⚡️
Lightning Strikes Twice

I was forged from what others call hell. The worst storm in the world raged on and on, and when lightning struck each other in midair, the result was me.

♪♪♪

I rolled the B-daball I'd picked up in my fingers. It was cold, something I could feel even through my gloves, a testament to how long the idiot before me had lasted. I grinned at him with my best smile, and got for myself a look of terror I'll always savor.

"Where did you send it, you stupid old cat?" I asked once again.

And again, Armada refused to answer.

He wasn't doing too good. Fur all frazzled, curled up and a barely whimpering mess. B-daballs dotted the floor around him, scattered from when I'd shoved him there. He'd barely put up a fight against my beating, and didn't even counter any of my shots at his barely recovered workshop. Some B-damaster he turned out to be.

"Enjyu, that's enough," said a voice behind me.

Shit.

I flicked the B-daball in my hand at Armada, watching it arc through the air and smack him square in the forehead. He didn't move, but I could still hear him breathing. Good enough.

"Enjyu! I said that's enough!"

With a sigh, I turned to face Ababa, standing in the doorway to the workshop. Oh, he was pissed, eyes narrowed to slits as he glared directly at me. I glanced back at Armada, who still hadn't moved. B-daballs were good enough to destroy all the shit B-daman he kept on making, but when it came down to it, fists were just fine for hurting the Cat.

"Just in time, huh? Aren't you lucky?" I asked him mockingly. He didn't answer, so I looked back to where Ababa was tapping his foot impatiently, arms crossed. I stalked over to him with a grin. "Like what I've done with the place?"

He didn't answer right away either, only giving me that same glare. Seconds stretched on and on, until Ababa finally spoke. "With me, Enjyu."

With that, he whirled around and walked off. I followed, of course, catching up easily with my longer legs. Ababa barely came up to my waist, and I could probably knock him over if I really wanted to. Maybe even kick him into the sky. Honestly, the idea was always a little tempting. One of these days, I'll get him.

It was fun to entertain while we walked along the dusty path that cut across the Saitoon Wilds. I bet I could send Ababa pretty far off with a kick, maybe even all the way back to headquarters.

"Enjyu," said Ababa, and I could just feel his anger. He wasn't even looking at me. "What were you hoping to learn from that fool of a Cat?"

I shrugged. "I figured I'd go straight to the source. If anyone knows where Cobalt Blade is, it'd be the loser who sent it away all those years ago."

"And what did he tell you?"

That was easy enough to answer. Even between the crying and whimpering, Armada had managed some unsatisfying responses. "Claimed he didn't know. Said the B-damage took care of it for him. What a load of nonsense."

Ababa stopped, making me follow suit, and he turned to look up at me with his ever so charming scowl.

"Did you not even stop to consider that I had already pried that same useless answer out of Armada last year?" he demanded.

"Might have thought about it," I said. The thought had never even crossed my mind.

He made some kind of an exasperated noise, obviously frustrated with me right now. Heh, eat shit.

"You're supposed to be scouting in Wintoon right now," he said. Of course, that was the real reason he'd come to fetch me himself. If I was out here doing whatever I wanted on my own, I wasn't finishing missions toward his mysterious evil goals.

Joke's on him though. I laughed. "There is fucking nothing in Wintoon," I said, and when his frustrated look turned into surprise, I grinned at him. "What, you think I never even bothered to go to Wintoon? I'm telling you now, none of those Stones you want are there. I checked."

I could see Ababa's mind working in the way his eye twitched, as he immediately figured out how I'd traveled from Wintoon to the Saitoon Wilds in a short span of time. I didn't stop grinning, even when his eyes narrowed again.

"You already know I would rather you not use that infernal machine," he said, and of course, he wasn't speaking as my boss anymore. That was the tone he'd used so much when I was much younger and he was teaching me all the rules of the Shadow Alliance. "Come back home with me, Enjyu."

If anyone else tried to talk to me this way, I'd flatten them in an instant. I sighed, and reached down to pat Ababa's shoulder. His brow raised as he considered my actions, and I wanted to say he even looked hopeful.

"No, I don't think I will," I answered.

♪♪♪

The wind whipped past me as I sped along the road, my wheels kicking up a constant cycle of dust behind me as I left Saitoon behind. My bike's motor drowned out any other noise, not that there was much of that anyway out here in the wilderness. I actually kind of liked that about the Cowtoon Wastes. Sure, Cowtoon was on one side, Galetoon on another, and then a bunch of insignificant towns I never bothered to check out sat around the Wastes' border, but if you went off-road at just the right place and drove in a straight line, you'd never have to deal with people for a whole day.

Then you get to the Valley of the Gale, which is even better, because absolutely no one in their right mind goes out there, not even Galetoon folks, and your chances of running into someone become a whole fucking zero.

♪♪♪

"Enjyu!" Wen ran up to me as I rolled into headquarters' garage, waving his arms like an idiot. A cute idiot, but still an idiot.

I didn't acknoweldge him, not till my bike was set in its usual spot and I'd swung myself off it with all the coolness in the world. When I finally looked at him, he immediately launched into what he'd come to me for.

"Ababa wants you in his office," he said. "Must be important if he's making me his errand boy."

"Don't assume that shit."

"What's that mean—hey, Enjyu—hey!"

I didn't bother holding back a laugh as I walked away from him. Sure, he was right that Ababa wouldn't have him bring the message if it wasn't something urgent, but I wasn't going to play into his self-importance. Wen wasn't important, and he needed to stop thinking otherwise.

But I'll deal with that later.

♪♪♪

"Our latest recruit promotions," Ababa had said, when he first introduced me to the two brothers.

I had looked them over, remembering easily enough how they had handled themselves through recruit training, and laughed. The older one was only a year younger than me, if I remembered right, and they had joined up with the Shadow Alliance not long after I did...but that didn't mean they got the same training as me.

"These two clowns?" I'd asked.

"What'd you just say?" the older one had predictably shouted. I'd thought then that I heard Ababa sigh.

It had taken one look for me to figure out the older one was the idiot of the pair, so it was nice to get some confirmation. I ignored him and focused on the younger one, who was rolling his weird eyes. He had been...what, ten? A few years younger. It hadn't ever mattered.

He had grabbed onto his brother's arm and firmly said, "Calm down."

He must have been something special, if Ababa was willing to promote his older brother to the same rank as him. I had a feeling this kid wouldn't have agreed to the promotion if it meant he'd leave the other one behind.

The older brother, miraculously, had listened. He'd continued to glare at me even as he finally started introductions.

"Big brother—Wen."

"Little brother—Li."

I had sneered, and taken out Lightning Kahn. "So, you two battle together? Let's see it."

I'd wanted to see if they had trained any harder than the last hundred recruits. Whatever they'd learned, I had already known it wouldn't be any match to what Ababa had been putting me through for years.

They hadn't been good enough, even back then.

♪♪♪

Office is a generous word for the weird cave Ababa worked from, somewhere in a place under the rest of headquarters that never made sense to me. It had two real features: the huge magic B-daball...orb thing sitting at its center and a view of a dark sky past the pillars of stone that circled the platform.

"I thought I saw you on your way back," said Ababa as soon as I entered. He had his back to me, and he was watching someone I couldn't make out through the orb. Of course, he was acting like he hadn't sent that idiot to fetch me.

"Cut the crap," I said, not in the mood for this. I had only one need, and right now I felt that need nestled in my gut. I needed to fight. I needed to goad some hapless fucker in the training room to challenge me to a match. Then I'd obliterate him. And Ababa was keeping me away from the training room.

"Very well, I shall cut to the chase," said Ababa without further comment. Here, he finally turned to face me, his expression calm and centered. "We are going to Wintoon. Together."

"What?" I frowned. "I told you, there aren't any Legend Stones there."

"No, there aren't." Ababa stepped aside, revealing what he was watching on the orb to me. "But Battle Crow returned with his assessments. There is someone in the town I should like to meet."

I stepped closer to take a better look, and saw one of Wintoon's dusty but flower lined streets. The tall windmills that gave the town its name stood proudly in the back atop one of the stone buildings—I wanted to knock them down one day.

Walking along the street was the one Ababa wanted me to meet. Or were—there were two of them, blonde and chatting aimlessly like they had no cares in the B-daworld. They must have only been a little younger than me. I hated them already.

"Twins," I said. "Both good?"

"Only this one," replied Ababa, pointing at the one wearing a ridiculous hat and poncho. "Right now, at least. Battle Crow's report states that he is an active B-daplayer of great skill and potential."

"And the other one?" I gazed at both them through the orb, watching as they went this way and that.

"Also a B-daplayer." Ababa began to circle round to the other side of the orb. "She is unskilled and raw, but I believe you'd enjoy how much potential she has."

"Is that what you want me to do? Train her?" I asked, placing my gaze firmly on her. The pair had stopped walking so she could lean down and pick a flower. Gross...but I had to admit, my curiousity was piqued. Fresh blood for the training room.

"Not yet," said Ababa. "She'll be of great use later, but right now we need a skilled B-daplayer, a known element, whose eventual role will solely be to take on tracking down Cobalt Blade full time."

I scoffed. "What, you think I'm not good enough?"

"Enjyu." Ababa stepped back out from behind the orb, coming over to me and holding out a shadow cell. I took the little wing-shaped device without question, rolling my thumb over the single cat eye set into its center. "This is not about you."

"You wanted me to find Cobalt Blade."

"I did," answered Ababa, his eyes narrowed with that piercing look of his.

"Okay, what fucking gives then?" I demanded. I didn't really care about this. Not really. There were other more fun missions to carry out than...oh, you know, finding the wielder of my Lightning Kahn's brother.

"Tsk." Ababa shook his head, "Because the Shadow Alliance has better use for you here in headquarters than sending you off on this search that will take however long it needs. This B-daplayer—Gray—will have the one job alone. At first, of course. He will be a full-fledged member of the Shadow Alliance even after he finds Cobalt Blade."

"You don't need me to go along for this," I snapped.

Ababa smiled, a sinister glint in his eyes. "Well, should he choose to decline..."

His gaze settled onto the shadow cell in my hand. This Gray...well, Ababa did say his sister would be of use to the Shadow Alliance later rather than now.

I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this little trip back to that lame town after all.

