A groan escapes Gray as he starts to regain consciousness.
Through blurry eyes he tries to make out where he is, but everything is dark. Gray blinks his eyes and he wince as the wounds on his face pull. Swallowing, he can taste the blood in his mouth.
Gray suppresses a groan as he tries to move but he finds that his movements are restricted. Is he chained?
Feels familiar.
Gray tries to move himself up when a foot on his back violently shoves him back to the ground.
A suppressed yelp of pain escapes his lips, and he takes a deep breath to get the pain under control. And then a voice cuts through the silence, a dark sinister voice.
"You can let him up." A familiar voice. "He's done fighting."
Gray looks into the direction where the voice is coming from, and his eyes meets with Ababa's.
"He has proved his point." Ababa speaks like he knows exactly what is going through Gray's mind.
Well, it's not surprising, Ababa just about always knew what Gray was thinking.
Taking a deep breath, Gray pushes himself up into a sitting position with much difficulty as one can expect being chained hand and foot. He then leans against the wall or whatever it is next to him for support.
"Ababa." Gray acknowledges him in a weary tone. He was going to give him a sarcastic comment but decided that it's probably wise not to make his dire situation any worse than what it already is.
Gray is just about to spit the blood out of his mouth onto the floor and Ababa's feet but decided that too will only make things far worse for him, so he swallows it instead.
A wicked grin spread across Ababa's face as he watches Gray. "Marda-B has summoned you."
"No duh." Gray says under his breath. What else would he be doing here, this is the moment he has been waiting for, for the last three years. He almost feels like asking Ababa what took them so damn long.
"Oh Gray, we are going to have so many wonderful times together." Ababa mocks with a grin.
"I can't wait." It slips out before Gray can catch himself but it's too late.
A snicker with an under tone of malice is all he gets for an answer.
Then there's silence for the rest of the way. Gray just hopes that this ship didn't draw too much attention and that Yamato and the gang didn't see anything. It'll be better if he just one day disappeared and doesn't turn up and nobody knows why or where he went.
Yes, they will be worried and look for him and when they can't find him, they may conclude that he left out of his own and then they'll be angry. And hopefully that'll keep them all ignorant and unaware of what is really going on and where he really is.
It's better that they stay away and stay out of his business. It's the only way they will be safe.
There's a shake of the ship and then a few moments later a voice over the intercom informs them that they have arrived.
"Bring him." Ababa orders as he turns and heads for the door.
A moment later Gray grits his teeth in pain as he is roughly seized by the arms by two robots and then they start dragging him behind Ababa. Nothing can be done but just to let himself be dragged along behind his former evil mentor to his former evil master.
Well, former until this morning. That depends if he lives through this.
As Gray is being dragged through dark hallways, the feeling of familiarity dawns on him. All of the Shadow Alliance's liars looks like this. During his time with the Shadow Alliance he has been to a hand full of them. The last one went up in smoke, no doubt a result of his betrayal and one he will dearly pay for. But just how many of these liars does the Shadow Alliance have?
After being dragged down dark hallways, they get to a room. Ababa stops in the middle of the room and then the two robots drop Gray onto his knees and leaves. Gray takes a breath in horrifying anticipation. He knows what this room is.
A moment later a purple hue forms in the room and then there's a flash.
"Ababa." The voice is dark and deep, just like Marda-B's voice has always been. Still the very same Marda-B.
"I have brought you the traitor that you have summoned." Ababa gives a bow and then gestures to Gray.
"Gray." Marda-B drawls out Gray's name in a dark sinister tone and it makes his skin crawl. Nobody wants their name to be said in such a manner, it is what nightmares are made of.
"Marda- .." Before Gray can say the name properly, he is shoved forward by Ababa to bow.
"Is it master Marda-B to you!" Ababa's voice is next to him, strong, commanding and carries every color of a threat.
Gray falls forward until his forehead is resting on the cool floor beneath him. The injuries he got isn't helping in this position and he takes deep breaths to calm the pain.
Then there's silence. Gray knows Marda-B is waiting for him to acknowledge him as his master. And no matter how much he would like to be rebellious; he knows it's going to come to that point sooner or later and the sooner the less pain and suffering is going to be involved.
"Master…." There's a slight tremble in Gray's voice and then he pushes himself back up so that he is sitting on his knees, but he holds his head high. "Marda-B."
Gray has a plan; he has been honing this plan for a long time and now would not be the time to mess it up.
