"What's taking Gray and Liena so long to get here?" Allison asked. "I don't know. Gray said they'd be here on time," Yamato replied. Yamato, Allison, Terry, and Bull sat at the table in Yamato's house waiting for their friend, Gray, and his little sister, Liena, to show up.
"Maybe they had to do something before coming here," Terry said. "Maybe they stopped for ice cream!" Bull said. "Not quite, Bull," Gray's voice said. They kids turned to see Gray and Liena standing in the doorway. Gray was holding a box in his arms.
"What's in the box?" Allison asked. "Cupcakes!" Liena replied, smiling. "It was Liena's idea to get them," Gray said, setting the box on the table. "There's enough for each of us to have two each," he added.
"They're delicious!" Yamato exclaimed, taking a bite out of one. "Yeah, delicious!" Allison said, smiling. "Glad you guys like them," Liena replied, smiling.
Allison then noticed that Gray was being unusually quiet. "Gray, are you ok? You haven't touched your cupcakes at all," she said. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me," he replied, picking up a cupcake and taking a bite out of it.
Meanwhile, Ababa was watching the group of kids as they ate cupcakes and talked. He then focused in on Gray. "What're you doing Ababa?" Wen asked, watching what Ababa was doing.
"Coming up with a plan to get Cobalt Blade, Chrome Zephyr, Helio Breaker, and Wing Ninja, that's what," Ababa replied, turning to face Wen and his younger brother Li. "So, how are you going to get them?" Li asked. "Allow me to tell you," Ababa said, smirking.
Back at Yamato's house, the kids went outside. Allison and Liena watched as Gray b-dabattled Yamato and Terry b-dabattled Bull. It was always fun to see the boys b-dabattle.
After a while, it began to get dark. "Kids, time to come in!" Yamato's mom called. "Alright, that means it's dinner time!" Yamato cheered. The others laughed as they followed Yamato inside.
When they finished eating, they got ready for bed. "This'll be so great! It's going to be just like a sleepover!" Yamato exclaimed. "Yeah, for you boys. Liena and I are sleeping in another room, remember?" Allison said. "Oh, that's right," Yamato replied.
"If it's ok with you guys, I'd rather sleep in a separate room," Gray said. "Ok, Gray. If that's what you want," Yamato replied, looking confused. Gray then walked off to a room without saying anything else.
When he got inside the room, he closed the door and sat Chrome Zephyr on the small table by the bed. He then took off his cloak, hat, and shoes and placed them next to the bed.
As he was climbing in to the bed, he heard the door open. He turned to see Liena standing there with a glass of water. "I just brought this for you in case you got thirsty," she said, sitting it next to Gray's b-daman.
"Thanks, Liena," he replied, smiling. Liena smiled back and left the room, closing the door behind her. Gray took a sip of water, climbed into the bed, and fell asleep, not knowing who was also in the room.
Once they saw Gray was asleep, Wen and Li smirked. "Time to put phase one of the plan into action," Wen whispered. "Indeed it is, brother," Li said, also whispering.
Chapter 2The next morning, Allison and Liena walked into Gray's room to wake him up. Seeing a lump that was under the covers, the girls assumed it was Gray. "Strange, I thought Gray never slept completely under the covers," Liena said, walking over to the bed.
As Liena went over to the bed, Allison noticed something that looked like a piece of paper tucked under Chrome Zephyr. She picked it up and began to read it. Liena kept trying to wake up Gray.
After seeing that shaking wasn't working, she pulled back the covers and gasped. "Gray's not here!" she exclaimed, seeing only pillows under the covers and not her older brother. "I know. Read this," Allison said, holding out the note she had found. Liena took it and began to read it. It said:
Don't bother trying to figure out why Gray is missing. Ababa ordered us to kidnap him. He says that if you want Gray back, you have to surrender Cobalt Blade, Helio Breaker, Chrome Zephyr, and Wing Ninja to us. The reason we didn't take Chrome Zephyr with us is because we needed some way for you to find this note. So, if you ever want to see Gray again, come to the location below. Later!
