4 days into the voyage and Drake was getting a serious case of cabin-fever. He was sitting in his little room, big enough for his needs, writing in a journal he brought; something to record his daily movements and thoughts. He couldn't stand the snugness of the room anymore and left. "Some fresh air might do me good.", he thought. Getting up, he walked through the small interior of the ship and made his way topside. There, he found everyone chatting amongst themselves while working. He didn't see Grayson at the helm like he usually is at this time of day. Nor did he see Mia anywhere, as she was usually checking out all the parts of the ship; the guns, the sails, the decks, she was there immersing herself. Drake chalked it up to some bad timing and just breathed in the salty sea air. The wind was fair today, as it was blowing through his messy, short brown hair.
Despite his dislike of water, Drake had to admit the ocean looked beautiful. The waves crested nicely today and were as blue as his vest. He knew it was his enderman side that despised water. His species had no such thing in their own dimension and whenever they touched water, they felt instant pain, causing them to teleport reflexively. He never had that problem, but he knew that he hated getting wet. And trying to get him to swim, forget it. The topic of endermen in his head turned to his life before Collin had fused with his monster side. Surely, he had a life before that, right? He tried as hard as he could, but nothing surfaced about his past self. The furthest back he could remember was his time in Armen's old house. Deciding that he had no chance of uncovering his past at the moment, he went back to sight-seeing.
"And then all will be well...", a voice half-whispered behind Drake. Drake would've turned to see who was talking, but his training told him to not do that, instead to see with his ears. "Are you sure about that?", another voice said. Drake listened in, the phrase reminding him of an old professional wrestler. "Of course I am! Have I ever led you astray?", the first voice said. "Nah, but... it doesn't seem to sit right with the others.", the second said, his voice carrying worry. "Have faith, my friend.", the first reassured the second. Drake wasn't sure of what he was hearing. Were they planning something? If so, what is it? Drake suspicions were further increased when one of the men noticed Drake in particular. "Well, well. Seems like our esteemed guest has deigned to grace us with his presence.", he spoke. Drake didn't look at him, trying to tune him out. Soon, other ship-mates began noticing the loud-mouthed sailor and began turning their heads. "You should return to your quarters. Top deck's no place for freaks, anyway.", he said, chuckling with his friends at his insult. A small crowd was beginning to gather around the group. Drake analyzed the men, and they weren't all that impressive. One was sitting on a barrel with his arms crossed, while the other two were standing up. They wore common sailor outfits and were a variety of physiques. Two were built slightly better than the third and weren't easy on the eyes either. "Oh, I know. But then, why are you up here?", Drake replied, earning a few 'ooh's' and 'aww's' from the gathering crowd. The man clearly took offense to the statement and figured of only one way to settle the dispute properly. "Think you're funny, huh? Let's see how funny you find this!", he said, raising his fists, preparing to fight. Drake gave no sign of fear, but he was irritated by the man's idiocracy. The third man, the one on the barrel, at least had the common sense to try to talk his friend down. "That's enough, Graves!", he said. Graves simply ignored him, telling him to stay out of it.
Drake got into a fighting position, his own fists raised to defend himself. Graves gave the first swing, which Drake promptly parried out of the way. Drake stayed on the defensive, blocking and parrying attacks. Only one of Graves' punches connected with Drake's face before the latter started to go on the offensive. Meanwhile, Armen was napping on one of the wooden beams above when the commotion started. Awakened by the racket, he turned over to see what was going on and was shocked to see Drake fighting one of the crew members. Drake started with a hard right hook to Graves' face, followed by him grabbing Graves' shirt for a headbutt. A strong punch to the chest sent Graves to the floor. Armen watched in awe as the hybrid took down his opponent in such few strikes. It made him thank his lucky stars for his ability to teleport. While Graves went back to his old spot clutching his chest, another man rose up and began mocking Drake. "Look at this creature here, eh? Thinks he can just waltz on to this ship and declare himself king of the castle?", he said, riling up the crowd. The man on the barrel once again tried to calm everyone down. "Seriously guys, call it off! If the captain sees us-", he said before getting cut off by the new guy. "To hell with the captain! And to hell with you, Mils! Whose side are you on, anyway?" he said. Drake was getting annoyed with these insults and decided to end this fight fast. The man only took one swing when Drake blocked the attack and countered with his own. He began punching the man in the face, his head moving back and forth with each hit until Drake ended his counter-attack with a finishing punch to the jaw.
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...
"I thought it would make you blend in better down here.", the cat-Armen simply replied. Armen walked up a bit to his cat clone and examined him, said cat clone doing the same. They looked at each other, each one mirroring the other perfectly. They brushed their hair back in perfect sync, even parted their lips with their fingers to compare teeth. Drake was himself confused, seeing almost copies of the same person. The only notable differences were the clothing and the other boy's red lightning-shaped scar. "Wait... what's going on here? Why are there two of you?", Drake said, trying to wrap his head around the cat's doppelganger. "An astute question, hybrid. One I share. Both with you and now this wretched feline.", a voice rang through the forest. "Ah, whisker-lickins...", the cat-Armen said. The trio was then encountered by a man that Armen recognized as Luke. Only Luke didn't look how Armen remembered him. The Luke he knew had a ninja-esque appearance. This one was covered in armor with red diamond shapes making up certain pieces. The sword Luke normally kept at his back was now at his hip, and he had a firm grip on it. He had a hat with a penguin face on it, something Armen's Luke didn't wear anymore. "Okay, here's how this is gonna work. Both of you are coming with me, no questions asked, and no one gets hurt. Refuse, and things will get ugly.", Luke said, Armen staring bewildered at the man. "Uhh... Luke? What the hell are you doing?", Armen said, attempting to get some answers. "My job. Now, move.", Luke said. Armen frowned, not willing to comply. "Drake. Cat-me. Go. I'll handle this guy.", Armen said, standing between them and Luke. "Alrighty! C'mon, Drake. Let's go!", Cat-Armen said, before disappearing, his grin staying a bit longer before fading away. "Be careful, other-Armen.", Drake said. "Dude, call me Cross.", Armen said, smiling at the hybrid. Drake nodded before running deep into the forest.