The plan is to bargain.
His life for everyone else.
First his sister's freedom and safety.
Then Yamato and the rest of the gang with Wen and Lee. And even Enjyu.
That's why he has been training so hard, that's why he fought when they came to take him. He didn't fight for his freedom or to escape them. He took down as many as he could, and he did it to show that he is worth the trade for the others.
"Welcome home." Marda-B's dark voice drawls. "Hurricane Gray."
A cold chill runs up Gray's spine.
Welcome home.
It's said that like this is where he belongs and then the name, the name Hurricane Gray. That's the nickname that Marda-B gave him. How little everybody else knows that.
"So, what do you have to say for yourself?" Ababa urges him but he's not sure what Ababa wants him to say. Usually Marda-B speaks while you keep silent - so he does.
A short silence is broken by Marda-B's voice. "Hmm, Gray you have been training very hard for a very long time."
Gray is suddenly cut to the core as he realizes that the Shadow Alliance has been watching him for a long time. But why only make a move now?
"Why?" Marda-B tone turns to a suspicious one. "Did you perhaps come to a delusion that you could stop the Shadow Alliance, that you could defeat me?!" Marda-B' raises his voice and Gray can feel the ground beneath him vibrate or perhaps it's just him trembling.
"Never." Gray hastily answers before this goes any further. "I would never deceive myself with such a silly notion. I know that you cannot be defeated, I know that the Shadow Alliance cannot be stopped." It pains Gray to say this but it's the truth, he's not deceived about that.
"Then explain your intentions then." Marda-B's tone is calmer but still threatening.
"So that I can be worth it." Gray takes a deep breath and admits as he drops his eyes to the floor.
"Worth what?" Marda-B's tone has an edge of impatience in it.
"Worth everyone else." Gray lifts his eyes and looks to Marda-B, well the yellow glowing hovering eye anyway.
"What do you mean?" The tone in Marda-B's voice just got darker, clearly telling Gray that he is now treading on dangerous grounds. No one gets to bargain with Marda-B.
"Lienna, Wen, Lee and Enjyu." Gray wonders if he is bargaining in the right manner here. He doesn't want to mess this up. There's only one shot at this and then there will be a final decision that'll change everything.
"Enjyu! Another traitor! You think that you are better than Enjyu?" Marda-B is still very angry about what happened three years ago. Well, it's understandable that Marda-B would be furious about Enjyu's betrayal, he was after all their poster boy. They could expect betrayal from Gray but not from Enjyu.
"He couldn't even defeat Yamato." Gray quickly changes the subject. He really doesn't want to face Enjyu, for a number of reasons and he suspects that Enjyu wouldn't bda-battle him for exactly the same.
"Neither could you. Something that you failed at more than once!" Marda-B points out. It was a simple task to go and defeat Yamato and bring back Cobalt Blade to Marda-B. But instead, he allowed Yamato to get too close, he allowed himself to make a friend out of his enemy. A mistake he will never make again. But in the end, things didn't turn out too bad. Well, not at the moment but this moment may turn all of that on its head.
"I'm not a power player." Gray uses it as a legitimate excuse.
"Nonsense! Power has nothing to do with it! You're a Shadow Alliance member, you would've defeated Yamato if you behaved like one!" Gray slightly shrinks back at Marda-B's outburst, he is just short of furious.
"Enjyu most certainly behaved like it and that didn't do him any good either." Gray responds but realizes that he is on thin ice to argue with Marda-B, period.
There's a low chuckle and then Marda-B starts laughing a dark evil laugh. This makes Gray very very nervous. No doubt he'll be hearing it in his dreams for months to come.
"Alright Gray. I'll play your little game but only this once. What is it that you are getting at?" Marda-B stops laughing and then addresses Gray but with a rather threatening tone.
Gray takes a deep breath. This isn't something small that he is doing here, this is his life on the line and well, everybody else's too.
"My freedom for theirs." Gray simply states, he has made up his mind.
As there is no response, Gray continues. "Firstly, my sister, her freedom and safety." Gray gives a slight pause; he doesn't want to push his luck and blow the whole thing.
"And then Yamato and the gang, Terry, Bull and Mie." Gray names specific names just so that there's a clear understanding of who he is talking about.
Gray can hear a low snarl from Ababa just behind him, but he just ignores him. And when there still is no response from Marda-B yet, he continues. "And then also Wen, Lee and Enjyu."