Signed, Wen and Li"They kidnapped my brother?" Liena asked in disbelief. "Apparently they did," Allison said. "Let's go get the boys so we can find my brother," Liena stated. "Wait," Allison said, taking the note from Liena and pulling off the card that was stapled to it. It had the location they needed to go to on it.
"Ok, now we can go get the boys up," she said, slipping the card in her pocket. She then went over to the small table next to the bed and picked up Chrome Zephyr. Liena looked confused. "I'm bringing it so I can give it to Gray when we find him, not to give it to the Shadow Alliance," Allison quickly said.
"Oh, ok. Let's go," Liena replied, making her way down the hallway towards Yamato's room. Allison stayed behind for a few minutes, holding Chrome Zephyr close to her. 'Gray, I hope your ok and that we find you soon,' she thought. She then quickly made her way towards Yamato's room.
Meanwhile, Gray woke up in a room that he thought he'd never see again. "Hello, Gray. I see your awake," Ababa's eerie voice said as he stepped out of the shadows. "What am I doing here?" Gray said, glaring at the cat.
"I had Wen and Li kidnap you and bring you here. I want to use you in my plan to get your friends' b-daman," Ababa stated. Gray reached for Chrome Zephyr only to find that he didn't have it with him. 'Great, Chrome Zephyr must still be at Yamato's house,' he thought.
"Now, you will be a good little boy and help me in my plan, right?" Ababa asked, smirking. "Never. I said I'd never work for you again after I freed my sister," Gray replied, continuing to glare. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice," Ababa said, taking his hat off and revealing a third eye.
"Oh no," Gray mumbled. "Oh yes," Ababa said, as the third eye began to glow. Suddenly, Gray's head began to hurt really badly. He grabbed it and began to scream in pain. "I will control you, Gray. You can't stop me," Ababa said, smirking.
Then, Gray stopped screaming and got quiet. He eyes did not look normal, almost like he was in a trance. Ababa put his hat back on and laughed. Wen and Li, who were watching the whole thing, smirked. "I can't wait to see what Ababa does with Gray," Wen said. "Indeed," Li stated.
Chapter 3"You say Gray's been kidnapped?" Yamato asked. Allison and Liena nodded. "Here, read this," Allison said, handing the note to Yamato so he, Bull, and Terry could read it. They quickly read through it and gasped.
"That's terrible!" Bull said. "There must be some way that we can save Gray without surrendering our b-daman to the Shadow Alliance," Terry stated. "We will find a way, you guys!" Yamato said, and the others nodded.
"Let's get dressed, grab some breakfast, and then go find Gray!" Yamato stated. "Good idea!" his friends replied. They then went to get dressed and went downstairs. They explained the situation to Yamato's mom and she agreed to pack them some food to take with them and also some food for them to give to Gray when they found him.
Once they were ready, they left the house and went to go find Gray. "Yamato, your mom did pack plenty of water, right?" Liena asked. "Yep, I made sure of it!" Yamato replied, smiling. "That's good," Liena said. Terry then noticed that Allison was silent and holding Chrome Zephyr close to her.
"Allison, are you ok?" he asked, walking over. "Yeah, I'm fine, Terry. I'm just worried about Gray," she replied. "We all are," Terry said, putting a hand on her shoulder. 'I just hope we find him soon,' she thought.
Meanwhile, Ababa watched the group of kids make their way across the desert. He then noticed that Allison had Chrome Zephyr with her. "Enjyu, can you do me a favor?" Ababa asked the red haired boy who was leaning on the wall behind him.
"What is it?" Enjyu asked, looking at the cat. "Could you go retrieve Chrome Zephyr from that girl so we can give it to Gray?" Ababa said. "Why can't you send Gray to get it himself?" Enjyu asked, standing up straight.
"I don't want them to have contact with Gray right now," Ababa said, smirking. "Fine, whatever," Enjyu muttered, walking out. "I still don't see why I have to do it," he said quietly so Ababa wouldn't hear.