♪♪♪

Cobalt Blade—Ababa wanted to control it, to add it to the Shadow Alliance's arsenal of the greatest B-daman for the greatest B-daplayers in the world. I knew, in intimate detail, how he wanted to corrupt this B-daman that legend said had been blessed by the Bdamage, to turn it into a weapon for whatever evil plans he had knocking around between his ears.

I wanted to destroy it in a glorious fucking battle, to see my power shot tear into its armor and shatter it into a million pieces, to hear its wielder, whoever he was out there, cry in shock while the world watched in awe as I made sure everyone knew that Lightning Kahn and me were the strongest B-daman and the strongest B-daplayer in the world.

♪♪♪

I never read Battle Crow's report. Didn't need to, because as soon as I stepped up to intercept the twins on their daily stroll around town, the half with the big hat moved to instinctively protect the other one. This one little move told me everything I needed to know.

"Liena, stay back," he—Gray said. Behind him, Liena did as she was told, but she apparently couldn't resist peering over his shoulder at me.

"Who are you?" she asked, before Gray could.

"The name's Enjyu," I said. "Traveling B-daplayer. I hear you two have B-daman of your own."

"We do," said Gray in a low tone. "What's it to you?"

I could tell he was trying to take control of the situation, but like hell was I going to let him. I laughed. "Tough guy like you doesn't know what a B-daplayer wants you to do with your B-daman?"

His glare was one that could melt Delta Rock.

"All right, you want a battle," he said, his hand traveling down to where his holster was probably hidden behind his poncho. "I'll take you on if you just leave us alone after."

"That's only if you win," I said. I jerked my thumb in the direction of Wintoon's B-Center. "Come and be beaten, if you're not chicken."

"Brother," Liena started, but Gray cut her off with a shake of his head. He pointed at me with his free hand.

"Enjyu, right? It's on."

♪♪♪

Why do people bother with that 'caring about each other' crap?

Wen is weak because he cares about Li more than Li cares about him. Li is...that kid knows what it really takes to be strong, to survive. That kid knows what it takes to make it to the top. Like I said, Wen is a cute idiot, but still an idiot.

Gray is weak, because he cares more about Liena than he cares about himself. If he ever took the time to learn not to care about anyone...he might have been something almost an equal to me.

You don't get where I am by caring about worthless shit, after all.

♪♪♪

Gray was exactly what Ababa said: a skilled B-daplayer.

But that didn't mean he was a match for someone who'd been training almost every hour of his life.

I met his gaze from across the torn up battlefield as his shield sight was deactivating. Returning my glare, he pulled Chrome Zephyr off the field and holstered it.

"You won," he siad, through gritted teeth. He kept his gaze trained on me, and I let my own flick over to Liena.

She was standing with the crowd, worry plain on her face, a hand to her chest. Aww, has she never seen her brother lose? Too fucking bad.

I put Lightning Kahn away, and I thought about the shadow cell sitting in my shorts pocket, waiting for use. I could do it now, and watch Gray yell and cry while I forced him to accept his new life. Or...I could have some fun with this.

"I sure did," I said as I circled around the battlefield to come a stop in front of them. I hated what I was about to say, but I sure did my fucking damnedest to sound nice. "Great match. Want to go grab some food?"

They were both pretty obviously surprised, but I could just feel all tension suddenly fade from the air. The promise of food, for some reason, always made people put their guard down. Maybe there was something I was missing.

"I know a great place!" exclaimed Liena, and she ran to me and, obviously uncaring of what her brother thought, grabbed my hand.

I let her pull me along back down the road, if only because of the look on Gray's face the entire time.

♪♪♪

I don't care about girls.

Or boys.

There isn't any time to care about that kissing crap when there's training and battling and doing cool shit to be had.

But...

Gray and Liena are kind of cute.

But not as cute as Wen.

♪♪♪

Subtlety wasn't my usual method in doing anything, but I could be subtle when I wanted to be. I gritted my teeth and let Liena drag me all over Wintoon, let Gray glare at me and mutter things under his breath about how he wasn't going to let this keep on going, all while not having the spine to make Liena stop.

I let her do what she wanted, humiliating as my little act was, because the pain I was about to inflict on both of them was going to be worth it.

The sun was starting to set, and Ababa was probably getting impatient with me. I walked along with the twins, listening to them talk as they tried to decide on their dinner. It was a pointless conversation.

They wandered into a field, walking into the flowers, while I stopped where the road ended, watching their backs continue into the field.

I glanced around. A field of flowers, the sun setting in the background, the faint breeze passing through—the perfect place to ruin their lives at the end of what they thought was a nice day with a new friend. I took the shadow cell from my pocket and turned it over in my hands. It was a fresh one, completely empty of souls. It had never held a soul before, much less release one. Ababa was just that serious about these twins to forge one from scratch.

"Hey, Enjyu?" It was Liena. The twins had stopped, and turned to me, realizing that I wasn't following along behind them anymore. Liena waded back through the flowers to reach me while Gray glared on as usual. "Are you staying for dinner?"

They reminded me so much of...No. That wasn't important.

I grinned at the two of them, then began to laugh. "Dinner's the last thing you should be worrying about," I told her.

Liena blinked at me in surprise, her confusion plain on her face. Behind her, Gray was immediately alert. He started bacl toward us just as I felt Ababa's presence by me, as he stepped out from wherever he'd been hiding. Ababa strode to my side, and, as always, he had only his calm demeanor to show.

"Ah, Liena," said Ababa. "And...the star of the hour, Gray."

Gray burst out of the field, coming to stand between me and Liena. "What's going on here? Who is this?"

I grinned and stepped back as Ababa chuckled. He didn't control me, even if I worked for him, but...shit like this, he had to be in charge. The Shadow Alliance couldn't look weak, no matter what, and that meant, for just a few seconds, shutting myself up so Ababa could deal with it.

Besides, it'd make this all the more fun.

"Who I am isn't important just yet," answered Ababa. He gestured to them, holding one paw. "We are the Shadow Alliance, and we are inviting you, Gray, to join us."

I watched Gray's face, and saw the recognition that I knew I'd find there. Yeah, he knew who we were. No B-Daplayer worth their salt wouldn't.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" demanded Gray, and just like that, it was blaster out. He held it up, clearly aimed at Ababa. I had to admit, it was impressive that even in a situation like this, he was obviously in full control. His hand never shook once.

"Oh, nothing of the sort," replied Ababa, lowering his arm with a shake of his head. "Allow me to say it one final time: you are joining the Shadow Alliance."

"No way," came the answer.

That was my cue. I had Lightning Kahn out before he could react, firing in his direction. Gray yelled, but I wasn't aiming for him anyway, and Liena's cry told me my B-daballs had rushed past him to reach her, exactly as intended.

She stumbled away from behind Gray, dropping to a heap on the ground, clutching her arm as she whimpered in pain. I'd used power shots; there was no doubt her left arm was broken in a few places. It wasn't her dominant arm anyway.

Gray was at her side immediately, B-daman abandoned on the ground together with his hat as he tried desperately to comfort her. Liena was always going to be more important than any B-daman to him.

And that was exactly what we were counting on.

"This is going swimmingly, no, Enjyu?" asked Ababa, looking up to me. He had a barely hidden look of amusement, as we listened to Liena's crying together.

"Yeah, sure," I answered, noting that people were starting to notice us. It wouldn't do for them to come and investigate. "Better speed this up."

"You may have the honor of securing her."

I took a moment to holster Lightning Kahn, suppressing a shudder as I felt the shadow cell's eye pulse against the palm of my other hand. I never did get used to that.

Of course it knew what was coming. I could feel the eye warming up as I raised it, pointing it directly at Liena. "Hey, Gray!" I shouted. I saw him look up, saw his eyes widen, and once again he was too fucking slow, because Liena was gone in the next instant.

"What did you do to her!" he roared, and he was rushing me, fists curled. I dodged each of his sloppy punches, holding the shadow cell up high, my grip around it as tight as could be.

"Careful, Gray," I said, "Wouldn't want anything to happen to her while she's in there, now would you?"

He stopped and stepped away, gaze dropping low. His mess of gold hair covered his eyes; his fists rested at his side. Oh, betrayal hurt, didn't it? Even worse, it was a betrayal that had led to his worst nightmare coming true. He was probably still in shock, barely able to process what was happening.

One moment. That's all it takes to destroy someone. One moment he was having fun. The next, everything he loved had been ripped away. If he'd yet to learn that people couldn't be trusted, that friends were just people waiting to take everything from you, then he was having a harsh lesson right now.

I twirled the cell, watching Gray tremble. Ababa had yet to make his demands, probably enjoying this moment as much as I was. He'd lost Liena. Except not yet. Not really. And she wouldn't ever be. Gray didn't know that Liena would be more valuable to the Shadow Alliance alive, no matter her role. She could be our hostage to keep him with us, or...she could easily be one of our strongest agents, once I was through with her.

Gray didn't need to know any of that.

"Gray." Ababa finally broke the silence. The sun had gone down by now, leaving only a faint light across the world. That would be gone soon too, and even Ababa wouldn't want to hang around for long after dark. "Your darling sister is, broken arm notwithstanding, perfectly safe."

"Safe?" repeated Gray in a low voice.

"Yes, safe," answered Ababa, the amusement finally starting to fade from his tone. He was all business now. "We will be taking her back to the Shadow Alliance's headquarters, where she will receive the necessary treatment for her arm. I highly recommend that you come along, Gray. After all, it is to be your new home too."

"I..I don't..." Gray looked up, barely hiding the way his tears were pooling at the corners of his eyes, or the way his jaw was set, or the sheer unbridled hate he harbored now for us. It showed in his stance, the way he shook, the glare in his eyes, more intense now than it had been earlier when I was only a minor annoyance to him.

I took a moment to relish it.

This is what it's all about. This is what's true and real and something that will never change. Being strong, stronger than anyone else. Destroying other people inside and out. When you're powerful, the weak fall under your heel, and that's what battling is about.

I threw my head back and began to laugh. I haven't had this much fun in ages. Battles rarely meant anything to me anymore, with how quickly I could crush anyone, but this—this.

"You heard the old man," I told Gray, "You're one of us now."

I dodged Gray's final punch easily, and heard Ababa telling me to quit it.

