Hi everyone, so it is 2023 and this show came out in 2005, and guess what? I am still absolutely in love with it.
So, here is my story, enjoy!
"Morning Gray." An always cheery Mie greets Gray as he enters by the back door.
"Hi Mie, is there anything I can help with?" Gray asks as he starts taking off his poncho.
"Hm mm." Mie smiles as she continues to cut some cheese.
Gray starts taking out plates, knives and forks and starts setting up the table as he does every morning. This has been the routine for months now. He'll be up and out of the café before the crack of dawn and then he'll return to help with preparing breakfast before the others are even up yet. Well, Yamato, Terry and Bull anyway.
After a few weeks after the final showdown, Aqulas and Shin showed up at their doorstep and they haven't left since. In some way, they make him nervous. Even though Aqulas actually speaks to them now, it's still far and few words in between. They always seem to be watching. That's his MO. He's supposed to be the quiet one who is always watching and observing others but now he feels like he has competition.
And as for Enjyu and Kia, they just didn't leave after the final showdown. They stuck around and as per usual, Enjyu was taken up with being the strongest bda-player and still has that silly pursuit of defeating Yamato. Neither of which Gray could care any less about, being the best or defeating Yamato. He's got much bigger problems on his hands.
One day out of the blue, Enjyu declared that he will be stronger than Yamato and defeat him one day and then he and Kia marched off into the night and no one has seen them since. Yeah Enjyu, go and concern yourself with something that has no real importance in life.
Looking out of the window, Gray smiles. Lienna has planted a veggie garden at the back of the café. And she like Gray also gets up early, not as early as he, but she still beats the others. She then spends the morning in the garden before breakfast. It seems to bring Lienna peace and much joy and that makes Gray happy.
But also, leaning forward a bit, he can see Wen busy digging around in the dirt also with Lee sitting on the wall watching them. He has noticed that Wen seems to be everywhere Lienna is and he is always ready to give a hand. He's starting to think that Wen has a thing for his sister. Before he would've beat anyone silly who even thought about looking at his sister, but Wen really isn't that bad of a guy. Hopefully that'll be somewhat of a comfort to Lienna when the day that Gray dreads finally dawns on him and his debts are due.
"She's so happy." Mie chirps over Gray's shoulder as she passes him to put the cheese away in the fridge.
"Yeah, that she is." Gray gives one more look out the window and then moves over to the stove.
"And just like you've made me promise you a hundred times, no matter what happens, I will always look after Lienna." Mie cheerily affirms like she knows what is going through Gray's mind.
"Thanks." Gray asked Mie a few times if she'll take care of Lienna if something were to happen to him. Mie always assured him that she'll take care of them both and that nothing was going to happen to anyone. Mie being completely ignorant of what situation he finds himself in, just like everyone else, he just nodded and kept it as a friendly gesture.
"Breakfast is served, get your butts down here!" Gray shouts up the stairs as everything is set up and ready. After a few thuds on the ground which clearly is everyone falling out of bed and stumbling over one another, they finally make it to the table still pulling their clothes right.
After breakfast when everybody has eaten, Lienna helps Mie clean up while Gray is busy doing the dishes as per his usual practice where he can look out of the window and keep watch for his greatest nightmare to show up.
"Yamato watch out!" Terry's voice is heard shouting out.
After a loud crash, Wen responds. "Yamato you bone head. That was my juice!"
Everyone starts laughing as Wen is now covered in orange juice.
"I'll wash that for you." Lienna's friendly voice is heard and then Gray secretly smiles to himself. Maybe his sister has a thing for him too. Maybe it's a good thing, she'll have someone around when he isn't no more.
The rest of the day pretty much goes by the same just like any other. Lienna is helping Mie at the café, with Wen short on her heels of course. Yamato, Terry, Bull and Lee is currently busy practicing their bda-battling skills. Gray is sitting at the top of a cliff where he can see both the café and the gang.