Chapter 4"I'm hungry," Allison said. The others agreed so they sat down to eat. Allison only ate with one hand because she didn't want to put down Chrome Zephyr because right now, it was the only piece of Gray she had.
When they were done, they packed up and continued on their journey. Liena and Allison walked behind the boys. "You have strong feelings for my brother, don't you Allison?" Liena asked in a whisper. Allison blushed. "How'd you know? Is it because I've been keeping Chrome Zephyr close to me?" she replied, also whispering.
"That, and I've seen other signs that you like him. Besides, I think he has strong feelings for you, he just hides it," Liena whispered. Suddenly, Allison was hit in the arm with a b-daball. "Ouch! That hurt!" Allison said, grabbing her arm with one hand and holding onto Chrome Zephyr with the other.
"Just hand over Chrome Zephyr and you won't get hurt worse," Enjyu said, jumping down from the cliff. "Why do you want it?" Yamato asked. "Ababa told me to come get it so he can give it to Gray," Enjyu replied, smirking. "We're going to give it to Gray ourselves!" Allison said.
"Come on you guys, let's get out of here!" Bull suggested, and they all ran off. Enjyu scoffed. "Whatever, I'll get it later. Right now, I guess I'll follow them without them knowing," he said, following after the kids.
Wen and Li watched the group of kids run away from Enjyu. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they see that Ababa is controlling Gray," Wen snickered. "It will be quite interesting," Li agreed.
"It shouldn't be that much longer until they get there," Wen said, smirking. "Yes, since it looks like they're already halfway there," Li stated. "I'd say 'Let's go follow them' but it looks like Enjyu already is," Wen commented, pointing at the red haired boy. "Oh, well. Let's go back and wait for them there," Li suggested. "Good idea," Wen replied, and they both walked off.
Chapter 5The group soon arrived at the entrance to the Shadow Alliance's lair. "It's creepy here," Liena said. "Forget about that. Gray's in there somewhere," Allison stated. "Right, let's go get Gray!" Yamato said. Everyone nodded and walked inside.
Suddenly, two trap doors opened in the floor. Liena and Allison fell down one and Yamato, Bull, and Terry fell down another.
Liena and Allison soon landed on the ground in a dark room. "Come on, let's find a way out of here so we can go find the boys again," Allison said. "Yeah," Liena replied, helping Allison try to find a way out.
"I'm afraid you'll never find an exit," a familiar voice said, as a few candles were lit to spread some light around the room. The girls turned to see who it was. It was Gray, but he looked a little different. But Allison didn't notice; only Liena did.
Allison ran over to Gray and hugged him. "Gray, I've missed you so much! You don't know how worried I was," she said. "Allison, Gray's not himself. Look at his eyes," Liena told her. Allison looked at Gray's eyes and in the dim candlelight saw that they weren't normal.
"He must be under some kind of spell," Allison said. "Give me Chrome Zephyr," Gray commanded. "No. Not until I figure out what is wrong with you," Allison stated. "Come on, Allison! I found a passageway!" Liena called. Allison nodded and quickly followed the younger girl.
'Gray, follow those girls,' Ababa's voice said in Gray's mind. Gray obeyed and quickly followed the girls. "What do you think could be wrong with Gray?" Allison asked, running next to Liena. "I don't know. He looked kind of like how I did when Ababa was controlling me," Liena replied.
"You don't think that maybe Gray is being controlled by Ababa do you?" Allison asked. "I think you may be right!" Liena replied. "We have to figure out a way to get Gray back to normal," Allison said.
Meanwhile, Yamato, Terry, and Bull were b-dabattling against Wen, Li, and Enjyu. Eventually, they won and made their way out of the room. "We have to go find the girls," Terry said. "Maybe if we're lucky, they've already found Gray," Yamato stated. "Let's hope so," Bull said.
Chapter 6Allison and Liena found a door at the end of the passageway. A few candles only lit the room the door led to. "It's dark in here," Allison said, holding Chrome Zephyr close to her. "I know," Liena replied. The two girls began to wander around them room.