"Consider this your first lesson, Gray. Don't let Enjyu provoke you," said Ababa, as we were walking down Wintoon's streets together a little later.

I let them walk ahead of me, just like I let Liena and Gray go on ahead earlier. It was dark now, but this time, there wasn't any chatting or laughter.

"Duly noted," Gray muttered. Ababa looked up to him, and after only a few seconds with that piercing gaze on him, Gray added, "Sir."

I couldn't wait to break him.

♪♪♪

Ababa probably found out at some point, but sometimes when I was younger I'd sneak down to the recruits' training room and battle it out with the grunts there.

One time, a recruit asked me, "Don't you get tired of winning in one shot all the time?"

I broke his arms, not just because he offended me, but because no self-respecting member of the Shadow Alliance would ask a shit question like that. Of course, the answer was that I don't get tired of that.

There's no other way to battle, obviously.

♪♪♪

"Well, little miss, your arm will heal just fine."

Headquarters didn't really have a clinic of its own or anything like that, but one of the Shadow Alliance's retired B-daplayer elites, who now mostly worked in administrative roles set by Ababa, was also an old doctor who went by the name Arsen. He legally wasn't supposed to be doing anything doctorly, but that obviously suited us just fine, so Arsen's office was also a makeshift clinic...not that he took on every injury in the building. Most recruits trying to get the doctor to see them for trivial shit would be instantly turned away, and told to suck it up.

Said doctor, dressed in his white coat, was giving me a pointedly disapproving look with his stone gray eyes as he set Liena's arm into a cast. She sat in front of him, looking pointedly away from me.

"Thank you," she mumbled, unable \o give up her manners.

"You're certainly lucky, given your attacker's strength, that your bones weren't shattered to pieces," he added, frowning at me over the top of her head. "Nor was your elbow injured. It's almost as if Enjyu here knows too well how not to break people's bones."

"Geez, you break one recruit too many and never live it down," I said from where I was leaning against his door, blocking it and keeping it shut. I returned his frown with a grin. So what if most of the injuries that Arsen was willing to treat were caused by me? "You done? Ababa wants her transported tonight."

I was pretty angry about that, and I made sure Arsen could tell from my tone. Ababa had made it sound like I'd get to train Liena, to see her potential for myself. Instead, he was sending her off to train in Hell, leaving me behind to train with Gray instead.

"Quite," answered Arsen. He made one last check of Liena's cast, then got up and made for the cupboards behind him. They were full of bottles and tools, though it was easy to guess that not all of them were used for healing people. "One moment—" He rummaged around for a bit, then returned to Liena. He looked over to me, and held up a small vial. "Have her take this at the start of the trip."

I straightened from my lean, peering at the clear vial. I had to admit, I was a little curious, but I also wondered just how much I could trust him. He wouldn't poison a valuable hostage and future recruit, right?

"What's it for?"

"It'll keep her asleep the entire way," he said. "I know Ababa prefers his...mystical methods to keep transportees docile and quiet, but let her have this one comfort of a dreamless rest. Shadows below—he'll have her mind soon enough for as long as he wants anyway."

I strode over, snatching the vial from him. I had a feeling Ababa wouldn't let him have his way, but...I looked down at Liena, still looking away from me. A dreamless sleep for her, the entire time while she was on the road to Hell—Ababa would lose his shit, and right now I wasn't interested in keeping him happy.

"Right," I said, eyeing Arsen. "You're not going soft, are you?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "You and I both know sparing the girl from his nightmares is going to annoy Ababa." He sneered, looking less like the kindly doctor he was pretending to be a moment ago. He patted Liena's shoulder, and she shuddered. "Besides, it'll get Ababa to see me. Our dear leader has been ignoring me when I have something important to discuss with him."

I stared at him, trying to figure out what his game was. You didn't annoy Ababa for the sake of getting his attention. Whatever this important thing he wanted to discuss was had to be something big.

"Fine." I nodded to him. "Now—" I reached over and grabbed Liena's free arm. She made a noise of surprise as I pulled her to her feet and began steering her toward the door. "She's got a transport to catch."

Arsen's door was barely swinging shut behind me when Liena began to struggle against my grip. She turned to face me, gritting her teeth and trying to pull herself away while I looked on with a raised brow.

"Enjyu, please stop," she said, as she finally calmed down. Once again she was avoiding looking at me, but her entire body was shaking. "I...you don't have to do this, Enjyu. Please, just let me and Gray go."

I laughed in her face. "No," I said, "That's never fucking happening. Besides, why don't you cheer up? You're one of the strongest group of B-daplayers now, and soon, you'll be one of us."

She said nothing else, as I led her through the winding corridors of headquarters.

♪♪♪

There's hell, where I'm from, and then there's Hell.

Hell, officially Heltoon, is some village to the far north among the mountains. There's speculation it's near Delta Rock, but no one knows for sure where it is.

It was a mining town once, a long time ago. Those days are long over, and no one normal lives there anymore. Nowadays, it's a town whispered in legends.

Here's what I remember about it: it's known as the place the Shadow Alliance started, it's said that it's where Ababa first appeared, and it's fucking cold.

Perfect place to establish the training ground inspired by hell.

♪♪♪

"Here," I said, presenting Liena with the vial.

She was strapped into the back of one of our vans. Up front, the drivers were getting ready for the day-long trip to Hell. Ababa rarely sent recruits up there anymore, much less one on her own. Too many deaths, both from training and from their own hands. Liena was lucky in that her soon-to-be master would have orders not to kill her, no matter what.

And when said master was through with Liena and sent her back in a year, she'd be ready for the elites...and there was a small chance she'd be my equal. We'll see.

She looked up at me, but didn't take it.

Ugh. "Look, I'm doing you a big favor with this," I said, "Take it as soon as they lock the door. It'll knock you out till you get there...unless you'd rather see the monsters along the way."

She paled, and shakily took the vial with her free hand.

"I don't understand," she said quietly, "Why I'm being sent away. Wouldn't it be easier to keep me here?"

It would be, she was right. But I just shrugged. "You can ask Ababa when you come back."

With that, I stepped back and shut the door. I heard the lock click a moment later.

I didn't know it at the time, but I wouldn't be seeing her for another three years.

♪♪♪

Under Ababa's orders, I showed Gray around headquarters.

As soon as we entered the cafeteria, I heard a faint clatter. A glance told me Wen had dropped his fork, and was staring in our direction.

He wasn't looking at me. He was looking at Gray.

♪♪♪

I stood off to the side, watching Wen and Li take on Gray together. Gray was too fast for them, firing off shot after shot, reloading almost just as quickly. Wen and Li weren't slouches, not when they battled side by side, but in the year since Gray joined us, the win score was leaning heavily in his favor. It didn't look like it'd be changing soon.

I'm the only one of Ababa's active agents that he hasn't beaten; that's a firm fact that I won't be letting change either.

"Ugh, I guess we still have to train harder," said Wen, as Gray finished him and Li off. Gray nodded to them, then walked off to the table of water bottles in the back of the room. The brothers held their twin blasters carefully as they retreated from the field, and Wen turned to Li. "Back to the training room, huh...this sucks."

"I'm afraid I'll have to catch you later, brother," said Li, "Ababa asked me to see him when we were done here."

That piqued my curiosity. This was the first I was hearing of this. "Hey, Li," I called to him, "Why would Ababa wanna talk to you alone?"

Li, to my surprise, chuckled. "If you paid better attention, you'd know that Ababa has given me a special new mission that I'm not supposed to talk about."

Wait, what? I got ready to interrogate him, but before I could even demand answers, a strange noise caught the attention of all four of us in the room.

It was a slow, steady clapping, and it was coming from the private viewing box carved out of the rock wall. Ababa used to stand there and watch me obliterate losers who challenged me. I haven't seen him stop by and watch in years. Claims he's too busy now.

It wasn't him this time either. Instead, it was Arsen. Even from afar, I could tell he was dressed more like a B-daplayer than a doctor.

The clapping did get everyone's attention. Wen squinted exaggeratedly at the figure standing tall behind the low railing. "Who...?"

"Gray Michael Vincent?" came Arsen's voice, carried to us by a sudden breeze. He wasn't speaking differently, still in his usual soft tone, but it reached us all the same. Gray tensed up as Arsen continued, "We have much to discuss. Come up to the box so we may speak in private."

The breeze faded away, leaving the four of us standing there. I broke the silence quickly with a grunt, letting out a breath I didn't even notice I was holding. "What the fuck is this about?"

Gray turned to me, abandoning his water bottle. "Hell if I know," he said, tone as even and controlled as ever. "You're their favorite, not me."

Out the corner of my eye, I saw Wen and Li look at each other.

"I better get going," said Li, a little quickly.

"Yeah, uh, I'll walk you to Ababa's office," said Wen, just as quickly.

The two of them rushed out, not at all hiding how they didn't want to be here in case things got heated between me and Gray again. I still hadn't gotten into his head, and it was getting annoying. Months and months had gone by of him being snippy with me. I wasn't going to let that slide by too easily, duh.

"Yeah?" I said, once I heard the door shut behind the brothers, "If I'm their favorite, guess you're just in trouble."

Gray said nothing, head held high as usual as he slowly, deliberately, made his way toward the stairs that led up to the box. Was he not going to shoot back at me?

I looked up from him to Arsen, standing tall at the railing with his arms behind his back. What was he up to? Did Ababa know about this?

"Yo, Gray!" I called out. The only acknowledgement he gave me was a small tilt of his head. I continued anyway, "I'll see you on the battlefield later."

I didn't care if he replied or not, and he didn't. I went and flung the door open, startling a Wen that had obviously hung around to eavesdrop on my way out. I barely gave him a glance as I walked by. They were idiots. All of them.

♪♪♪

As soon as we made it back to headquarters, as soon as Ababa took Liena's cell and left the two of us alone, Gray had turned to me and made it clear he wasn't going to take any shit from me lying down.

I'd just laughed in his face and reminded him that I wasn't the one whose sister was being held captive.

♪♪♪

I told Ababa, obviously. I was with him when Arsen came into his office. He was back in his everyday, doctor's garb.

"Finally," said Arsen, "Here I thought you'd continue avoiding me."

"What—" started Ababa, voice instantly rising in volume and in several pitches. It was actually kind of impressive. "—did you want with Gray?"