Gray has wondered many times if he shouldn't just come clean and tell them the truth. Maybe it'll be better? It won't be such a shock then. But then again who knows when it might happen anyway. It's not a question of 'if', it's a question of 'when'. And when that time comes, he is going to be ready for it. That's why he has been pushing himself beyond his boundaries.
Pulling his glove halfway off of his hand, he looks at the blisters and bruises that is attempting to heal.
Looking around into all directions and spotting nothing on land or in the sky, Gray relaxes again. This has been his life ever since after they defeated Marda-B, well, one of his puppets anyway - looking over his shoulder.
He cannot believe that the others are daft enough to think that they have actually defeated Marda-B and the Shadow Alliance. Maybe Yamato and gang because they are ignorant of the true things about the Shadow Alliance. But Enjyu, Wen and Lee? Surely, they should know that it was far too easy to 'defeat' Marda-B. And yet they are as calm as if the Shadow Alliance didn't even exist. Maybe he is just being paranoid.
No. He is being realistic. And when the Shadow Alliance comes to take back what belongs to Marda-B, he is going to be ready.
After dinner everyone finishes up and heads for bed. When everyone is settled in, Gray quietly leaves as he does every evening. He usually then only comes back around midnight, takes a shower, gets into bed and then he's up before the crack of dawn again. And so, the cycle goes, day in and day out. He has purposely been conditioning himself for that lifestyle so that it doesn't have to be forced on him again. He's going to be ready in every way possible when the time comes.
Glass shattering rings through the dark café and then the next moment everyone is in the kitchen with their bdaman and when they flip the light on, they catch Yamato with the milk bottle in his hand. "Yamato, you nearly gave us a heart attack! What are you doing here in the dark?" Terry exclaims with his heart still beating fast.
"Sorry guys, I wasn't feeling well so I thought that a glass of milk would help." Yamato apologizes as he points to the milk.
"Or is it just the cat tendencies creeping up on you, hmm?" Lee asks as he points to Tommy licking up the spilled milk on the floor.
Everyone starts laughing.
"Geez guys, I'm glad you first decided to switch on the light to see who it was before you started shooting." Yamato jokes as he is surrounded by everyone holding their bdamans.
"You can be glad it wasn't Gray." Lee adds and then Wen finishes his sentence. "Yeah, he shoots first and then asks questions later."
"Where is Gray by the way?" Bull asks as he looks around.
"He's out." Everyone turns to Shin where he and Aqulas are standing by the back door where they came in when they heard the commotion.
"Out where? It's in the middle of the night." Terry asks as he puts his bdaman away.
"Out practicing." Shin calmly answers.
"Practicing?" Just about everyone says it at the same time. "For what?" Lee asks.
"Who knows." Shin calmly answers and then shares with them what he and Aqulas has observed when they followed him a few times to see what he is up to. "He goes up the mountains and then practices all night long. For what we have no idea but…" Shin pauses as he thinks about how to explain it.
"But what?" Yamato pushes.
"He's practicing like he's preparing for a death match or something." Shin calmly finishes his sentence.
"Huh?" Bull speaks.
"A death match?" Lienna adds clearly alarmed.
At Lienna's worry, Aqulas speaks. "He doesn't mean a literal death match, he's just meaning that Gray is training very hard, every night, for something."
"I knew it!" Yamato shouts as he jumps and pulls out cobalt saber. "It's going to be me and him soon!" Yamato is completely distracted from the subject as he starts talking to his bdaman. "Cobalt saber, very soon the challenge will be laid down and we will be there and ready when it happens, meow!"
When Enjyu challenged Yamato for his title of champion, Yamato said that Gray will first have to beat Yamato and then Enjyu will have to beat Gray and then only will he accept the challenge. Yamato's train of thought didn't make much sense.
Yamato then suggested that Terry and Gray battle, but Gray didn't really seem all that interested until they were eventually coaxed into a match. But Gray didn't seem all that interested to win either.
Terry then suggested that Gray and Enjyu battle but both boys seemed completely against the idea. Why, no one has any idea why Gray and Enjyu just don't gel like that. He and Enjyu only bda-battled once and that was in that cage in that back alley where Enjyu attempted to hide from the world - and once was enough.