Suddenly, they heard voices at the other end of the room. "It is way too dark in here!" Yamato exclaimed. "Oh, don't be such a baby, Yamato," Terry said. "Yamato! Terry! Bull! There you guys are!" Allison exclaimed as she and Liena ran over to them.
"Hey guys! Did you find Gray?" Yamato asked. "Yeah, but Ababa's controlling him," Liena replied. "That's terrible!" Terry exclaimed. At that moment, something swiped Chrome Zephyr out of Allison's hands.
Suddenly, all the lights came on. Looking around, the kids saw Gray standing in the doorway that the girls had come through. They then saw Wen hand Chrome Zephyr to him. "Gray, there you are!" Terry said. Gray laughed.
"Gray's not here right now, but I can take a message," Ababa said, talking through Gray. "Release Gray from your control now, Ababa!" Yamato stated. "I will when I want to," Ababa replied, as Gray walked over towards the b-dastadium. He then walked over to one side of it a got up on a pillar. "If you want me to free Gray, you must b-dabattle him, Yamato," Ababa said. "Fine," Yamato replied, walking to the end of the stadium opposite from Gray.
"But first, let me explain some things," Ababa stated. "As you can see, this stadium is over a really deep pool of water. You see that chain on the wall next to you? Attach it to your ankle now. The chain is attached to an anchor that is hanging from the bottom of the stadium. At the end of the b-dabattle, the compartment with the key for the winner's chain in it will open up and they will have sixty seconds to unlock themselves and escape," Ababa explained.
"But what about the person who loses?" Yamato asked after attaching the chain to his leg. "At the end of the sixty seconds, the pillars that you and Gray are standing on now will disappear and the anchor will be dropped into the water. It will drag the loser down with it and they will drown," Ababa replied.
"That's a terrible thing to do!" Terry yelled. "Don't worry, Terry. I won't let that happen to me or Gray," Yamato said, giving his friends a thumbs up. He then turned back to face Gray and got Cobalt Blade out. "Let's start," he stated. Gray nodded. "Ready, Set, B-dafire!" they both shouted, and they started battling
Yamato wasn't playing to well. 'Direct hit battle is my best game, but I don't want Gray to lose and drown,' he thought. "Yamato, don't worry about beating Gray! We won't let him drown if he loses!" Allison and Liena called. Yamato nodded and started to play better.
Chapter 7The battle continued and Yamato was winning. 'I hope the girls were right. I hope we'll find a way to save Gray if he does lose,' he thought as he sent the finishing shot at Gray. Gray couldn't dodge the shot and he lost. He laughed. "I have no further use for Gray anymore," Ababa said through Gray one last time before Gray's eyes returned to normal and he passed out on the table.
"Gray! Are you ok?" Yamato called. "Yamato, the sixty seconds started already! Free yourself and then go free Gray!" Terry said. Yamato nodded and pulled his key out. He unlocked the chain and climbed on to the table.
He made his way across the long table as fast as he could, but he didn't make it to Gray in time. The sixty seconds was up and the two pillars had disappeared and the anchor had been released. Yamato watched as the unconscious blonde was pulled into the water.
He then made it to the end of the table to get the key for Gray's chain so he could dive down and get his friend, but he found the key wasn't there. He then noticed that Allison had it and she had dove into the water.
"Where'd Allison go?" Liena asked. "I think she dove in to get Gray," Yamato replied. "I hope she can free him in time," Bull said. "We do too," Terry stated.
Allison swam as fast as she could down towards Gray, who was sinking fast. 'Don't worry, Gray. I won't let you drown,' she thought. She had to hurry though because she was running out of air.
Once she made it to Gray, she swam down by his ankles and inserted the key into the lock. She turned the key and the chain released its hold on Gray and fell down into the water. Allison then wrapped one arm around the blonde boy and swam back towards the surface.
Chapter 8Eventually, Allison made it back to the surface. She took a huge breath of fresh air; relieved to feel her lungs fill with it. She kept one arm wrapped around the unconscious Gray.