Arsen scoffed. He glanced at me, but answered anyway, smirking at Ababa. "Simple," he said, "I offered him a chance to win the Wind Stone from me in Direct Hit Battle. You simply mustn't send him after Cobalt Blade until he does so."

"Wait, we have one of the Legend Stones?" I couldn't help it. Here I'd been trying really hard to find them, when our fucking doctor had one?

"That isn't your call to make," said Ababa, ignoring me. He was barely controlling his voice and taking it back down to his usual, even tone.

"I don't give a damn," replied Arsen. This time, he turned to me. "Care to step out, boy?"

"Hell no," I snapped, and no matter what, they weren't going to get me to sit out of this. I've wasted so much time looking for these damn Stones, and knowing there was one here all along...I was not sitting out of anything related to them again. Besides, why didn't Arsen pick me for the Stone?

"Very well," said Arsen. He addressed Ababa again, "I will give Gray three tries, once at the end of each year for the next three years."

"Arsen, this demand is ridiculous," said Ababa. "We need Gray to find Cobalt Blade as soon as possible!"

"He's not ready," replied Arsen, "But I've sensed that he may just be worthy of being my successor."

"And if he doesn't win the Stone from you at the end of three years?" Ababa narrowed his eyes, not even hiding his anger.

Arsen sneered. "Then you'll have to find someone else to search for Cobalt Blade, because I shall ensure Gray will be...indisposed."

He turned to leave, but Ababa called out to him just as he reached the door.

"Arsen!" It wasn't often Ababa raised his voice to this level anymore. "I will acquiesce to your absurd plans and let Gray battle you...but you will pay for this."

"Ah...I shall look forward to my punishment then," said Arsen. He spun just long enough to wink at Ababa, and then he'd slipped out the door.

"...I'm gonna fuckin' barf," I said. Whatever existed between that old man and Ababa wasn't something I needed to know about that.

"He did give you a chance to leave," was all Ababa said, amusement mingling with the irritation in his voice as he returned to the orb.

♪♪♪

I dont know where I learned this little song.

I just always knew it, some kind of melody that has stuck with me through the years. It played over and over in my head...until I learned to play the notes. I kept to myself, letting the notes flow through the leaf against my lips, letting this tune go...

Who taught it to me?

♪♪♪

I'd gone out to Galetoon, ignoring the small crowds of B-daplayers making their way to the B-Coliseum there. On any other day, I wouldn't have minded crushing every one of them, even if the B-Coliseum was filled with losers who couldn't hold a single B-daball to me. But not that day. I wasn't there for anything related to B-daman.

I was there because I was outgrowing my bike real fucking quick. Hey, as effortless as it is for me to be cool, a bike that's meant for a you that was half your height now is not cool.

So there I was, in Galetoon, at the shop I got the bike from.

"Ah, my least favorite human," the mechanic had said when I rolled into her garage where a giant 'No B-daman allowed!' sign greeted me. She was a Robot named Jupiter, a really old one. She'd been swapping out her parts for new ones, but it was obvious she wasn't getting them as sets. On that day, everything about her had changed again from the last time I'd come in. Robots were kind of interesting for that. They were like B-daman in the way they could customize themselves, though most of them stuck to one look as much as they stuck to service jobs. Most of them also didn't talk like people.

"My least favorite Robot," I replied. "Your taste is getting worse—the hell is that yellow leg?"

She was mostly pink and green with some brown that day, but one of her legs was a different shape from the other and was a bright yellow. The only thing that never changed about her was the purple orb on her chest, shining like a B-daball every time I saw it.

She waved her green hand dismissively. "Traded for it with some traveler last week," she said, coming over to my bike. Everything that wasn't today was 'last week' to her, so who knew when that actually happened. "Okay, what's going on here?"

I stood next to the bike, one hand on the seat, and straightened up to my full height. This fucking growth spurt...

Jupiter took a moment, looking between the bike and me. Her creators didn't give her eyes, just a glowing yellow visor that took in all the info she needed and processed it for her, so the only reason I could tell what she was looking at was the way she was turning her entire head.

"I see," she said. "See, this is why you should have waited till you were fully grown before you got a bike. I'll never understand you humans."

"Well? Can you raise it? Or make it bigger?" I demanded.

She began to circle both me and the bike, coming to a stop opposite from me. She nodded. "Yeah, I can. It'll take a while since I'll have to get the parts for you. Hey, you still work with that weird evil Cat?"

I snorted. "That's none of your business."

"I ask 'cause he came by last week," she said, "Threatened me a bit. Said something about...Legend Stones? Whatever that is."

I froze, staring at her. Ababa had come by here? Why would he look for the Legend Stones in some dingy shop in Galetoon?

The purple orb on her chest suddenly caught my eye, and with the sunlight at just the right angle, I thought, for a moment, that I saw something else in it. If it was what I thought it was...then I needed her to trust me.

"No clue why he'd do that," I said.

Time to start a little personal project of my own.

♪♪♪

At the end of the year, all of us agents gathered to watch Gray battle Arsen.

Arsen wasn't just a doctor, but then I guess we all just forgot that he used to be a B-daplayer elite himself. It wasn't until he brought out his B-daman, Boreas, that I realized I'd seen him before. When I first came to the Shadow Alliance...

He wore the Wind Stone proudly on his chest, showing it off to everyone watching, taunting Gray with it. Gray said nothing, going through the motions of greeting a challenge.

Boreas versus Chrome Zephyr. The Shadow Alliance's Winter Wind versus a Wintoon rookie.

Gray stood no chance.

♪♪♪

I wasn't going to let Gray miss training. Even with his brutal loss yesterday, he was an elite candidate, and that meant he was going to get back up and march his ass back into the training room.

At least, that's what Ababa demanded, and he'd sent me along to find Gray and drag him back into training by the poncho if I had to.

So I made my way to his suite. For some reason, Ababa had given him a suite of rooms like what I and the brothers had. He wasn't an elite yet, so it made no sense.

I stopped just outside. The door was ajar just a crack. What the fuck? I stepped closer, as quietly as I could, and took a peek inside.

Gray was sitting on his bed, facing the window on the far wall. He was slumped over in defeat, and he wasn't alone. Wen sat beside him.

"I'm just saying," Wen said, leaning against Gray. "Are you that much of a chicken or what?" Gray must have replied to him too quietly for me to hear, because Wen then added, "C'mon, don't say that! How're you gonna face your sister if you do that? I wouldn't be able to face Li..."

I narrowed my eyes as this went on.

"No, Gray...Enjyu's just a big jerk," continued Wen, again in response to something I couldn't hear, "I wouldn't listen to him too much. Enjyu's always been like this to me and Li. It's cause he hates everyone, and he probably hates me more than he hates you."

I kept still. It was like someone had just shot me in the chest with a double weight B-daball. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. What the fuck? Why? I don't feel anything. I'm not supposed to feel anything...

This was just like back when...

"Gray—wait, the door's not lock—"

I watched just long enough to see Gray kiss Wen.

It was a lot more forceful than I thought Gray was capable of, but Wen didn't fight him. Wen didn't shove him away as they descended onto Gray's bed. Wen didn't stop kissing him back. In fact, it looked like this was something they were both used to.

I walked away.

So that's how it was.

I started heading back to my suite. I could put off training for a day, given I had a lot of planning to do. Ababa would just have to get over it.

♪♪♪

I dreamt about Wen...

♪♪♪

I watched Li step out of Ababa's office. He began to walk down the corridor as if he'd just been passing by; he didn't know that I was right behind him.

"Yo, Li," I said from where I leant against the wall.

He whirled around to face me, and I had to give him credit for not panicking or anything. Instead, he was his usual calm and composed self.

"Enjyu," he greeted me. "Is there something you want?" A pause. "Is it something about Wen?"

Yes, your brother is the most infuriating, most annoying, most idiotic, cutest—

"Nah," I answered, "Just wanted to see how you're doing. You know, since we're such great pals."

Li sure didn't look like he believed me. He squinted at me, obviously trying to figure out what I was really after. "Yes, great pals," he said, tone flat, "What do you want, Enjyu?"

"Care to spar with me?" I asked. It was the best way to have a conversation, after all, either in the midst of a battle or immediately after one. Most B-daplayers let their guard down and were too caught up in the game while they fought. Most B-daplayers were idiots. Li wasn't one of them.

"Just me?" He was still eyeing me suspiciously.

"Just you," I answered.

He still didn't look convinced, but he agreed to it anyway.

I toyed with him in our battle, letting him think he could beat me a few times, but I just wasn't going to let it happen in the end. We didn't banter much during the match, and that's where Li differed from Wen. He was all business, caring more about getting the match done than about what I had to say.

That was fine, because once I'd finished him off, he holstered Rekuso and circled the field over to me.

"What's really your game, Enjyu?" he asked, and this time, he didn't look interested in me playing around with him.

I could respect him a little bit, I had to admit. "I swear I'm not up to anything," I told him. "Just tell me—how are things with you and Wen?"

He tensed up, and he was trying not to show his emotions, but I could see the frown edging its way onto his lips, and the twitching of his eye. Something was wrong between him and Wen.

"Things are fine," he said.

"Really," I said, looming over him with my full height. He'd yet to go through a growth spurt like me, and that meant I pretty much towered over him. And most folks, really. If I wanted to punt Ababa now, I totally could. "Feels like I haven't seen you two hanging out together in a while."

"We do so still hang out," protested Li, glaring up at me, but I just raised my eyebrow at him and waited. Finally, he sighed and said, "I've been busy with...Ababa's orders."

Ababa's orders, huh? What kind of secret missions were they up to? Just one more thing to try investigating if I could make use of the info somehow. One thing was for sure though—if Ababa was giving Li work to do entirely on his own, then Wen really wasn't important at all.

"And Wen?" I asked, "He's been spending a lot of time with Gray, huh?"

"They've been training together," replied Li, but I didn't miss the way his tone was practiced, or the way his gaze dropped away for a moment. He was lying, covering for Wen, because of course he was. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"No, there isn't," I said, sneering at him. "You know Gray's going to outrank you both when he wins the Wind Stone?"

"Yes, and?"

"Just something to think about," I told him. "Oh, and Wen better not be dragging Gray down in training."