Luke tried to protest against the two leaving but brushed it off. He could track them down later. That Drake was new, anyway. He's not prepared for the madness of Wonderland. "I guess I'll just have to drag your sorry ass to the King himself!", Luke said, drawing his sword. "If he's anything like the Emperor, then let that royal brat eat cake.", Armen said. Extending his hand, he summoned an orange polearm and teleported in front of Luke. The Jack hardly had time to react before the weapon smacked him across the face, the force of the impact sending him flying into a nearby tree. Luke then flash-stepped in front of Armen, his fist curled and reeled back. His punch had a similar effect to Armen's attack, sending the boy flying back. Armen recovered and slid backward until he stopped, dust and dirt kicking up. "Nice tricks. But a lot of people here can pull that crap. Look, kid. My boss isn't a man you wanna butt heads with. So, just come with me and I'll see what I can do to make you more comfortable.", Luke said, his patience wearing thin. "Are you seriously trying to butter me up? Cause buddy, you're not as good as you think you-", Armen said, before being cut off by a pain erupting in his chest. His eyes widened as a dagger pierced his chest, crimson droplets leaking on to the ground. "Not again...", he uttered, remembering that he was shot in the chest once when he let his guard down. "Look what the cat dragged in... a stupid boy trying to play hero. I'll tell you something: the last person that tried to be a hero down here got poisoned and now he's a crazed maniac. The King doesn't like to be kept waiting. Either come with me and get patched up or sit here and die. Either way, you're coming to the palace.", Luke said.
Armen didn't say anything, nothing snarky or sarcastic coming from his mouth. Armen stayed silent as he grabbed the blade's hilt and pulled it away from his chest. "Wh-what are you doing!?", Luke said, surprised at the boy's bravado. "Let me tell you... that hurt... but that was an ant bite... compared to what I'll do to you!", Armen said, both of his eyes a bright red. He held his hand out, X's and glitch particles forming around his hand. "...Where are the knives?", he said in a voice that was not his. A circle of knives formed around his hand before turning into his giant knife weapon. Armen then lunged at Luke, a psychotic grin plastered on his face. He tried to slash at the knight, only for Luke to dodge. Armen teleported as Luke flash-stepped, the knight realizing that he was now in a fight for his life. Luke looked around for the boy, only to barely dodge the thrust from behind. Armen teleported again and Luke dodged his downward swing. The knight drew his bow and readied a five-arrow scattershot. He sent the arrows toward the boy, only for him to slash them all to pieces faster then he could blink. Luke then tried to thrust his blade into his gullet. Armen met his charge and blocked the attack, teleporting into a downward slash. Luke couldn't dodge in time and his sword was shattered into several pieces. Armen didn't relent in his assault. "People like you don't deserve a happy ending!", Armen said, his left eye glowing an ocean blue. Luke was at the boy's mercy as he floated helplessly in the air. His heterochromatic eyes met the mismatched eyes of the boy- no, of the monster that held him. "J-just what the hell are you!?", Luke said, his voice filled with terror as Armen raised the knife. "I AM THE X-EVENT.", said the voice. Before Armen could deliver the final blow, Drake returned and poured all of his magic into an attack. The spell hit Armen directly and he was knocked unconscious.
Back on the Dragoon...
Armen awoke with a start, his limbs flailing and his heart racing. He couldn't believe what that was. That wasn't him... was it? And that power... he never felt such strength. But that voice terrified him. It wasn't his voice. It was probably the monster from his nightmares. The one whose name no one utters. Armen was also confused about the dream. It felt too real, like he was actually there. Armen was calming down, and he would've just gone back to sleep, had it not been for a feeling in his chest. Lifting his shirt, Armen paled at the scar that was now placed where the knife had entered him. "Oh... my... god...", Armen said, his voice quivering. "Where... the hell... did I go?"
And that's Chapter 10. I thought I did a good job on this one, with the fight scenes and all. I wanted to explore the possibility of Cross!Armen accidentally traveling to different dimensions, and the first thing that came to mind was Drake in Wonderland. Also, shoutout to UnlimitedCrazy for letting me use the setting of Drake in Wonderland for this chapter. Another shoutout to UnknownRandoms for the incredible support and criticism. Thanks a lot! To anyone else who has ideas or things that they think I should improve on, leave it down in the comments or PM me. I'm always willing to listen. Anyways, yeah. Drake and Armen shared a little moment and Armen is now terrified of himself. My work here is done. Have a nice day everybody!