Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Gray is not even surprised at his own appearance. He looks exhausted, dirty, bruises covering him, he is smeared in dry blood and generally he looks like he has seen better days, much better days.
Turning to the side, Gray carefully looks over his shoulder to see what the brand mark on his back looks like. At least the tattoo is not as raw and sensitive, it still hurts but he can at least move a lot more.
After catching a glance of his back which looks like there is no natural skin color left, only the color of black, purple and yellow, Gray leaves behind the worry of stretching the skin and properly turns to see.
Gray freezes for a moment as he is looking at a big bat with the yellow eye in the center of his back. At the top from shoulder to shoulder is tattooed, 'Hurricane Gray'. At the bottom of the bat on his lower back are the words 'Shadow Alliance'. It is not even subtle; it is big and bold and out there. He will never be able to remove his shirt in the presence of another person again in his life.
Gray sighs as he turns back. After taking a moment, he switches on the water to take a much-needed shower. It has been over two weeks and the only reason why he is taking a shower is because Ababa threatened to drag him in here and wash Gray himself if he didn't do it right now.
So, Gray is showering while Ababa is literally waiting for him outside the bathroom door. Yes, creepy as hell but Gray is actually just so over it by now.
After showering, Gray dresses in the clean clothes that Ababa brought. Exactly the color he likes and exactly the right size too. He has just stopped being creeped out at these things.
After dressing, Gray stands in front of the mirror again.
Does it look like I have been tortured by the Shadow Alliance?
Gray slightly turns from side to side. Not really, he can still pull it off.
Turning to the side, however, is where the problem comes in. Gray has always loved the shirts with no sleeves. He could feel the movement of the winds better. But with no sleeves, at the right, or wrong angle, you can see the edges of the tattoo. Just great, he will have to change to longer sleeved shirts now.
As Gray opens the door to the bathroom and is about to step out, he freezes. Ababa is standing on the other side of the door waiting for him. Even though he knew Ababa was there, it still caught him off guard.
"Let us go." Ababa then turns and heads for the door.
That moment Gray realizes why Ababa was on his case to take a shower, Marda-B wants to see him.
After a moment's hesitation, Gray follows. As he passes his poncho hanging on the wall, he pauses. He is not sure if he should be completely dressed for whatever they are going to go and see or do.
"You can leave your poncho Gray, you will not be needing it." Ababa speaks over his shoulder and then he pauses for a moment as he gives Gray a look. "You should have stayed in the dirty clothes too." With that Ababa turns and walk out the door.
Huh? What is that supposed to mean? Gray takes a look down at himself and then he follows after Ababa.
"Wait, why make me shower and get into clean clothes. Aren't I supposed to look like I'm being tortured?" Gray asks Ababa under his breath as they pass through dark hallways.
"Hm?" That's all response Ababa gives him.
"Are we not going to see Marda-B?" Gray concludes that he thought wrong.
When there is no response from Ababa, Gray assumes that him talking to Ababa out in the open is a no-no. Well, it always has been. You don't get to talk to Ababa out of turn. That makes Gray wonder why Ababa has been allowing him to get away with it for so long, for over two weeks.
Ababa leads him down the passages of the Shadow Alliance lair. Gray walks up straight, his shoulders back, his head high and with the cold look in his eye that he schooled himself in quite well during his time with the Shadow Alliance. They pass a few robots and people in the halls, but Gray just keeps looking ahead and not making any eye contact.
They arrive at a room and stepping through the doors, Gray's heart immediately takes off to a hundred miles an hour jolt. Like the previous room where he was branded, this room also has something in the middle of it waiting for him. This time only, it is a chair. Like a dentist chair…. with restraints.
Gray catches himself before he makes a sarcastic comment about him not needing any dental care.
"Come now Gray, stalling will not make this go away." Ababa quips up next to him but the menace seems absent from his tone.
Gray looks at the chair like a deer caught in head lights. He cannot possibly just stroll over there and sit down and let himself be tied down. That just does not feel right. He has been taught to fight, to resist. But what if he is overreacting? What if this is just a test to see if he will obey? If it is, then this is a test that he cannot fail.