Li grit his teeth at me, jaw clenching, which actually was surprising since he rarely showed most emotion at all. "My brother," he stated, taking a step toward me, "Is not as terrible a B-daplayer as you and Ababa seem to think!"

He glared up at me, making firm eye contact even though I was way taller than him now. I could hurt him all I wanted if I was so inclined, and no one could do anything about it.

"That what you fucking believe?" I asked him.

"Unlike you, Enjyu," he answered, "I'm capable of caring about my brother for more than his battle skills."

I rolled my eyes, even if his statement was making me consider some interesting questions. I didn't want to think about that right now.

"Yeah, whatever," I said, turning away from him. "Just take some time to think 'bout what I said. Thanks for the match."

There. I'd planted a seed for him to doubt everything about Wen and Gray. I was certain he knew about them. It'd just be weird if he didn't, since snooping around had told me they used Wen's room more frequently than they used Gray's.

Now I just had to wait for Gray to actually outrank them.

♪♪♪

Did I care about Wen? Is that what this is? Staring at him, dreaming about him, wanting to tear him apart inside and out for myself, wanting to make him listen to me and me alone, wanting to keep him away from Gray and Li...to make him need me the way I needed him...

Did I care about Wen...?

♪♪♪

"So...are you sure you're done getting taller? You look bigger than you did last week," said Jupiter as I walked up to her and my bike. She was a mix of bright blue and orange parts this time.

"I'll just make you fix it again if I'm not," I answered. "Is it done?"

"Yes!" she all but shouted, throwing her hands into the air. "It's done! I would have finished it anyway without you coming here every week to nag me."

Was "every week" what once a month for the past year felt like to her? Geez, who built this defective Robot?

"Oh relax," I told her, "Bet you're gonna miss my company now that I've got no reason to come around."

To my surprise, she fell quiet, turning her head to my bike. It really was done this time. Over the past year, I'd made excuses and found reasons for her to keep working on the bike. It was all so I could keep on visiting and making her used to me. The trick was to be consistent.

I wasn't really going to stop. I still haven't gotten her to talk about B-daman after all.

"Why would I miss the most annoying human ever?" she said. Jupiter circled my bike again, checking things here and there, then she turned to me and held her arms out toward it and presenting it to me. "What's that human saying? Ta-da!"

Jupiter began to step away as I approached the bike, but I was faster. Before she could turn away and keep me from getting a good look, I saw once again the emblem sitting in the middle of her orb—her core. I'd already confirmed what it was a few months ago, but the sight of it was a constant reminder that I still did not have it.

I swung myself onto the bike, and instantly felt the difference from the last time I'd ridden it. I could sit just right again, without having to bend my legs at some stupid angle, and the handlebars were just the right distance for me to hold. I hated to admit it but...

"Good job," I said, making it as clear as I could that I said that begrudgingly.

Jupiter wasn't the kind of Robot whose expression could change, but I could tell how smug she was when she said, "Did you expect anything less from a mechanic skilled as me?"

And there it was. The perfect opening.

"Yeah, but you're not a B-daman mechanic," I said, as I climbed back off my bike. I couldn't resist keeping my hands on it though. I was so ready to just get going.

She paused. "That doesn't have anything to do with this. Have you not read the sign—"

"Sure it does," I countered. This was it, the perfect opportunity to set her up. "I didn't expect much from you, since you're apparently not skilled enough to be a B-daman mechanic. They're the real stars when it comes to this stuff, you know."

"Oh, the nerve of this human..." she grumbled, looking directly at me. "I want nothing to do with your little toys."

So now she was trying to get a rise out of me in turn. I ignored it easily enough, quashing any faint indignation in me that wanted to protest against B-daman being called toys.

"Think about it," I said, grinning instead. "That's where the real B-dabucks are. You call yourself a mechanic without ever touching a B-daman?"

"Listen here, you little brat, I'm no stranger to B-daman at all—" Jupiter began, but suddenly she stopped and froze in place. I raised an eyebrow at her, my grin not even faltering, as she seemed to realize what she'd just begun to admit. She shook her head at me. "No, forget I said anything."

"No, I don't think I will," I said, stalking toward her, "What were you saying there about B-daman?" She backed away as I came closer and continued. That was the problem with a Robot like her; I couldn't tell what she was thinking at all. "Are you a B-daplayer, Jupiter?"

I didn't actually know all too much about Robots, but for some reason, I had this feeling that those words changed something. Jupiter simply went still. She didn't respond for so long that I thought I'd broken her, but then—

"I AM THE MODEL JUPITER E.H.U., B-DAPLAYER EMULATION ENGAGED," she intoned flatly, more like the few other Robots I'd met before. Her visor flashed a clear blue. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO B-DABATTLE?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes."

She paused, and her visor began to flash again. The white lines that ran all over her head suddenly turned red. "I AM CURRENTLY UNEQUIPPED WITH A B-DAMAN. ONE CHALLENGER QUEUED. CANCELLING IS NOT AN OPTION AT THIS TIME. PLEASE CONTACT ADMINISTRATOR M.B."

Her visor returned to its usual yellow color, but the lines on her head stayed red, and she stumbled away from me. Huh, what the fuck was all that about?

"Jupiter?" I called, just to see if she was back to normal.

"Do you even realize what you've done?" she snapped. She leaned against a worktable full of tools and parts, supporting herself with one arm. When I said nothing, she continued, "You've put me in battle mode. I won't be able to do damn near anything until we have a B-dabattle."

"Why would a mechanic have a battle mode?"

"That's none of your business!" She began to pace around, though her face kept turned towards me as she went back and forth. "Humans! I swear!"

"Why don't we just B-dabattle then?" I asked. I didn't see what the issue was. If she needed a B-dabattle, then I was right here. I lowered a hand to where Lightning Kahn sat in its holster. "Duh, solves all your problems."

"I...don't have one," she said quietly. "I sold all the B-daman I was equipped with to start this shop."

I turned and went back to my bike. "Then you better find one," I said. I hopped on and began to get my bike ready, grinning at her, "See you in...how's a year sound?"

"A...a year!" she exclaimed.

"Try not to rust in that time!" I shouted over my bike's engine. I sped off, out of her shop and into the street. I heard her shouting after me, but there was nothing she could do to stop me.

♪♪♪

"This is a great responsibility I am entrusting to you, Enjyu," Ababa had said, when he'd first told me about the Legend Stones. "There are six of them, and we need all six to acquire the great power they guard. Now, remember, they can only be won in battle, not taken."

I'd just nodded then, because that was back when I listened to him. That was back when I was his always-obedient little soldier. "Just tell me where to go," I'd said.

Ababa had smiled. I'd wanted to think at the time that it was a genuine one of pride, that he was proud of me. That probably wasn't what it was.

"With my magic seeking out their locations and your excellent battling skills taking out all who oppose us, I'm certain it won't be long till we acquire them all."

How wrong he'd turned out to be.

♪♪♪

It wasn't often Ababa needed me to team up with someone, but this time, Ababa had assigned Wen to travel with me.

I wasn't that happy about it, so I was getting back at him by taking my bike.

"Let's see..." Wen said as we reached Tsubakura City's outskirts. I stopped the bike, and I felt Wen pull one arm away from around me to unfurl the map Ababa had given us. "Ababa said it wasn't too clear but we should find this thing somewhere near a big waterfall."

I squinted at the landscape before us, with its rolling green hills and a big stream running through. The city broke the horizon with its tall, angled buildings.

"C'mon, let's get this over with. Hold on," I warned him, and I heard him crumple up the map before feeling his arm around me again. Damn you, Ababa, for sending us on this together. Damn you, Li, for having some kind of secret mission that he couldn't just come with Wen instead. And damn you Wen, for being too fucking cute.

I didn't glance back, just kicked off. We sped down the hills, circling Tsubakura City but never approaching it. One of the Legend Stones was out here, but where the hell were we going to start looking? Wouldn't it make sense to look for it inside the city?

I found the biggest waterfall they had, and came to a stop on the edge. Wen made a noise, and I had a feeling he'd been afraid that I was going to drive us right off. He was quick to unwrap his arms from around me and jump off the bike.

"There's fucking nothing down there," I said, as I hopped off after him. I peered over the edge and confirmed what I'd said. There was just more river and more grass and more trees. Nothing resembling where you'd hide a Legend Stone.

"What if it's in the water?" said Wen.

I looked at him. "That's a stupid idea. Why would it be in the water?"

"Well," he said, with a big dumb grin, "That's exactly why it'd be there—you wouldn't expect it!"

"That's so fucking stupid." I rolled my eyes at him.

He frowned at me. "Your face is stupid."

Oh for the love of...we were not getting into some dumb exchange about this. "Shut up and focus on the mission," I told him, which just earned me an annoyed grumble. I turned from the edge, starting back toward my bike. "There's got to be some way down there..."

"You're just too chicken to jump off."

What?

I looked over my shoulder to glare at him. "What?"

"You heard me," he said, jerking a thumb at the waterfall behind him. "You're just too chicken to jump off this waterfall."

I just stared at him for a long, long moment.

"I knew you were fucking stupid," I said, "But not this stupid. Let's go."

Wen didn't move. Instead, he was rooted to his spot, gazing at me with this weird...intensity. I barely stopped myself from shuddering, and even then that was only because I suddenly couldn't move either. Some part of me was yelling, angry that I wasn't just leaving him there and driving off, but the rest of me was stuck.

"C'mon, Enjyu," he said, and I could still hear him perfectly over the roar of the waterfall. "If the Legend Stone's down there, then jump and get it...if you're not too much of a coward."

Something in me flipped, hearing those words. I didn't hesitate, striding as close as I could to the edge on the rocky cliff we were on. The falls roared, on and on, like it was crying to me.

"Fine, I'll go and get it myself," I heard myself say, and without another thought, I leapt.

I was halfway down before it occurred to me that Wen had just successfully tried to kill me—

I came to with a gasp for breath, coughing up water as I sat up. My chest burned and my vision swam.

"Enjyu!" It was Wen coming into focus, sitting by my side with a bright red face cast orange by a fire light. A terrified look was plastered across his face, one that swiftly turned into a look of relief. "Geez, you had me...look, you're crazy, okay?"

"Me? Crazy? You're the one who yelled at me to jump." I shivered, it was cold here...and a glance down at my bare chest told me why. "Where's my shirt?"

