I have always pictured Kevin from the English dub, as Kia and as a girl. So, that's the way it is.
"Guys it has been weeks, and nothing has happened, no trouble, no Shadow Alliance, no nothing." Terry speaks up as he is sitting in the window looking out and keeping watch.
"Terry is right, what do you think is going on?" Yamato looks over to Wen and Lee. As they come from the Shadow Alliance, surely, they have some clue about their strategies.
"Usually when there was a delay, it was always because they were waiting for something." Wen answers.
"Like what?" Yamato asks.
"They could be preparing for something….." Wen is cut off when Lee speaks up next to him. "Or watching us." Everyone looks to Lee who is staring into a bda-ball he is holding in his hand. "That is what I did."
"So, they could be watching us right now?!" Terry jumps in from the window and shuts it.
"It is a possibility." Lee answers but keeps staring at the bda-ball.
"Perhaps, I have a plan." Everybody turns their attention to the stairs where Akylas and Shin is sitting. "They may be waiting for an opportune time, when we are not all assembled together and have strength in our numbers. They may be waiting for us to split up before they strike." Shin calmly explains.
"Are you suggesting that we do a fake split up to lure them out?" Wen asks as he catches on to what Shin is suggesting.
"Exactly." Akulas is the one to confirm the plan.
Gray again is standing in front of the mirror. It has now been another three weeks. His back is just about healed and the same can be said for this mouth. Though he is sure that if he were to take a punch on that side of the face, he will definitely be in a lot of pain.
He brushes his hair out of his face, squares his shoulders and takes a deep breath. He actually cannot believe that he has actually made it this far and he is still in possession of this life and sanity.
He has at this current moment some measure of freedom, verses being chained up in the dungeons. He has food to eat every day, clean clothes, a warm bed to sleep in, he is not being driven like a slave and of course the pain killers that Ababa gives him has been a great help.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Gray pulls on his boots. Brand new boots, just his colour, size and shape. He then throws his poncho over him and pulls it right. With that he notices that it is a brand new poncho. The other one was torn, worn through and had a hole or two. He then comes to stand in front of the mirror and looks at himself.
Gray makes sure that he pulls the 'shadow alliance' face as he studies himself. His eyes then stop on the emblem of the Shadow Alliance on his poncho. Gray sighs deeply, here we go. Time to go and pretend to be somebody he is not.
With that the door behind Gray opens and without having to turn around, he already knows who it is. He is about to give Ababa a sarcastic comment about knocking when he decided against it.
Gray then turns around and faces his mentor.
"Let's go Gray. Marda-B demands your presence." Ababa turns and Gray follows.
They enter the room where they went the first time Gray met with Marda-B upon his return. When they step into the middle of the room, there is a purple hue glowing and then a burst of light. With that both Ababa and Gray drop into a kneeling position.
Everything inside of Gray is screaming, he does not want to be bowing to Marda-B or anyone else for that matter. But now is the time to play the part.
"Ababa, I see you have brought Gray." Marda-B's voice vibrates through the room and a chill runs up Gray's spine. No matter how many times he has been addressed by Marda-B, he just cannot get used to it.
"Indeed, he is good and ready to follow your orders." With that Ababa gestures to Gray.
"Gray." Again, that deep dark and very creepy voice vibrates into the very core of Gray.
"Yes master."
"I find it fit that as Enjyu is the one who committed the greatest crime by betraying me, he will be the first one that you will crush and bring me his bdaman." The tone in Marda-B's voice clearly tells of his displeasure with Enjyu.
"As you wish." Enjyu really was the one Gray wanted to avoid as long as possible, but he is given no choice here. He better step up to the plate.
"Good, by the end of the day, I want his Kaizer Chan…." There's a moment's pause and Gray can just tell that there is something coming that he won't like. "….with his blood on it." Marda-B's voice turns cold and it ices its way into Gray's heart.
"As you wish." Gray repeats his previous affirmation of the order. He really cannot come up with anything else. He is struck by this order of having Enjyu's blood on his bdaman. Surely, Marda-B is not meaning kill him? If it is, then there is going to be a major problem because that is something that he cannot do. Take someone else's life.
"I want Enjyu to live with the humiliation of defeat and being stripped of his bdaman."
Somehow Marda-B threatening tone brings great relief to Gray. At least he does not have to kill him.