"Allison, grab my hand! I'll pull you to shore!" Yamato said, holding out his hand. Allison nodded and reached out to grab his hand. Once she did, Yamato started to pull her in. Liena, Terry, and Bull ran over to help him.
Once they had pulled the two back onto dry land, Allison lay Gray down on his back. Liena put her hand under Gray's nose and felt that he wasn't breathing. "He's not breathing. Do you think he's dead?" she asked.
"No, I think he's just water-logged," Allison replied. "How will we fix that?" Yamato asked. "Watch," Allison said. She began to gently push on Gray's stomach in an upward direction.
After a few minutes, Gray began to cough up water. He opened his eyes, but his vision was blurry at first. When it became clearer, he saw Yamato, Terry, Bull, Liena, and Allison smiling at him. "Huh? Where am I?" he asked wearily.
"In the Shadow Alliance's lair, but that's a long story," Liena said. "You can tell me, I don't care," Gray replied as Allison helped him sit up. They explained everything that had happened, including how Ababa had controlled him. They then told him all about the b-dabattle.
"Wait a second, if I lost the battle, then why am I not drowning right now?" Gray asked. "That's because Allison saved you, brother," Liena replied. Gray looked at Allison, who was blushing. "You saved me?" he asked. Allison nodded. "I couldn't stand the thought of losing you because I…I…" she stammered.
"Come on, Allison. You can tell him. I know you can," Liena whispered in her ear. "Ok," Allison whispered back. She then looked at Gray. "It's because I love you, Gray," she told him, continuing to blush.
Gray began to blush himself. "I didn't know that. What's funny is, I've always had a crush on you," he said. Allison smiled and hugged him tightly and he hugged her back.
"Here's Chrome Zephyr, Gray," Yamato said, handing the b-daman to his friend. "Thanks, Yamato," Gray replied, putting Chrome Zephyr in its holder. "I'm so glad you're okay now, brother," Liena said, hugging her brother. "Me too, Liena," Gray stated, hugging back.
"Come on. We should get out of here," Bull said. The others nodded and ran out of the room. "Gray, can you walk?" Allison asked. "I'm not sure. I still feel a little shaky," he replied. "Here, get on my back. I'll help you get out of here," she said. Gray nodded and climbed onto Allison's back. "Now, let's go catch up with the others," she stated.
Chapter 9"There they are!" Terry said, seeing Allison and Gray coming out of the Shadow Alliance's lair. "Come on, let's get back to Yamato's house," Allison stated. "Yeah, let's go," Yamato replied.
Wen, Li, and Ababa watched the kids run off. "You're just gonna let them get away, Ababa?" Wen asked. "Don't worry, I'll come up with another plan to get their b-daman soon enough," Ababa replied, smirking.
Once they were back at Yamato's house, they gave Gray something to eat. "Thanks, guys. I'm really hungry," he said. "While you eat, we're gonna go outside and b-dabattle," Yamato stated. Gray laughed and took a bite out of his sandwich. Liena followed the boys outside. "Where're you going, Liena?" Gray asked.
"To b-dabattle with them," she replied, winking and pulling out her b-daman, Garnet Wind, before walking out. "I think they wanted to give you and me some alone time," Allison said, blushing. "Well, we're not completely alone," Gray stated, pointing at Yamato's mom, who was still in the room. "Oh, I'll just go watch Yamato and the others b-dabattle," she said, slipping out the door.
Allison and Gray laughed. "Gray, when I found out that the Shadow Alliance had kidnapped you, I was really worried," Allison said, blushing. "I would have been really worried if it was you who had been kidnapped," Gray replied, blushing.
Allison smiled. "Thanks, Gray," she said. "No, thank you for saving me from drowning," Gray replied. Suddenly, he kissed her on the lips. Allison's blush darkened, but she kissed him back. They then pulled away and looked at each other. "I love you, Gray," Allison said, smiling. "I love you too, Allison," Gray replied. He then wrapped his arms around Allison and hugged her.