Wen's face managed to get even redder, and he gestured somewhere behind me. "Drying by the fire," he said. "I, uh, figured you wouldn't wanna catch a cold. Enjyu—I don't know why I wanted you to throw yourself off that cliff...I don't know what came over me."

And I had no idea why I'd let him get to me, why I'd jumped off anyway. It didn't make any sense! I grunted at him and started picking myself off the grass, frustrated with this entire mission.

I glanced at the little campfire Wen had started, where my shirt and pants sat by it. We were on the riverbank, in a little grassy clearing. The waterfall I'd just survived thundered away a little further down the river.

Wait, my pants...well, that explained why Wen was so damn flustered.

I pulled myself up to my full height, and it was honestly pretty funny that when Wen stood up too, he just barely came up to my shoulders.

"Save the excuses for the next time you try to kill me," I told him. I wanted to keep encouraging any guilt he was harboring, but I was admittedly feeling worn out for once and I was pretty fucking over this dumb mission.

"You could have not jumped instead though," he grumbled at me as I strode closer to the fire.

As the fire's warmth washed over me, a tiredness suddenly set into my limbs, and I could feel it racing up to my mind with each motion I made. I'd only felt like this once before in my life.

"As mission lead, I say we head into the city and stay the night," I said, thinking of the measly allowance Ababa had given me for this trip. Whatever Legend Stone was out here wasn't worth it. And why was I so fucking tired?

"...oh man, I've been wanting to try some of their cuisine!"

It sure took him only a moment to switch gears. I grabbed my clothes, and turned to face Wen, who was now sporting a big eager grin.

"Where's my bike?" I demanded.

"Still up top," he answered, before quckly adding, "I didn't try driving it."

"Good to know you can do something as simple as not taking my bike," I said. I didn't wait for his reaction as I began putting my shirt back on. "Let's go get it."

♪♪♪

"This child you sent me is an embarrassment, Ababa."

I had looked up, and I'd watched as Ababa's face appeared on the giant orb sitting on its stand. My master stood before it, her great brown wings folded against her back. I had been on the floor, because I'd found that the result of today's training combined with the daily training since I'd arrived here...was that I couldn't move at all.

"Enjyu is a particularly strong battler," Ababa had said. "He can handle any and all training methods and trials you throw at him."

"Is that so?" my master had hissed. She'd turned to me, giving me full view of her massive clawed feet and, not for the first time, I'd wondered if she was about to cut me open with them one day. I couldn't raise my gaze any higher as she spoke. "I wonder then why he cannot do something as simple and dignified as pick himself off the ground."

I had gritted my teeth, her words driving an immense anger into me, stirring something deep in me. I curled my fists against the dirt floor, and...something snapped. I was on the floor in Hell, letting this Bird literally talk down to me. I'd escaped from that rundown, trash city with its traitors and losers, and I'd taken control of my life...This was nothing compared to everything I'd been through before.

"Who the fuck..." I started, as I gathered everything in me and staggered to my feet. "...are you calling an embarrassment?"

My master had watched me without a word and without changing her cruel expression. It had been a long moment of me standing there, barely stable on my feet, and her watching, before she turned away.

"Training continues at dawn," she had said, stern as ever. "You are dismissed."

♪♪♪

"You're late," Ababa said when I sauntered into his office with Wen trailing in after me. "And here I thought that infernal machine was supposed to be faster than my preferred travel method..."

"It wasn't fucking there." I had no intention of putting up with his shit. I was still pretty fucking tired, and I'd spent half the night dealing with Wen until I kicked him out of our room. Not to mention wasting another day searching Tsubakura City and the forests around it for any sign or story of the Legend Stone. Worse still was the random Robot that had started harrassing us. And then, after all that, there'd been the drive back with Wen bitching my ears off nonstop. "Reports'll be ready tomorrow, but that's all you actually need to know. Legend Stone wasn't there. Your tracking's faulty, Ababa."

A soft chuckle was the answer to that, but not from Ababa. It was Li, stepping out from the shadows of the office. "I assure you," he said, "My scrying was as precise as possible. There must have been a defense in place working against you."

"Li!" shouted Wen, shoving past me to get to his brother, "This is where you've been for the past week?"

"Hi, brother," said Li with a slight nod. He didn't seem to care at all as Wen rushed to his side and began to fuss over him. "Yes, this is the culmination of my secret missions for Ababa."

"I tested Li for magical aptitude and he proved to have exceptional potential," said Ababa, "I have been training him privately for this. Now then, if you were truly thorough and still did not find the Legend Stone...Li must be right about a defense mechanism. Did you encounter anything or anyone strange in your search?"

I thought of the way Wen and I had acted atop the waterfall, how I hadn't been able to move or do anything except listen to Wen's insistence that I jump.

"Oh! There was one thing—" started Wen, but I cut him off.

"It'll be in the reports," I said, uninterested in hearing Wen recount that embarrassing shit. He shot me a glare as I continued, "Now, whether any of you like it or not, I'm headed out."

I ignored all their protests as I stormed out; there was a nice spot out by Saitoon that no one visited. Grassy, weirdly well-kept. Perfect place for a long fucking nap. Sure, I had my own suite in headquarters, but Ababa would probably just send someone after me if I stuck around.

♪♪♪

Saitoon was further out from the Cowtoon Wastes, where a river turned dirt into grass, where the hot sun that bore down on the Wastes turned into a pleasant sunny warmth. It was also a really boring place, perfect for plopping my ass down on some random lawn under a tree and getting some actual fucking sleep.

♪♪♪

"I can't lose...again..." Gray whispered to himself desperately as Arsen impassively sent another barrage of B-daballs at him.

I stood with Wen and Li and Ababa, watching as Gray tried to counter. It was the end of another year, and that meant Gray's second attempt at the Wind Stone. Ababa had invited not just us, but this year's entire batch of recruits too, and with them came the Shadow Alliance's head trainer.

Goldo stood at attention before three rows of recruits watching the battle attentively, his arms crossed as he watched the field. Every so often, he'd laugh and throw out criticism of Gray and praise for Arsen. No one else in the audience spoke, and his trainees hung onto his every word.

I'd given them a glance over earlier. They were pathetic as far as B-daplayer skill went, trained en masse over a year instead of personally honed and refined into perfect weapons like me and other, older elites who'd gone to Hell. Sure, they were good enough, but none of them would last long in Hell. They were the kind of B-daplayers that had made Ababa stop sending recruits up there, after all.

"Take this!" shouted Gray, firing off a barrage of his own.

Arsen never spoke during the match, only meeting each of Gray's shots with one of his own. His expression was always unreadable, letting his sheer control with Boreas do all the talking for him.

"I believe he's done toying with Gray now," said Ababa quietly.

He was right. The first hint of emotion since the start of the match appeared on Arsen's face—a slight smirk. I shivered, and it wasn't just me. I felt Wen shudder beside me, hands rubbing his own arms to try and stay warm.

Last time, Arsen had defeated Gray with simple shots. This time...the air grew more and more frigid, and power began to visibly gather in hia B-daman's barrel. Gray stood frozen, eyes wide as he took in the sight before him. Gray was skilled enough, after all, to sense when he was outclassed.

A wind, out of nowhere, swept through the room, and something changed. Gray fired, just once.

It didn't hit its mark. Arsen moved just in time—but the B-daball glanced right off Boreas' outer shell. It was the first time Gray had managed to hit Boreas at all.

Not that it mattered, because Arsen finally fired. The B-daball shot across the field, leaving not only a trail of ice, but kicking up a fierce whirling of winds all around the field. Everyone heard Chrome Zephyr's click, even as the impact sent Gray staggering backward.

Wen gasped. I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding.

The room was stil, save for Gray dropping to his knees in plain despair. I could see every bit of emotion coursing through him where I stood, every one of them clear on his face. Shock, anger, horror...he wasn't going on his search for Cobalt Blade any time soon, and the more that trip was delayed, the longer it would be before he could see Liena again.

I wondered if he knew the full effects of his failures, if he knew he had one more year to live if he kept going this way. I started laughing, reveling in the scene before me.

"And zat," spat Goldo from his side of the room a moment later, accent thick as ever, "Is a meringue cracking inside the oven."

With the silence broken, the room burst into activity. Goldo began to herd recruits back out of the training room, while Ababa strode over to chat with him. I turned to Wen, about to make some usual snide comment, when I realized he'd gone over to Gray's side instead, leaving Li with me.

Our gazes met for only a moment, and then Li was with Wen and Gray. Likely so they wouldn't look suspicious together since Wen was whispering something to Gray.

I glared at the three of them, but didn't move.

"A poor showing," said Arsen, approaching them. Wen and Li immediately stepped back over to me, as he addressed Gray. "I trust that's not the full extent of your abilities, Gray. I'll see you next year."

He swept past me on his way out, and I found myself staring at the Wind Stone, proudly displayed on his uniform. Sheer power radiated from it, and I could feel it just beckoning to me, urging me to come and take it. I knew better, so I stood back and just watched.

"It's not." Gray's voice cut through the noise of the room, coming out in a growl, and silence fell again as he pulled himself to his feet. He snatched Chrome Zephyr off the field and holstered it with a spin. "I'll be stronger next year, and I won't lose to you again."

"Big talk," said Arsen without a moment's hesitation, without even looking at Gray. "Pointless if you can't back it up."

And he was gone.

Wen sighed in relief once the doors swung shut behind Arsen. "Geez, Gray," he said, "I thought he was going to blast all of us just now."

"Wouldn't be worse than what he's going to do to Gray next year," I said with a grin.

♪♪♪

I caught Gray sneaking out, trying to walk right past me. I leant against the corridor wall, watching him from the shadows.

"Where do you think you're going?" I said.

He paused, refusing to turn back to me. "Out."

"Ababa know you're going?"

His shoulders tensed. "Yeah."

"Yeah?" I chuckled. "What, he secretly sending you on missions?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he started toward the exit again.

I frowned. "You sneaking out to find Cobalt Blade?"

Again, no answer. When he finally spoke again, it was a few steps later.

"When I get back," he said, completely ignoring my questions, "I'm going to train like I've never trained before, and you're going to stay out of my way."

I answered with a laugh, because Gray didn't get to boss me around.