Gray gives a nod in agreement.
"Now go." With that the purple hue disappears from the room and it is only Gray and Ababa left alone.
Mie who got stuck on the other side of the mountain continued on with her shopping like it was no big deal.
"Mie!" Turning around she finds Kia running over to her.
"Kia, I didn't expect to see you here." Mie greets all cheery. She is fond of the little girl and she enjoyed having her around. "Where have you been?"
"We have been preparing." Kia answers all happily.
"Oh, for what?" Mie asks.
"To be the best bdaplayers of course!" Kia smiles up at Mie. "So, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to collect some supplies for the café but the mountain pass had collapsed, and I'm stuck on this side of town until the path has been cleared."' Mie who has been gone since before the Shadow Alliance showed up and took Gray, are completely ignorant of the situation.
"Where are you staying?" Kia asks with some worry.
"The man down at the hotel is nice enough to give me a place to stay in return of me cooking in the kitchen." Mie explains.
"Ok, well I'll see you around." With that Kia sprints off towards the park where she just saw Enjyu taking a seat.
"You're back!" She exclaims as she finds Enjyu sitting on one of the parks benches busy fiddling with his bdaman.
After Kia tells him about Mie, Enjyu is deciding between ignoring her presence in the same town or just moving to the next and avoid her completely. She is the mother of the one he wants to defeat in battle.
As Enjyu is sitting at the picnic bench with Kia sitting across from him, something catches his attention and then he looks up, he spots Gray walking over to them.
Enjyu watches Gray.
He watches the expression or lack thereof on Gray's face.
He can tell it is not Gray's happy face.
He can tell that this is no friendly meeting, something else is going on here. This is trouble.
That's when he spots the Shadow Alliance's emblem on Grays poncho. Nope this is definitely not going to be a happy meeting.
Getting to his feet, Kia looks up and when she sees the serious look on his face, she then turns around to see what he is looking at.
"Gray!" Kia exclaims with much excitement. She seems to be somewhat fond of Gray for some reason.
Kia gets off the bench but before she can run over to Gray, she is grabbed by the shoulder.
"Huh?" She looks up at Enjyu but he's only glaring at Gray with a very serious look on his face. Not the normal serious-Enjyu look but a very serious-Enjyu look. "What's wrong….?"
"Go to Mie." Before Kia can finish her sentence, she is harshly cut off by Enjyu who orders her.
He can't believe that he is actually glad that Mie is here.
"But…" Before Kia can really protest, Enjyu shoves her to the side so that she almost stumbles.
Giving one last worried look between the two, Kia turns and runs as fast as what her little legs can carry her.
The two glare each other down without saying a word.
There's no need for words, Enjyu knows exactly what is going on here. Gray is here to battle him. Something that they both were never interested in, and the only way Gray would be doing this, is if he is being forced to. And the only way he can be forced to do anything, is if the Alliance is involved. Well, the yellow eye and the purple bat on Gray's poncho is a testament to that fact.
Somewhere in the back of his mind there has always been a nagging voice that the Alliance is alive and well and very pissed off. But he decided to ignore it and hopefully they never come looking for him.
The leaves rustles as the wind blows as the two of them is waiting for the other to draw first and make the first move in this stand-off.
Every action is now determined by crucial judgement, there can be no waste of movement. This is going to be a battle to the end. The winner will leave with all the marbles and the other will be left with nothing, and probably be in need of medical attention.
Suddenly both start running into the same direction as they pull out their bdaman and start firing. There's no bda-battle board, everywhere they set foot is now the bda-battle field. There is no bda-battle ref because here there are no bda-battle rules. There's no worry about anybody getting hurt because this match is going to require them to pull out every dirty trick up their sleeve.
In this battle they are going to play dirty, because they are playing to win.
"Oh my!" Mie exclaims in horror when she comes upon the sight.
Kia came running and told her what was going on and she came right over. And she was not prepared for what she saw. The whole park has been destroyed, and the two boys both have something red on them that can only be blood.
Enjyu is currently ducking behind an over-thrown wooden park bench and shooting at Gray who is taking cover behind a tree, one of the few that are still standing in the park.
Enjyu counts how many times Gray shoots from each side of the tree and when he picks up the pattern, he picks up a rock the size of his hand and then throws it to where he predicts Gray is going to stick his head out. Yes, this is meant to seriously injure Gray.