Again, there's silence and so Gray uses the opportunity to make his intentions clear. "As long as they're all free and safe from the Shadow Alliance, I'm all yours."
Marda-B makes a low growling noise that makes Gray think that he is going to get the short end of the stick here. "Wen, Lee and Enjyu. Why would you do anything for those traitors? Especially Enjyu, it is no secret that the two of you despise each other."
"I'm getting rid of the competition." Gray uses it as an excuse as to why he doesn't want them back in the Shadow Alliance. From a Shadow Alliance perspective, that makes perfect sense.
Again, Marda-B gives a short growling laugh of being entertained. "Oh Gray, you never had any competition."
Gray's mind catches a wobble at Marda-B's words and maybe his heart just skipped a beat or few. What does he mean by that? Did Marda-B just give a complement of admiration? Or is it perhaps something else that he missed?
"Who do you think you are to bargain with Marda-B!" Ababa next to him suddenly starts to shout at him.
"Ababa!" Marda-B's dark voice silences him on the spot and Ababa freezes. Not even he gets to say what he likes here, and he is well reminded of it. And it also reminds Gray that he has spoken far to freely with Marda-B. Why would he allow it?
"I tell you what Gray. I accept your terms…" The way Marda-B says it tells Gray that he's not going to make it that easy. ".. but only on my terms."
Of course.
There's another awkward silence and Gray feels it's his turn to say something.
"What would you have me do? … Master." Gray slightly bows forward and adds 'master' into the conversation just to show that he is serious about it.
"For every one of them that you defeat in battle and bring me their bdaman, I will grant your request." The way Marda-B says it makes it sound like it is carved into stone and it can never be revoked.
Gray's heart just about stops, he didn't expect this. He's going to have to go back there, face them, battle them, defeat them by any means necessary and then take their bdaman as well and then worse – hand it to Marda-B.
"But Gray, you will be doing it was a fully-fledged member of the Shadow Alliance and nothing less will be expected of you. Do you understand me?" Marda-B's voice just about sinks to the bottom of his heart and suddenly the temperature in the room has dropped but somehow Gray is sweating.
Taking a deep breath, Gray slightly bows forward again. "Yes Master, as you wish."
"But Gray…."
Just great, he knew that Marda-B wasn't finished.
"…just keep in mind, if you were to fail at defeating one of them even once, then our deal is off. And then you will be responsible for their punishment and enslavement to the Shadow Alliance for all the days of their lives." Marba-B's voice drawls out in a low dark tone and heavily laced with threat that he will carry out by any means necessary.
Again, Gray is shocked to the core.
What has he done!?
Did he really think that he could bargain with Marda-B? What if he can't defeat them? He will be solely responsible for their lives falling into the hands of the Shadow Alliance.
He can defeat the others maybe, but sometimes they have a way of pulling through against the odds. Even Enjyu, he's not sure if he's got what it'll take to defeat him, Enjyu is far to fierce. But Yamato? Can he defeat Yamato?
This feels like Déjà vu. Right back to where this all started in that silly cat café on a cool summer's night.
But what about Lienna?! Must he also defeat her in the same manner? How will he be able to do that to his sister?!
"Well Gray, do we have an agreement?" Marda-B asks.
Gray's heart is racing, he's pushed into a corner, one he cannot back out of. There's only one way now, and that's forward.
After a few more deep breaths, there's a groan and Gray pushes himself onto his feet and then slightly bows with his hands still chained behind his back. "Yes, master Marda-B."
"I'll even make you a friendly gesture and make your sister the exception only. Her freedom for yours. The others however, you will have to defeat in battle, strip them of their title and their bdaman and then only will I grant your request." Marda-B gives a low chuckle.
"I look forward to you bringing me the bdaman of your former friends." Marda-B puts dark emphasis on friends like he is warning Gray to not ever do that again. Not to ever make the mistake of making friends again.
"Now get out of my sight! You're bleeding all over my floor!" Gray's skin crawls and the feeling to cower washes over him as Marda-B suddenly raises his voice and shouts at him.
Only problem is that his feet are chained together, he can't move a step. An image of him hopping out pops into his head.
The next moment the room goes dark as the eye disappears and Gray visibly let's out a nervous breath he has been holding. He drops his head in a moment of relief and then only does he see the blood on the floor. His blood. This situation was so intense that he forgot about the pain, the wounds and that he is bleeding.
He realizes that it's silent around him and he turns his head to see where Ababa is. He finds Ababa still standing just behind him and he is glaring at him.