♪♪♪

I strolled into Jupiter's shop, and immediately stopped in my tracks. It wasn't Jupiter sitting at the back of the shop, but some bored looking girl probably my age.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.

"Oh, are you Enjyu?" she asked, looking up at me with bright green eyes, expression never really changing.

I marched over to her, slamming a fist onto her worktable. Parts rattled about and this girl at least had the decency to look surprised. "Where the fuck is Jupiter?"

Her gaze dropped away. "She's out," she said, "Hired me a year ago so she could go out and B-dabattle people. Real weird that she'd up and leave to be a B-daplayer out of nowhere, huh?"

"Where is she?" I asked again, and this time I took out Lightning Kahn and put it on the desk in front of her, barrel facing her. It wasn't a threat I used that often, but given the way I looked nowadays, it would be a damn clear threat. "Don't make me ask again."

"I don't know!" exclaimed the girl, leaning back in her seat. "She said she'd be back in...um...well, she said two years so...another year?"

Another year. Next year. I pulled away, grabbing Lightning Kahn, and I began to laugh. One more year. Jupiter had found a way to get back at me. I wasn't going to let this slide when we had our battle.

"Um..."

I looked down at the girl Jupiter had hired. "What?"

"You never answered," she said, "Are you Enjyu?"

I grinned at her, and turned to leave. I already got what I needed to know from her, and any further time I spent here was time wasted not training. She called out again, as I reached the exit, and this time, I stopped.

This. Was. So. Annoying.

I was supposed to have my battle today.

I turned back around, and let loose all the frustration by shooting away at everything I could see. The noise of B-daballs crashing into anything and everything filled the air, mixing with the roar tearing out of my throat. I even made sure to obliterate that stupid 'No B-daman allowed!' sign for good measure.

When I ran out of B-daballs, I lowered Lightning Kahn. I panted for breath as I surveyed the scene. Tables turned over, things broken, parts all over the floor. Not much was realy breakable in this particular workshop compared to a certain other one I've destroyed before, but it was still...satisfying.

Jupiter's little messenger raised her head from behind her table, eyes wide with that fear I wanted to see.

"Listen," I said, raising my voice. "You find some way to tell Jupiter this—if she's not here next year, I'm destroying more than just her shit."

She didn't respond. I rolled my eyes. "That means you and everyone else in this backwards town," I said, and when I turned to leave this time, I was out.

One more year.

♪♪♪

I roared into headquarters' red sky, rapid firing into the huge metal targets all around me. I followed up with a power shot that tore screaming out of Lightning Kahn. Rage fueled my every press of the trigger, each metallic crash only heightening the blazing fury within me.

♪♪♪

We stood at the base of the mountain. Even from down here, the howling winds of the Valley of the Gale reached us.

"Here you go," I said, "Perfect place to train, if you can survive the climb."

Gray gazed at the rock cliff, narrowing his eyes. Maybe he was assessing the view before him.

"What's this about, Enjyu?" he asked, "Training? Up there?"

"Yeah," I said, smirking at him. "Ababa thinks you aren't training hard enough so he wanted me to come up with something for you...and what's a better place to train than this dump?"

Gray frowned, pacing along the bottom of the cliff as he looked it up and down. "I've heard about this place," he said quietly, "The winds here...you know Enjyu, this just might be a good idea."

"What?" I stared at his stupid hat, wondering what he was talking about.

He faced me, grinning broadly. It wasn't the same kind of expression he might have worn back in Wintoon—his eyes were wide, mad with knowledge and realization. Those were the eyes I've always wanted to see, that hunger for power that I had always known Gray was capable of.

"You haven't battled him," he said, tone barely controlled, almost a growl, "You haven't felt what he can do. The harsh conditions in this valley...if I climb this mountain and train up there everyday...I'll get stronger. I'll get stronger and defeat him..."

There! There it was! He wasn't the same Gray that we picked up in Wintoon anymore. I returned his grin with my own and laughed heartily. Few things delighted me as much as seeing someone break so thoroughly like this.

"That's right, Gray," I said, making sure he knew exactly how much I approved of this. "Strength and power are all that really matter, but you knew that already, didn't you?"

He fell quiet again, his grin dropping as he effected a neutral look for me. He was putting his guard back up, and I could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew exactly how close he was to becoming a full member of the Shadow Alliance—heart, body, mind, and soul.

"You're wrong..." answered Gray, but it was a feeble answer.

He knew, I could see it in his eyes. He knew, as much as Ababa and I did, that once his trial was over, he was going to become one of the greatest agents of the Shadow Alliance.

And he hated that truth as much as I delighted in it.

♪♪♪

Three.

Three notes.

Three sets of notes.

Low, high, low.

High, low, high.

High, low, lower.

A melody of threes.

It rang clear in my head whenever I visited Gray at the Valley of the Gale.

♪♪♪

I was hashing out some mid-year plans with Ababa when the giant scrying orb changed on its own.

"The fuck?" I grunted, looking over to it, which I immediately regretted. In the orb was the unfortunately familiar visage of my master from Heltoon. Just the sight of her made me shiver.

Ababa sighed and rolled his eyes, striding closer to the orb.

"Poor timing," he said to her through the orb. When she didn't reply, only narrowing her eyes at him past her beak, he continued, "Nara, does something require my attention?"

"Ababa," she said, in that cold tone of hers. "You have not sent a recruit since Liena. Our agreement was once a year."

"Ah, yes, well, Liena is a special circumstance," said Ababa, "She is not to graduate until her brother completes Arsen's trial, remember?"

"Did he fail again?"

"Yes, just hold her for one more year, let her tackle your trials."

"There is a problem with that," she said, shaking her head. She actually looked...proud when she continued. "Liena has already beaten them all. A powerful player, that girl..."

"No fucking way," I blurted out. There was no way Liena had done everything Heltoon could foist onto her. Training in that town was hell, but the trials were how most candidates died.

"Ah, my most rebellious student," she said, gaze on me now. "And most foul-mouthed still. Despite your disbelief, it is absolute truth that Liena has beaten every trial that you did not."

"So you want to send her back already," said Ababa, quickly coming between us with a tilt of his head. "If she's at good as you say, then she will be a welcome addition to the elite unit."

"You cannot make her an elite."

Ababa blinked in surprise. "And why is that?"

"Because Liena has also successfully resisted every teaching about the way of the Shadow," answered Nara with a grimace. "I will keep her for another year as you ask, but I expect to fail her when I send her back."

As if on cue, we heard a door slam open in the background, on my master's end. "Is that Ababa, Master Nara?" Liena's voice came through as clear as day, carrying in it a curious respect...and none of the fear that should have been in it.

"Master Ababa, Liena," said Nara, addressing her as she stepped aside to let Liena into view. "Come, see for yourself. And have some respect, girl."

This was bizarre and so fucking weird. Not even I had managed to get into her good graces, and here was Liena walking in and talking to her so casually.

Liena appeared in the orb, and she looked—she didn't really look that different, actually. There was just two things: she'd cut her hair to look like Gray, and a harsh expression full of hate adorned her face.

"Master Ababa," she spat in greeting. She looked to me, and opened her mouth to say something, but shut it instead and returned her gaze to Ababa.

"Ah, Liena, you're looking much stronger," said Ababa, face barely showing any of the approval he was voicing out loud.

"I am stronger," said Liena, smiling sweetly at us, "And when I come back, I'm going to save my brother and destroy the Shadow Alliance."

Her declaration fell into a shocked silence. I sure didn't know what to fucking say.

Nara reappeared in the orb, shoving Liena away from it. "Impudent girl! I told you to stop saying such things!" She turned back to us. "As you can see, that part of her training has not progressed well and she will be punished for this utmost disrespect. Ababa, you know what to do when she returns."

It took Ababa a long moment to regain his composure, his eyes wide with an anger I hadn't seen in a long time. "...yes, I know exactly what to do."

She faded from view, leaving the orb a still and silent purple, and the two of us alone.

♪♪♪

Galetoon's air was always so still. Small breezes passed through it, but they never lingered. Galetoon had a B-Coliseum, but not much else went on. This was where the world ended. This was where stray winds came to die.

But those winds that passed over it proceeded to the Valley of the Gale, where they were buffeted by each other, tempered by the constantly raging storm made up of their brethren. Few were the winds that escaped the Valley, but those that did grew to be tempests in their own right. Those were the storms that deserved to be feared.

♪♪♪

Jupiter was waiting for me when I arrived.

Gone were all the tables of her workshop, all the tools and parts she had once tinkered with. In their place stood a single battlefield...and her.

Her visor was a harsher yellow than usual, a sickly light in the dim shop. For the first time since I'd met her, all her parts matched, a striking purple that matched the orb in her chest. She didn't move when I came in.

"I see you've swapped the stupid shorts for equally stupid leather pants," she said in greeting.

"And you're actually color coordinated for once," I countered. "Aw, did you dress up for the special occasion?"

"You don't know what you've actually done to me," she said. "These past two weeks have been hell. I've done nothing but train, because my directives won't let me do otherwise."

"I don't give a shit about your sob story," I said. Two weeks, not two years? That might have been interesting if I wasn't focused on our match already. I strode over to my side of the field, ready to pull out Lightning Kahn. "There's only one thing I care about."

She mirrored me, taking up position at the field. "And that would be?"

"The Legend Stone," I said, smirking at her, "In your core. That's what this match is about."

"Ah, so that's the truth," she said, raising a hand to the core in question. "Did that evil Cat figure it out? Or did you realize it for yourself? Hmph, that doesn't matter, I suppose..."

"Are you going to keep blabbing or are you going to battle?" I snapped. I took Lightning Kahn out of its holster and set it down on the field.

Once again, she mirrored me, taking out her own B-daman. "Do you even know what you're asking? If you win this battle..."

"I get the Legend Stone. I know the story better than you think," I said.

"And it will come with a great cost," she said. "But very well. Are you ready, challenger?"

"I was born ready."

It was just like two years ago, as those words changed something. She stood tall, hands on her B-daman, and once again, she spoke like a regular Robot. "CHALLENGER READY. TRAINING MODE DISENGAGED. EMINENT FLARE DEPLOYED. STRENGTH LEVEL SET. STAKE: LIGHTNING STONE. READY."

"Set," I said in response. Somehow, that seemed right to say, and I loaded up Lightning Kahn. My grip tightened, thumb on the trigger. If I could end this in one shot...