With that Gray makes his way over to the chair and gets on it.
"Open wide."
It is only then that Gray even notices the man with latex gloves standing next to him. He was so caught up, he did not even see him.
The man looks through his mouth and then lets out a "Mmmm", like he is looking for something. The man then picks up an instrument and then taps is on the back tooth on the top right of his mouth. "This one will do fine."
What does he mean will do fine? It is perfectly fine by itself, it needs nothing.
There appear two other people alongside Gray and that does nothing to make him feel any safer at all, but now it is too late. The chair then buzzes as it tilts back and leaves Gray lying down on this back and staring into a very bright light overhead. At least his back is much better or else this position would have been torture all in and of itself.
The two assistants bring over a side table and a tray is placed on it. From Gray's view he cannot see anything that is on it. As the assistants prepare, through the sharp light shining right into his eyes, Gray can see the man picking up some instrument, but he cannot see what.
The man then turns to Ababa. "The job order says…."
"No anesthetic, Marba-B's orders." Ababa's tone carries over a dreadful fear into the core of Gray.
No anesthetic!?
The man then turns back to Gray and moves in. "This is going to hurt like hell." The man states and at last Gray catches a glimpse of the tool that is moving towards him and to his utter horror, it is a pair of plyers to pull teeth with.
Flat panic suddenly shoots through Gray. No way in hell is he sitting still and obediently for this! He makes his move to evade when he is grabbed by the assistants. The man steps back as with some difficulty the assistants successfully fasten the restraints around Gray's limbs, and he is immobilized and going nowhere.
"I would not be all too calm myself." The man calmly comments and then brings the tool to Gray's mouth.
The restraints may have the rest of his body immobilized but his head is still free, and he turns his head away. The one assistant then takes hold of Gray's head to hold him still, but he fights with everything he has.
"That is it, I cannot work like this. Get one of the robots." The man lets out an irritated sigh.
A few moments later a robot enters the room and comes to stand above Gray's head. Before Gray can even think about turning away, the robot has grabbed Gray's head and turned it back and his jaw is forced open. The robot's grip is solid and not moving an inch, no matter how much Gray tries to fight.
With the blinding light shining into Gray's eyes, the next thing he feels is the man's fingers in his mouth and then something taking a solid grip on that tooth the doctor had pointed out. The man then starts pulling and Gray can feel the tooth sitting solidly where it is. But the man continues to pull and pull until Gray starts to feel the tooth moving, and moving, and moving some more until there is pain. Lots of pain. And then there is a warm liquid feeling in his mouth and then the metallic copper taste of blood.
His blood.
Again.
His head is then turned to the side so that the blood can run out of his mouth so that he does not choke on his own blood. Gray can feel the warm blood running out of his mouth, down the side of his cheek, then his neck and down the clean shirt. So, this is what Ababa was referring to.
"Alright, now for the painful part." The man states in a calm tone as the robot turns his head back and Gray looks straight at a scalpel that is hovering above his mouth.
Panic surges through Gray, what exactly does that mean?! What can possibly be worse?!
Blinding pain shoots through Gray's mouth as he can feel the scalpel cutting into his gums where the tooth has just been pulled out.
Gray gives a choking cough as the blood runs down his throat. His head is then tilted slightly to the side so that the blood runs out of his mouth instead.
"It is a perfect fit." The man comments on the other side of Gray. Gray did not even know that the man is nowhere near him. To him it still feels like he is cutting away in his mouth.
Then Gray feels the fingers in his mouth again. He is startled when there is suddenly a high pitch spinning sound. Moments later Gray is drowned in agony as something is being drilled into his gums and then hits the bone of his jaw.
All that Gray can hear is the blood rushing in his ears and that drilling sound, or is that him screaming blue murder?
The one moment there is pain unbearable and the next there is nothing.
Gray is woken up by excruciating pain on the side of his jaw. It feels even worse than when you get hit in the face, a few times, with an object.
It is a lot of pain.