"Enjyu is probably out there somewhere, just waiting for the right time. And we'll be ready for him too cobalt saber! But first we need sleep." Yamato declares and with that he's out the kitchen and up the stairs. Shin and Aqulas just look as Yamato is actually talking to his bdaman.
Yes, definitely special that one.
When everybody has gone back to bed, Shin and Aqulas retreats to the top of the café again. It's a usual practice of them to sit outside in the dark watching the stars. Around midnight, just like on normal que, Gray returns. Panting, soaking with sweat and dragging his poncho behind him. He clearly has practiced as hard as what he can possibly push himself.
When Gray gets to the back door, he stops. "Are you two stalking me?"
"Just what is it that you are preparing for?" Aqulas quietly asks. All of this training is not for a simple match against Yamato. Oh no, it's something much much more. Something much for serious, dangerous.
A few moments later the door clicks closed as Gray leaves in silence, giving no answer.
An unsettling feeling sinks to the pit of Gray's stomach. Nobody is supposed to know about his hardcore midnight training sessions. It's a secret. It'll raise far too many questions, questions he really doesn't feel like answering – not even making up a story for it.
Sometimes coming back to the café in the middle of the night, Gray has been getting the distinct feeling that he's being watched. And tonight, the moonlight gave them away. How long have they been watching him coming and going like that? He's sure that they haven't told anyone else about it because none of the others would've been able to keep it to themselves. That's just how this gang works, there's no secrets about anyone kept from anyone.
Quietly making his way to his room, Gray stops at every door and watches everyone sleeping. He has always felt like it's his responsibility to keep a watchful eye over everyone and make sure that no harm comes to them.
Closing the door behind him, Gray starts taking off his shoes before he heads to the shower. Stopping at the window, Gray looks out at the moon and the stars surrounding it. It that what Aquilas and Shin is doing on the roof? Watching the view? Since they seem to be up all hours of the night and they both are very attentive, sharp, always on the lookout and they seem to pick up things that the others don't….perhaps he can leave this duty in their hands. The duty of looking out for the gang and keeping them safe when he is no longer around to do it.
Pulling his shirt off as he is standing in front of the mirror, Gray looks at the scars, cuts and bruises littering his body. He has lost some weight and gained some muscle. He has been pushing himself beyond his boundaries. This is why he showers when everyone is asleep and not around to see how he looks like. It will raise questions and concerns that he is not going to answer nor address.
Looking at himself he notes that he looks tired, exhausted and with his current expression he looks weak – well what the Alliance would call weak. Closing his eyes, Gray summons that expression that he practiced and donned for a long time while he was in the Alliance. Opening his eyes, Gray studies his own expression. A practiced expression, a hard-menacing expression, one worn by a member of the Alliance that no one questions.
Good, at least he doesn't have to practice that all over again.
In the early hours of the morning before sunrise, Shin sits up from the bed where he is lying next to Aqulas and looks out the window and watches as Gray is off to the abandoned part of town again.
In the middle of the night Gray would be up in the mountains and then in the early hours of the morning he would go to the abandoned part of town that is broken down and destroyed. And there he also practice but not as serious as up in the mountains, a different kind of approach to whatever it is that Gray is preparing for.
"Hmm." Aqulas opens his eyes and looks at the ceiling, he knows what Shin is looking.
"Something is up and he's not telling anyone."
"Has anyone seen Gray?" Around breakfast Lienna askes as everyone sits down for breakfast. He didn't come to help and she's sure that he most certainly would have since Mie left the day before to go over to the next town to get some supplies for the café. Gray is not even at the table to eat with them. He has never even missed breakfast before.
"Maybe he's still asleep. He was out at who knows what time of the night." Bull answers as he chomps down a fork of bacon.
"It's not like Gray, he never sleeps in. I'll go check." Terry says as he gets up from the table and heads up stairs.
"Guys." Lee's quiet voice is barely heard as he stands by the window looking out. "Guys!" It's more of a panicked declaration than anything else.