But instead, Gray makes a complete change in this strategy as he comes ducking out from the other side, runs as fast as light, dives over the bench and tackles Enjyu to the ground.
The next moment punches are thrown, harsh kicks are being dealt, and the bda-battle turns into an all-out dirty backstreet brawl fist fight. Hands, well fists and faces are covered in blood and painful grunts can be heard as the two boys are beating each other senseless.
Mie covers Kia's eyes. That's it, she is taking Kia home with her. She will not let her stay with that clearly deranged redhaired boy. Or Gray for that matter. Not after witnessing this. For that matter, she will have to try and explain to Yamato why he can't be friends with Gray anymore, and the same goes for the rest of the gang.
Who knew that Gray could be this brutally violent?
When Gray gains the upper hand, he raises his fist but before he lands the blow, Enjyu kicks him off. Before Gray hits the ground, he spots his Chrome Zephor and as soon as he hits the ground he then takes a dive for it. Grabbing it, Gray turns around where Enjyu is on his way over to his Kaizer Khan when Gray loads his strike shot and fires.
Not at Enjyu's bdaman but directly at Enjyu.
That's it, they have broken every single rule in the book now, he may as well go all out and break the most important rule to never intentionally injure and hurt the bda player directly.
Before Enjyu can duck out of the way, the strike shot hits him square in the chest and throws him backwards through the air.
When Enjyu hits the ground he stays down, there's no movement.
Grunting in pain, Gray gets on his feet and makes his way over to Enjyu's bdaman. Gray let's out another painful grunt as he holds his ribs bending over to pick up Enjyu's Kaizer Khan. Enjyu hit him damn hard, or was it a kick? He's sure that's a broken rib or three.
Sparing a last glance at Enjyu, for safety sake, Gray then turns and walks away.
"Enjyu!" Kia skids on her knees next to Enjyu, rolls him over and then starts shaking him. "Enjyu wake up!"
A moment later Enjyu's face scrounges up in pain and then he opens his eyes. It takes a moment for him to get his mind together.
"Are you ok?" Kia asks as she is hanging over him.
Kia stumbles over backwards as Enjyu shoves her out of the way, but the moment he tries to get up, he lets out a grunt of pain as he grabs his chest. Leaning back on his one elbow, he looks into the direction Gray came from and the next moment shock is written all over his face.
Off in the distance Gray is standing looking back at him as he is wiping off some blood running down his chin with the back of his hand, with no other than Ababa standing next to him with that smug evil look on his face.
"Who's that?" Kia asks as she spots what Enjyu is looking at.
"That's Ababa." Mie answers the moment she sees him, how can she ever forget that face. That evil grinning face with those eyes, glaring at you. That look that probably haunts many people in their dreams.
The two of them then turn around and disappear into the woods.
Enjyu lets his body fall back to the ground. "Enjyu!" Again, Kia is all over Enjyu with concern.
Closing his eyes, Enjyu tries to figure out what this feeling is that he is feeling.
Is it anger?
Anger that he has been defeated by Gray? Gray of all people?
Or is it shock? Shock that he has been defeated by Gray?
Or is it….or is it….. he can't even say the word out loud in his mind.
Is it jealousy? He is jealous because Gray is standing next to Ababa, the place that was always rightfully his, the place he earned with blood and sweat?
That two-timing, two-faced, traitorous turn-coat. How dare he take his place next to Ababa?
The next moment Enjyu lets out a muffled groan as he gets up, and in the process shoves Kia off of him. Seriously, sometimes it's just too much.
"Let's go Kia." Enjyu starts walking off with a limp as he holds his hand over his chest and then shouts for Kia over his shoulder.
"Sorry but that's not happening." Mie's serious voice stops Enjyu in his tracks. Turning around he finds that Mie is holding Kia behind her, like she is protecting her from him.
"Excuse me?" Enjyu turns around completely facing Mie and pins her with a dangerous look in his eye.
"There is no way I'm going to let Kia go anywhere with you. She's coming home with me." Mie is serious, this is not happening.
There's a moment of silence as they glare each other down. The moment turns into seconds and then is stretches out in an awkward long silence. Mie shows no fear as she refuses to back down and well Enjyu on the other hand tries to keep on glaring at her until he starts to sway on his feet.