He lets out a groan as he moves his hand to his cheek. He then stays still, holding his cheek, afraid that any movement might make it worse.
"I suppose it is not 'rise and shine' but rather 'rise and cry'." Ababa's voice suddenly appears next to Gray.
Opening his eyes, he finds Ababa standing next to him, looking down at him. His attention is then drawn to a shaking sound and then Gray spots the bottle of pain killers in Ababa's hand.
Gray screws his eyes shut as he takes a deep breath. He then slowly moves into a sitting position while still holding his hand over his cheek. Looking around him, he finds himself back in his room. Back in his bed that has all clean linen in it unlike the bloodied and smelly ones from when he left in the morning with Ababa.
He does not remember how he got back here.
Flashes of what he remembers last, flies past him and he tries to move his tongue but freezes and screws his eyes closed when the movement of his jaw causes an increase in the pain.
Suddenly the taste of blood is all over his mouth, his teeth, under his tongue, everywhere. Gray swallows and all that he tastes is more blood.
It tells him he has been swallowing blood. His stomach turns at the realization. He might have to throw up.
"Here." Ababa's voice pulls him from his pain induced dazed state.
Ababa is holding out two pills and a glass of water.
Eyeing the water, Gray is not sure if he will be able to swallow, not with this pain. But if he swallows those pain killers then the pain will lessen. Oh great, another conundrum.
A few minutes pass as Gray silently stares at the pills in Ababa's hand. Amazingly, Ababa is being quite patient waiting for Gray to gather himself.
And then the moment comes when Gray takes the pills, carefully slides them into his mouth and then brings the glass of water to his lips. He lets out a groan as he slowly swallows the water. When he is done, he is sure he is feeling something wet on his face. It that tears? Who gave them permission to fall? Or is it sweat?
Again, Gray moves his tongue to feel what has happened in his mouth. To his surprise he finds the tooth that he thought they had pulled out still there. But then when his tongue travels down, he can feel numerous stitches in his gums. Swollen gums. Very painful gums.
"It is insurance." Ababa speaks before Gray can ask what they did.
Gray pulls Ababa a confused face.
"Insurance to make sure that you never betray us again, or at least have a very hard and painful time at it." Ababa answers but the frown on Gray's face only grows.
"It is an implant." Ababa starts to explain. "It has a tracking device in it, meaning that no matter where you are Gray, the Shadow Alliance will always know. There will be nowhere to hide." Ababa pauses and watches Gray's reaction, which is non-existent really. It is probably not sinking in yet.
"And on top of that, it is fitted with an electrode that is connected to your nervous system." Ababa nonchalantly adds as he gestures with his hand.
The expression on Gray's face turns from confusion to a mix of unbelief and horror.
"Don't pull me that face Gray, you were well aware of what the consequences would be when you decided to betray us." Ababa brushes it off and puts the blame squarely on Gray.
Gray wants to snort at Ababa's comment but decided against it. There is no reason to aggravate this pain anymore. Placing his hand over his aching jaw again, Gray closes his eyes to avoid eye contact with Ababa that is busy giving him that glare again.
"Don't sulk too much, you are still getting far less than what Marda-B had planned to make you pay for your betrayal. Needless to say, the payment for your betrayal can only be measured in blood and agony. It would appear that Marda-B still has that in mind."
With that Gray hears the rattle of the bottle of pills and then something lands in his lap. Opening his eyes, he finds that Ababa has dropped the bottle into his lap and has turned to walk away.
"If Marda-B is so intent on making me suffer…" Gray stops and contemplates for a moment and then he looks over to Ababa. "Marda-B does not know that you are giving me pain killers, does he?"
Gray can hear the grin on Ababa's face even before he saw it as he turned around to face him. "What do you think Gray?"
"Why?" Those are the only words that Gray can come up with.
Ababa turns as he gets to the door. "You are a special asset Gray, breaking you completely will just be a waste."
"And change that shirt, it has blood on it." Ababa opens the door.
"Then why did you make me shower and get into clean clothes in the first place?" Gray asks with slight annoyance.
"Because you were starting to smell." With that Ababa leaves.