"What is it, Lee?" Wen asks as he makes his way over to Lee to see what he is looking at that has him so upset.
Without any words, Lee lifts his hand and points out into the sky over the town.
"No, it can't be." Wen stops dead in his tracks and whispers clearly shocked with horror.
"What is that?"
"It's a ship." Shin calmly answers slightly annoyed. Anyone can see it's a ship.
"That's not just any ship, that's a Shadow Alliance ship!" Yamato shouts as soon as he sees it.
"The Shadow Alliance?!" A plate shatters on the floor as Lienna drops it. A cold chill runs down her spine as unpleasant memories of the Shadow Alliance flashes in her memory.
"Let's go guys!" Yamato shouts and then everybody is on their feet, grabbing their bdamans and they are out the door.
"Hey, where are you guys going!?" Terry shouts out the window from upstairs when he sees everyone running out. "What?!" But then he looks up and sees the Shadow Alliance ship off in the distance hovering over the town.
"Yamato wait, we need a plan of action." Wen tries to reason with Yamato as he is running behind him. He knows that when it comes to the Alliance, they are going to need a strategy.
"This is the plan of action; we get over there as soon as possible and stop them." Without hesitation Yamato declares the plan.
"Where's Gray?!" Bulls shouts as he still doesn't see Gray anywhere.
"He's probably already there." Yamato shouts back.
Shin and Aqulas share a look as they follow behind. They know that's where Gray goes in the mornings and since he didn't return, Yamato may be quite right that he is already there.
They reach the other side of town where the abandoned buildings and ruins are. It's completely empty as there is no one in sight, it almost looks like a haunted town. As they get closer to where the ship is hovering in the air, they start to sneak through the buildings and the closer they get, Shadow Alliance robots that are armed are holding positions waiting for orders.
As they move deeper into the abandoned buildings, they are shells of robots that has been beaten and destroyed scattered around. The more they advance, the more bodies of defeated robots are lying in the streets. Buildings are demolished and there are clear signs of a fierce battle raging in the heart of the abandoned town.
"Geez, what happened here? There are hundreds of them." Terry whispers.
Bull whose hair has turned black speaks up also. "Whoever they are fighting are good, probably a team, a good team."
Moving closer they start hearing bdamans being fired.
Carefully continuing on, they get to where the robots seem to be surrounding a building. Clearly, they are cornered who or whatever is inside.
There are still bdamans being fired and then there's silence. A while later the robots then start putting away their bdamans like the mission has been accomplished. The robots then collect their destroyed comrades and drag them to smaller ships so that there is no evidence left behind.
A while later, robots start exiting the building and then everyone's hearts suddenly stop as two robots exits the building while dragging in between them an unconscious Gray. He is covered in blood with his hands chained behind his back, his feet chained together, and it almost looks like he was beaten half to death.
Behind them a robot is carrying Gray's Chrome Harrier and poncho.
"Gray! Hmpf.." Yamato shouts out as he sees his friend, but his mouth is clamped shut by Wen.
"Shut up!" He commands in a hushed shout. "We do not want to let them know we are here."
"But they've got Gray, we have to stop them!" Yamato starts to fight his way out of Wen's grip.
"Yamato no." Terry also takes hold of Yamato.
"There are too many of them, we will lose and then we won't be able to help Gray at all." Aqulas' quiet voice draws everyone's attention.
"He's right Yamato." A black haired Bull agrees. "The last thing Gray needs now is for all of us to be captured or worse."
"But we defeated them…" Bulls quietly mutters to himself as he turns to look back at the scene in front of them. They defeated Marda-B with the B-energy. The evil Marda-B then changed back to his normal, sane self. Everything was fine after that, where are they coming from now?
The robots drag Gray into one of the smaller ships and it then lifts and heads up into the main ship above. Shortly after all the other robots has also gotten into the smaller ships and rejoined the main ship, the ships engines can be heard speeding up and then it starts moving away.
Clearly, they got what they came for.
Gray.