to his previous spot, and Graves came back to fight. "I'm ready to go again if you are!", he said, seemingly ok. "This isn't smart, you know.", Drake said, trying to talk him down. Graves seemed unaffected by his statement. "And why's that? You think I'm afraid of you?", he said, raising his fists once again. "No... but you probably should be.", Drake replied, getting sick of the fighting, as it was over nothing really. Graves only threw a single punch, before Drake blocked it and kicked him straight in the nads. Everyone winced at the attack, as Drake put one arm on Graves' back and one over his chest. Drake lifted the man a bit off the ground before falling backwards into a roll. Graves was left flat on his back while Drake got up, his figure towering above the sailor. "Ready to call it quits?", he said, giving Graves a way out. "Never!", the sailor shouted, using his legs to grab Drake's and give himself a boost to his feet. Drake stood up to see the sailor wielding a knife. Drake would've drawn his own sword, except he left it in his cabin. "How do you like these odds?", Graves said, seemingly having an advantage over the hybrid. Drake was still a bit stunned from the last attack, so Graves managed to slash him with the knife. Drake felt the sting of his flesh being torn but luckily, it didn't hit that hard or anywhere vital. He managed to retaliate with a punch to Graves' face before the latter tried an overhead strike with the tiny blade. The hybrid grabbed Graves' hand as the attack came down and brought it into an arm-lock. Drake kept his grip firm on the blade as he shoved his elbow into Graves' face, disarming the man. 

Just then, a large booming noise quieted everyone down. Armen had fired one of his X-Blasters to gather everyone's attention, as Grayson stepped through the crowd. "Alright, that's enough! What's going on here?", he yelled, unsure of the picture he saw. Drake standing over Graves with a knife in his hand. Drake was quick to try and explain the situation. "These as-", he said before Mils cut him off. "We were just passing the time with a bit of sport, sir.", he said calmly, shocking Drake with how smoothly he handled it. Grayson didn't seem convinced, but he wasn't going to pry too much. "Well, fine. But just get back to work soon. We won't make it home in time if we loll about.", he said to Mils and the other sailors. "Drake, a word please.", he said to his friend. "Alright. Oh, before I forget...", the hybrid said, before throwing the knife in his hand at Graves' feet, the blade impaled in the wood. "There's your knife back, sir", he said, before following Grayson to the captain's cabin. 

Walking through the door, Drake decided to ask his friend a question about his crew. "Are they always like that?", he asked. He didn't want to get into any more fights on a ship. "Oh, don't worry. They won't bother you anymore, dude.", Armen said, coming from seemingly nowhere. "Wait, what?", Drake said. He never saw the younger man anywhere and he sticks out like a sore thumb. "I watched from the sail post. You were kicking ass! I ran in here to tell everyone else, then Grayson came out and you know the rest.", Armen said, acting like a child after they had watched a cool fight scene. "Anyway, guys.", Grayson said, getting Drake's attention again. "So, Mia's brought me up-to-date on what's happened with you three. I have a bit of a favor to ask of you, Drake..."

Somewhere else...

Armen started to wake up to a new day on the Dragoon, or at least he would have if he didn't wake up in a strange garden. Now that he thought about it, "garden" might be a generous term to describe where he was now. He seemed to be in some sort of gigantic forest, where the trees were as tall as skyscrapers and they seemed to be simple lotus leaves. "I don't think this is where I fell asleep.", Armen said to himself. He decided to walk around a bit, the area being completely foreign to him.

Walking down the unmarked path, Armen wasn't sure if he was going the right way now. He swore he passed the same flower five times. Getting frustrated, he threw a dagger at a nearby plant. His eyes widened when he heard a yelp of surprise come from the same direction. Turning his head, he saw that the blade had just barely missed Drake, the ender-hybrid's eyes as wide as pie plates. "Whoops! Sorry, Drake! Didn't see... you...", Armen began, before bursting out laughing. The boy couldn't believe what he was seeing, the man who had beaten two guys into submission and defeated Zeldon was wearing a light blue button-up with a navy blue ribbon on his neck. His jeans and boots looked relatively the same, minus the crossbow holster and front plating on the boots. What Armen was laughing about the most was the apron Drake was wearing on his front. It made Drake look kinda girly, in his opinion. "Oh my god, what little girl forced you at gunpoint to wear that?", Armen said, still having the chuckles. "Why did you have me wear this!?", Drake said to someone behind him. Armen turned to the figure only to feel like he was looking in a mirror. An unsettling mirror. He saw himself but he had cat ears poking out from his dark hair and a grin perpetually cemented onto his face. Instead of hands and feet, he had cat paws with blue stripes and a long tail with the same markings. He wore a pair of brown jeans and a grey shirt, covered by a pale white jacket with two straps securing the piece on his body. He even wore a little silver collar around his neck. Strange, indeed...