"What did you expect me to do? Roll over and play dead?" Gray gives a good sarcastic response to the glare.
"Unchain him!" Ababa sudden shouts in something that can be interpreted as anger and then gestures towards him.
A robot appears and then roughly removes his chains and Gray starts rubbing his wrists to get the blood flowing again.
"Let's go." Ababa commands and then turns and walks out the room with Gray following behind him with a limp. He sure hopes that Marda-B isn't expecting him to get to it right away, he's going to need time to heal and recover.
They go through a few hallways and then they start going down into the basement. Gray is sure that he is being taken to the good old dark dungeons where he will be kept and only let out when needed, like what it used to be in the beginning.
Gray decides that he's in it knee deep now, and he may as well push Ababa's buttons while he still can. "Disappointed that I didn't beg?"
He is met with silence and Gray is sure that Ababa will be saving that one and get back at him when he least expects it.
They enter through a door and Gray is met with bright lights and the strong smell of antiseptic.
In the middle of the room there is a steel table with restraints.
"You might just be begging sooner than what you thought Gray." Ababa responds as he gestures to some robots in the room.
"This does not look like the infirmary." Gray dryly comments.
The next moment he is grabbed and being dragged towards the table.
"I thought we have established that I can walk by myself!" Gray tries to fight his way out of their grip but to no avail.
Gray is still in pain from his injuries, some of which is still bleeding, he hurt his damn ankle again, he is dizzy and not to mention scared out of his wits from his just so recent encounter with Marda-B.
When they get to the table, Gray's shirt is without warning pulled over his head and discarded onto the floor. Before he can protest, he is lifted and pushed down onto the cold steel table on his stomach. Before he can make out what's going on, he is tied down and restrained.
"What is this!?" Gray demands.
"This is the signature to the contract." Ababa calmly explains.
A table is rolled over into Gray's eyesight as he is still trying to get free.
"In ink." Ababa adds as something is placed down on top of the table.
Gray stares at it for a few seconds before it sinks in what is about to happen.
Another robot comes into view and starts preparing the equipment with a vial with purple liquid in it and hands it to another robot. He then picks up another piece of equipment and adds a vial of yellow liquid and then another with black liquid. That's the trademark colors of the Shadow Alliance. Purple, yellow and black.
They are going to mark him as property of the Shadow Alliance.
Property of Marda-B.
A sharp smell of disinfectant fills the air as something wet is being wiped over Gray's back. He lets out a hiss of pain as it is wiped over some minor cuts and some bruises on his back from the battle. That will only make this exercise more torturous than what it had to be.
Gray's whole back is being disinfected and he wonders just how big is this mark going to be?
Shortly after, the buzzing starts. Gray screws his eyes shut in anticipation of the pain that he knows is coming. And just like on queue a stinging pain starts piercing his skin. And to be honest, it is far worse that what he thought it would have been.
And then another buzzing starts and then there is another place on his back where there is a piercing pain and then a third buzzing sounds starts.
Perhaps Ababa was right, he will be begging sooner than what he thought.
By the time they are done it felt like it has been hours. The buzzing stops and then moments later he is untied but he stays down. His entire back is on fire and covered in a warm substance that he can only guess to be his blood seeping through the skin. They literally marked him from shoulder to shoulder all the way down to his lower back.
When Gray gets enough courage together, he pushes himself up as he lets out a painful groan.
This pain is far worse than what he had before, and he does not even feel any of the other injuries.
Gray lets his feet hang down the side of the table as he has the edge gripped with his hands. He is taking deep breaths and he wants to wipe the tears flowing freely from his eyes, but he is not too sure if it will be worth the pain of movement.
Gray opens his eyes as a shadow falls over him. When he opens his eyes, he looks straight at Ababa and Ababa just glares at him with those sinister eyes like he is getting a kick out of this.
"You got off easy Gray, Marda-B had far worse things planned for you." Ababa informs Gray of the bullet that he dodged. "Well, that's if you can deliver your end of the bargain. Because if you fail this one Gray, it will be far worse, not just for you but for everybody else that you're trying to protect."
By now Gray has closed his eyes again and is concentrating more on the pain then Ababa's threats.
A bottle with something in it is rattled in front of him and when he opens his eyes again Ababa is holding out a bottle of what he assumes is pain pills and a glass of water.
Gray looks from the pills to the water and then at Ababa with suspicion. What is he being nice for?
