Drake let out a sigh of relief as he joked, “Man that bitch was harder to get rid of then my Ex.” Drake let out a chuckle at his joke as Seth mention, “it’s about time.” He nodded and joked again, “Nothing like the present to beat the ever loving shit out a giant woman.” He seemed cheery on the outside, but on the inside there was a sliver of doubt starting to form in his mind. Would this have gone any easier if I had the Shadow Nexus? Drake thought. He had hoped getting rid of the Shadow Nexus would make things easier, but it seemed without it he wasn’t at his best.

[i]Time Skip[/i]

Drake lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. The thoughts of the last battle still lingering in his head. He had been so focused on wining he didn't see the rest of his group in danger. hell, Seth was flung into the air. he could have helped him, but instead he focused on actually winning then helping his comrades. He sighed when books appeared on the desk in his room.  He sat up and walked over to them. He began reading through them as he took mental notes of everything that might come their way.

“This world sends youths to fight? What twisted kind of place is this,” Drake said to himself before he added, “However, I should be used to this type of crap by now. After all Chrono’s military enlisted kids after all.” He took a deep breath and sighed as he continued to read on about the world. Drake picked up the picture of Prim that was with the books and sighed again. [i]Why must these kids be put through such terminal? They have yet to understand what joys life can bring and yet they’re thrown into someone else’s war[/i]. Drake thought.

[i]Two weeks later[/i]

Drake stood with the rest of the group as they began to head towards the new world. In front of them where space ships and a battle station.  The ship jolted as the firing started and the blasts hit it. Drake stood with his arms crossed and the ship rocked back and forth.

“Oh look. They rolled out the red carpet,” Drake joked. Another shot rocked the ship and Drake had to unfold his arms to keep his balance. A woman’s voice came over the transmission and started in on the usual bad guy (girl) speech and how she was some kind of hunter. He looked around and said, “OK, who’s the one with the crazy Ex? Cause it shirley ain't me.” 

Drake’s watch began to blink orange and Drake looked down before a hologram appeared and he pressed it. Another of the round disks appeared and flew to the front as Drake said, “Now’s not a good time Jinx.” Another explosion rocked the ship just before the hologram started.

Nails looked into the camera and a wicked smile formed on his face as he said, “Then I guess you’re going to have to make time.” Drake tensed up as Nails began, “you see: I have a proposition for you. You see I have someone you want.” His smile grew as he stepped to the side. Behind him, chained to a chair was Prim. There was duct tape over her mouth and a blindfold covered her eyes.  Her body was covered in scrapes and bruises.

“Damn it Nails you sick fuck! She’s got nothing to do with this!” Drake yelled.

“Oh but she does. For you see your little group wants her and so does the people you’re fighting. I wonder how much they’d pay to have her. Cause you know as well as I do Drake. The Red light District in Black Falcon City would pay high for someone like her,” Nails said before he added, “So? Do you want to hear my proposal?”

“I already know what it is,” Drake said before he added, “You want me to come back and in return you’d bring her to us.” Nails shook his head and chuckled.

“Come now Drake. You know that I’m more sadistic than that,” Nails joked.

“At least you admit it,” Drake mumbled.

“You see: I’ll trade one of my hostages for you,” Nails said as he pointed towards Drake

“Hostages?” Drake Asked. Nails smiled before he seemed to pick up the camera and move it towards another woman. She was older then Prim and looked to be in her late 20’s. Her long ruby red hair covered her face as her head hung down. Nails set the camera down and lifted the woman’s head up so they could get a better look at her. The women seemed unconscious as he violently grabbed her hair to lift her head up. she also had scrapes and bruises. however, over her right eye was a large scare in the shape of a lightning bolt.

“Now that you know the stipulations of my proposal. Let’s run down the rules. One: Drake is to come alone. No heroics during our little transaction. Two: Drake is to choose one of these two to be sent back in his place. Three: we all live happily ever after,” Nails said with a smile. The last rule sounded like he was mocking the concept as a whole.

“What happens to the other one?” Drake asked.  

“I kill the one you don’t choose,” Nails said without any remorse. his smile seem to fade as he hissed, “You could have saved them both, but you decided to get rid of the Shadow Nexus. So now you’re only worth one life.” With that the hologram ended.  Drake stood there glaring at where the hologram once was. His hand clenched into a fist as lightning started to spark around it.