The thing that Gray is aware of before he is even aware that he is conscious, is pain.
Lots of pain.
He lets out a groan as he catches up to his own consciousness.
It feels like his head is going to explode.
Then he remembers.
He remembers the battle with Enjyu and how it ended. That moron rammed his head straight into a stone pillar. That explains why his head feels like this.
But when Gray tries to bring his hands up to cradle his aching head, he realizes that he cannot move.
Gray forces his eyes open, the room spins and then slowly things start coming into focus. It's dark and dingy, it's the dungeons, Gray knows it so well. He can almost say it feels like home.
"Where am I?" Gray's weak voice can be heard echoing in a stone room.
After blinking some more and fighting down the nausea, Gray eventually makes out his surroundings. It is not that hard to figure out, he is so familiar with this place.
The dungeons. He was right.
And that probably explains why he cannot move, he is probably chained.
When Gray eventually figures which way is up, and which way his hands are facing, he slowly tilts his head up to see his wrists bound in chains above his head and the rest of his body dangling a few inches from the floor.
Gray gives another groan as he realizes at this point, in what agonizing pain his shoulders and wrists are. He wonders how long he has been hanging here in this position.
Quite some time later, Gray has taken stock of his surroundings and the state that he is in. He can feel the caked blood on his forehead and side of his face, running down his neck and under his shirt. And of course the wound that Enjyu had inflicted on him is screaming in an intense burning sensation. The wound had not been cleaned or disinfected and therefore it is now infected, badly.
His feet are also cold, meaning that he has no shoes on.
After what felt like hours, a door creaking open draw Gray's attention.
Two men appear, and Gray recognize them as the two that had cleaned and stitched up his infected arm when he first came here.
And just like before, they clean the wound on Gray's forehead, not gently at all and Gray gives suppressed groans of pain with every touch. They then stitch the wound closed without using any anesthetic, so of course this just intensifies his torture even more.
When they are done, they leave Gray hanging in sheer agony.
Again, after what feels like hours again, the door opening draws Gray's attention and he almost feels relieved not to be left alone like this anymore, that is, until he sees Ababa coming into view.
Ababa's expression is not a happy one and for some reason Gray can immediately tell that his day is about to get a lot worse than what it already is.
There are the sounds of movement in the room, telling Gray that they are not alone.
Then the door opens again and moments later two robots place a table in front of Gray and his heart immediately drops when he sees what is mounted to the table.
A bench vice.
Memories of his last encounter with a bench vice, jumps back into his mind with the most vivid feeling and pain accompanying them.
The last time he was in this exact same position was when he disobeyed a direct order of Marda-B's. That was years before he even met Yamato, so his rebellion had nothing to do with the gang.
"What did I do?" Gray's voice is weak and rough.
"You betrayed us." Ababa answers as he is still standing in front of Gray watching him with those sinister eyes.
"No, I didn't, Enjyu….." Gray immediately defends himself but then he realizes that this has nothing to do with his match with Enjyu, it has to do with his betrayal years ago when he jumped ship to Yamato's team.
"Right." Gray confirms with a sigh as he drops his head. The stinging pain in his head does not even distract him from his current reality.
When a firm pair of hands take hold of his left foot, Gray goes into panic mode.
"No wait!" Gray shouts out and tries to pull away, but the robot that has his foot has a solid grip.
Gray knows that they are going to do to his left ankle, just like Marba-B ordered years ago that they do to his right ankle. Put it in the bench vice and tighten it until his ankle snaps in a few places.
It was the worst pain he had ever experienced in his life. They had to fix it with pins and screws, it took forever to heal and even longer before he could properly run on that foot again. Ever since then his ankle had always given him trouble.
"No!" Gray shouts out again when the other robot takes hold of his right foot and then forces his foot still in the vice until it tightens enough to hold Gray's foot and the robot can let go and steps away.
"It is this one, right?" The voice of the doctor that pulled his tooth out, draws Gray's attention and then the man appears.
"Yes, his right foot." Ababa confirms.
"Just making sure, don't want to accidently break the wrong ankle." The doctor confirms and then Gray can hear him moving something around behind him.
Gray keeps his frown and confusion to himself. His right ankle cannot break anymore. The ankle gave so much problems that they eventually just replaced his ankle with metal.
"Right." The doctor then appears with a white cloth and Gray can clearly smell the disinfectant on it. "Let's get you ready."
The doctor then wipes the bottom of Gray's foot that is in the vice. When he is done, the doctor disappears again behind him.
"My apologies, but again, no anesthetic." There is no trace of apology in the man's voice.
The doctor then appears in Gray's sight again holding an iron that is glowing red with the letters
'MARDA-B.'
"Marba-B's orders."
Before Gray can get a chance to speak, or scream or even beg, his world goes up in flames as the hot searing iron is pressed to the bottom of his foot.
The last thing Gray remembers is hearing his own agonizing screams.