"Come now Gray, take it." Ababa gives a sly grin and there is a hint of mock in his tone. "We're going to be working together a lot, it's better for us to stay on good terms with one another."
Gray only glares at him.
Ababa gestures again for Gray to take it.
Eventually Gray grimaces as he reaches out towards the glass of water. As soon as he takes the water, Ababa takes the bottle of pills back.
He knew Ababa was up to no good. But to his surprise, Ababa opens the bottle and lets two pills fall out into the cap which he then holds out to Gray.
Again, Gray watches Ababa. "Come now Gray, we don't have all day." Ababa's tone is impatient.
Taking a deep breath Gray reaches out and hisses as the movement is causing the skin on his back to stretch. Gray then holds onto the pills not sure if he really wants to move anything else.
"Suck it up Gray! This is far less than what you would've suffered if it wasn't for your brains and wit." Ababa is clearly getting impatient now.
So that's exactly what Gray does. He sucks is up, throws the pills into his mouth and then downs the glass of water in one go. As soon as he pulls the glass away from his lips, he is back to taking deep breaths to get the pain under control. He may not be crying but the tears are just freely running down his cheeks of their own accord.
Clearly his body has had enough.
When Gray has settled down again, Ababa starts walking to the door. "Come let's go."
Gray turns his head to look at Ababa. Really? Right now?
Ababa just keeps glaring at him and then Gray eventually slips off the table, slowly and carefully. When he is on his feet, he looks at his black shirt lying on the floor. There is no way he is going to bend down for it. Never mind pulling it over his head and most certainly not touching any part of his back.
That means…. that means that he'll be marched through the liar of the Shadow Alliance like he is now with no shirt for everyone to see that he has been marked as property of the Shadow Alliance, property of Marda-B.
"You can leave that Gray; you're not going to need it anytime soon." Ababa assures Gray and then opens the door.
Gray turns stiffly so that he does not pull the skin on his back. He can literally still feel warm blood running down his back. His white pants are ruined, he will never get the blood stains out.
As he makes his way over to the door, he takes a glance at the table he was tied to, and it is smudged with blood and ink. It looks like someone was tortured on that table.
Well actually, he was.
After following Ababa through a few hallways and getting some looks and whispers from those they passed, they arrive at a room.
"Home sweet home Gray." Ababa opens the door and gestures for Gray to enter.
Gray steps into a room with no windows. Well, it is better than the dungeons, well without the bars and chains at least.
Ababa makes his way over to the table and places down the pills and another bottle of disinfectant. "You've got to disinfect that at least twice a day or you'll get an infection."
Gray does not say anything, he just wants to be left alone now. With that, Ababa leaves and when the door close and Gray is left by himself, he continues to stand where he is without moving. He wants to lie down but he will only be able to lie on his stomach if he gets into that position and if he sits, it'll only pull the skin even more.
So Gray remains standing for quite some time until he feels the pain killers kicking in bringing some relief. Making his way over to the bed, he carefully lies down on his stomach.
Gray lets out a sigh of relief. He is so tired right now. Tired, exhausted, hungry, terrified, in pain and relieved all in one. Relieved that he has actually pulled it off but terrified that he may fail to pull this trick off completely to the end.
Looking at the bedside table next to him is his bdaman. And looking over to where there is a table and chair, his poncho is hanging over the chair. At least they are not holding his stuff hostage.
As he looks at Chrome Harrier he recalls how Bull built it for him. He even engraved his name on it just like he has always had his bdaman.
But that is going to have to change. He is going to have to strip his bdaman down and change it back to Chrome Zephor. He cannot defeat his friends with the same bdaman that they built for him. And Chrome Zephor is the one that he has always used when he was with the Alliance. It is only fitting to change back to it.
He better start working on a plan and strategy. Marda-B was most gracious with him to allow him to speak so freely with him and then even allow him to propose a bargain. And then Marda-B agrees. Well on his terms but still.
Marda-B will expect him to do what he has promised as soon as possible. So he'll have to get on the move and start working on how he's going to defeat his friends….his former friends as Marda-B puts it.
They can no longer be his friends, he belongs to Marda-B and he will tell him what he can and cannot have.
Gray closes his eyes as he relaxes. At least Lienna is out of the Alliance's crosshairs and safe. If anything, he has accomplished his main goal, he can give himself a pat on the back.
Wen, I leave my sister in your hands now.
With that, Gray falls asleep.