The next moment Enjyu just collapses, out cold. Clearly that battle took more out of him than what he thought.
Gray tries to steady his breathing. He is convinced that he has a broken rib, because breathing in and of itself is a torturous activity at the moment.
Gray looks down at his hand where he is holding Enjyu's Kaizer Khan. Gray looks at the blood that is smeared over it. Just like Marda-B ordered, with Enjyu's blood on it or is it his own?
He always knew that a bda-battle with Enjyu will bring out the worst in him, that's why he always avoided a battle with him. And he suspects that Enjyu avoided it for the very same reason.
"It's a good thing that you battled like a true member of the Alliance. Otherwise Enjyu would have pummeled you to the edge of your life and left you to bleed to death." Ababa's voice next to Gray draws his attention.
"Sure." Gray off handedly agrees with Ababa. He does not really want to talk about it.
Gray hesitantly enters the room where Ababa had led him after handing Enjyu's bdaman to Marda-B. It looks like the med bay, and Gray does need medical attention. But he is just not sure if he should be expecting something else, they might do to him to torture him.
A few hours later, Gray wakes up to the smell of food.
He squints his eyes as he is met with the bright lights of the med bay. Then turning to look next to him, he finds a plate of food and Ababa.
"You look like crap." Ababa taunts. "No wait, you actually look like you took a beating from Enjyu." Ababa's tone is still taunting but in there somewhere he picks up a brag about Enjyu.
"It feels like I've taken a beating from Enjyu." Gray just admits the way he feels.
"If it makes you feel any better, Enjyu is current lying in an emergency room and he is still lights out." Ababa informs him.
Gray thinks back to when he fired his strike shot right into Enjyu's chest. That is not what a strike shot was created for. But then again, he saw Enjyu going for his Kaizer Khan. If he hesitated and allowed Enjyu the chance, he would've gotten Enjyu's black drive shot to his chest, he may not have survived it.
A painful groan escapes Gray as he screws his eyes shut in pain while trying to move into a sitting position. His midsection is all bandaged up as he has two broken ribs.
He has some stitches and minor cuts over his body, a whole lot of bruises and a really painful injury on the side of his head where he thinks he got hit with a rock at some point, but he can't be sure. He is sure it is all stitched up. Other than that, he has pain all over, he probably does look like crap, because he certainly feels like it.
At least it strikes one person off his list and Marda-B seemed impressed.
When Gray sways and then grabs his head, it is Ababa's grips on his arm that prevents him from falling forward with his face on the floor.
"Slowly, you have a concussion." Ababa voices explains the phenomenon.
Gray takes a moment and squeezes his eyes a few times to clear the fog. When he opens his eyes, he finds Ababa's hand still holding him by his arm.
"Urgh, I never want to do that again." Gray grumbles as he slowly takes the plate from Ababa.
"Marda-B was most impressed by your display of violence, and he is indeed impressed that you beat Enjyu at his own forte." Ababa explains as he puts his hands together in his sleeves.
"I don't ever want to do that again." Gray closes his eyes as he exhales and then repeats himself again in all honestly.
"You just have a slight problem now Gray." Ababa announces as he watches Gray takes a bite of his food.
"What now?" Gray sighs with a mouth full of food, not that it surprises him.
"You have just proven to Marda-B what you are capable of." Ababa tells is like Gray now has new troubles in his life.
"Marda-B has always known what I am capable of." Gray then corrects Ababa without as much as batting as eyelid.
"Hm?" Gray's response catches Ababa off guard. It is almost like there is something between Gray and Marda-B that he is not aware of. There have been a few things now that has given him that impression.
"It would seem Gray, that you and Marda-B know each other much better than what anyone else knows." Ababa pushes the point, quite frankly he hates being left out of the loop.
"Jealous?" Gray sarcastically responds knowing that it will irritate Ababa.
There is silence and then Gray looks over to Ababa who is busy giving him that glare again. Very unimpressed.
"I assure you Ababa, I wish that it was not so." Gray admits as he continues to eat.
While eating his food, Gray scans the medbay for his poncho and his B-daman but does not find them. Gray is sure that Ababa has already had his poncho cleaned and has his bdaman somewhere.
The rest of the clothes he had on had been disposed of as it had blood on it, his and Enjyu's. The only thing that is present, is his boots. With a good scrub they'll be as good as new.