"B-dafire!" I shouted, as Jupiter vocalized it too.

We fired at the same time, B-daballs rushing at each other. I dodged hers, and she did the same. I fired away, and she met each shot with one of hers. So it wasn't going to be just one shot after all. Maybe she'd actually provide me with a challenge?

No, apparently not. It didn't take me long to realize she was doing the same as she'd been since I walked into the room: mirroring me.

Every movement, every shot I made, she was doing the exact same thing.

I stopped firing, and so did she.

"Is this some kind of fucking joke?" I yelled.

"You didn't think I'd make this easy for you, did you?" she asked, still not firing. "You didn't think I wasted these past two weeks, did you? Not only did I train, I traveled beyond the Wastes and learned all about your reputation, Enjyu. You've blazed a trail of pain across the B-daworld and you've left destruction in your wake, all in the name of the Shadow Alliance. No, I would stand no chance against you if this were a regular battle."

"So you're just going to copy everything I do," I hissed, "You think a stupid little trick like that is going to let you beat me?"

"I don't need to beat you," she answered, visor directed straight at me, "I just need you to not win."

I shot at her with a frustrated grunt, shots that she matched again. B-daballs collided and were each flung away. I snatched one from the air with my reload hand, feeling its momentum against my glove. I closed my fingers around it and dropped it back into Lightning Kahn.

Jupiter waited.

So that was the game. I smirked at her, but she said nothing when I fired off some power shots.

She matched them too. B-daballs crashed into each other and held in place, momentum fighting for the right to keep going. Seconds later, they each leapt away.

I was getting bored with her.

And I realized that was what she wanted. She wanted me to stop this battle out of boredom and walk away.

Jupiter had completely misunderstood me.

I laughed. Jupiter was wrong. She might have thought she was making this hard for me by matching me with equal power, but instead she'd made it easier than if she'd actually fought back.

She watched me in silence.

I fired. She fired back.

I fired a power shot. The same thing.

I grinned. I fired another power shot. She returned it.

As the B-daballs collided and fought in place, I fired again, and this time, I poured all my power into it, all my strength, every last fucking ounce of me.

The sheer power in this shot sent it across the field, slamming into my previous shot. Her B-daball flew off as sparks of lightning formed between my two shots from the impact, propelling them, arcing against each other as they raced across the field.

Jupiter realized too late that I'd broken through her defense. "No!" she screamed. Light and smoke engulfed her as the B-daballs reached her end of the field.

I still heard the click.

I rounded the table, and when the smoke cleared, I stood over her as she lay in a heap by the field.

"CHALLENGER WINS," she intoned, yet she was shaking her head. "THE LIGHTNING STONE IS Y—No, no!—FOR THE TAKIING—" As she spoke, as she fought with herself, the panels on her chest began to open with a faint whirring, and I quickly found myself presented with her core.

This time, I could see the Lightning Stone clearly in it, its golden markings a sharp contrast to the purple surrounding it. The sight drew me in...I could feel the power in it, just like with the Wind Stone. It called to me.

This was destiny.

I moved to take it, and felt a hand on my leg. A glance down told me Jupiter had reached out to grasp at me, her visor flashing in warning.

"Please, don't," she begged pathetically, "Don't take the Stone. Just leave it here...please..."

"So that's why you stopped battling," I said. I closed my fingers around the core. "So you'd never be put in this situation. Am I wrong? No, you don't need to fucking answer that when it's so obvious. You were a wimp all along."

"No, please," Jupiter cried, "I just don't want to die—!"

I yanked the core away from her, and she instantly went still.

Only a second later, her body collapsed backward. The panels on her chest returned to their original positions, and I was left with the now-glowing orb in my hand and and a nonfunctional robot body at my feet.

The orb was warm, and I held it up to the meager light filtering in from the door. The Lightning Stone sat in place, shining faintly.

I raised it up high into the air, and hurled it onto the floor.

The orb shattered, sending the Lightning Stone clattering. I knelt and plucked it off the floor, ignoring the faint whirring that was filling the air now.

I could feel its power even more as it sat there in my hand.

The Lightning Stone was mine, and I earned it all on my own.

♪♪♪

I got on my bike, and just drove. The wind whipped my hair back, my bike kicked up dust and sand after me.

I drove, and drove, and when dark clouds gathered on the horizon of the Wastes, when thunder boomed in my ears and rain began to sweep past me, I laughed and roared into the sky and drove straight into the storm.

Nothing could stop me now.

Nothing.

♪♪♪

Tension filled the air as Arsen's relentless barrage sped toward Chrome Zephyr.

Another year, another match, and this time, it was possibly Gray's last battle ever. Once again, I stood with Ababa, and once again, we watched as Gray desperately tried to defend himself.

But something was different about him. I could tell just from examining the way he dodged each of Arsen's B-daballs. His footwork was better too, and this time, he moved like nothing was holding him back anymore.

And when Arsen's shots paused a second, Gray smirked.

He began to fire and load simultaneously, a swift counterattack unlike anything we'd seen him do before. Surprise lasted only a moment on Arsen's face, but it wasn't long enough for Gray to get a single hit in as he dodged with his usual speed.

"C'mon, Gray..." mumbled Wen next to me. I shot him a glare, but he was too absorbed in the match before us to notice. "C'mon, you've got a plan..."

Did he know something I didn't? I returned my attention to the back-and-forth. Gray was flagging despite, or maybe because of, his sudden attack earlier.

A wave of disappointment passed over the room as Gray's shots became slower. This was going to end exactly like last time.

And it looked like Arsen agreed, because once again the air was getting colder, and once again the B-daball in Boreas' barrel began to glow.

"So little progress," he said, the first time he'd said anything at all during these matches. "I expected better from a son of Wintoon. Perhaps your sister will do better? Or will the little miss fail this badly too?"

When Gray didn't react and only grit his teeth, I knew something was up.

But Arsen hadn't spent time with him, hadn't seen the way he reacted when he thought someone threatened Liena. He had no way of knowing.

So when he fired and that B-daball sped across with its trail of ice and its flurry of winds, so when he thought he had won for the third time and Gray instead lifted Chrome Zephyr off the field, spun around, and fired into the wind, he was just as shocked as everyone else.

"The fuck," I mumbled, as Wen let out a whoop without thinking.

And amazingly, the B-daballs Gray fired rode the wind right around to Arsen's side of the field.

He fired three times, but only one of them needed to hit.

Everyone heard Boreas click.

♪♪♪

I had been standing at the edge of the cliff, feeling the winds rage on around me while that three note melody rang on in my head. I never really visited Gray here that often.

"Hey," I'd said aloud, listening to the sounds of Gray firing away as he trained behind me, "Think Liena could handle this?"

It had taken me a moment to realize the winds were all I could hear after that.

I'd turned around just in time to dodge Gray's punch, then the jabs after that. I'd ducked to the ground and rolled away from the cliff, jumping to my feet a good distance away from him.

He looked ready to murder me.

♪♪♪

I shouldn't have been surprised.

I leant against the wall, outside Gray's room.

I shouldn't have been surprised, that when I'd pressed my ear to the door I heard Wen's voice twining with Gray's in celebration.

♪♪♪

Ababa was pleased after the match, of course. So pleased, he promoted Gray on the spot. It wasn't just his winning, but the little trick he'd used.

I had to admit, the amount of control you'd need in order to pretend you were losing...it was actually impressive that Gray had pulled it off.

And yeah, that wind trick wasn't bad either.

Not that I'd ever admit any of this to them.

♪♪♪

"Enjyu. Thank you for coming on short notice." Arsen greeted me as soon as I opened the door to his office. I paused, looking around to find piles of boxes rather than the neatly arranged room that the little clinic had always been. He was still in his B-daplaying gear, and he was seated at the only remaining table in the room.

"You're running away," I accused him with a smirk. My gaze went up to the cupboards behind him. No bottles or tools remained. "Ababa's going to send the hounds after you, you know."

"Oh yes, I'm well aware," he answered. "I'm the one who conceptualized an entire unit of Dogs after all...but I have little choice. With the Wind Stone in the hands of someone under his full control, Ababa has no more use for me and it won't be long before he has me disposed of. Come, sit."

I bristled at being told to do something by him, but I came over and sat anyway. Ababa had ordered me to find out what was going on, and I was going to see that much through before leaving him alone.

"Thank you for indulging me, now if you would but indulge me a little further." Arsen gestured at the table, where he'd set out two wineglasses and the only bottle left in the room. Some kind of wine. "Seeing how I'm already going on the run from Ababa, giving his favorite...agent a drink he's too young to drink certainly can't make anything worse."

I stared at him. Was he stupid? I wasn't going to drink something that he was offering, even if it would piss Ababa off. "The hell is this about?" I asked, not at all moving to pour myself any of it. "You didn't fucking call me here just to have a drink with me."

"You are correct, I did not." He raised an eyebrow at me, and began to pour wine for us both. "I merely thought to celebrate with you...somehow, you've acquired a Legend Stone, haven't you? And you haven't told Ababa, yes?"

"How the fuck..." I started, but I quickly stopped myself as I realized my mistake. "It's not one of the six Ababa wants."

"Regardless, they're powerful tools, and I'm pleased to hear that you've kept it all to yourself." Arsen beamed at me, picking up his glass. "Excellent move, it gives you some leverage against Ababa. Now then...we drink on his generosity."

Without waiting for me to bother with my glass, he toasted me and took a long sip. Now that I knew he knew about my Legend Stone though...like hell was I going to drink anything from him. Poisoning someone to take their Legend Stone was exactly the kind of shit real agents of the Shadow Alliance would pull, and there was a good reason this guy wasn't allowed to be a real doctor anymore.

"A wonderfully aged Petro Jade from Petro Kingdom," he said, as he set his now half-empty glass back down. "Ababa gifted it to me many years ago, when I returned from Saitoon with the Wind Stone. Has he told you how I acquired it?"

I shook my head. "Honestly, I don't care," I told him.

He chuckled. "A Robot had it," he said, ignoring what I'd just said. "A surprisingly easy match, that Robot. Curious, no? Of course, if Ababa were to gift me a Petro Jade for whatever reason now, I would have to throw it away."

"What, you scared of a little drink?" I said, mockingly.

He grimaced, and shook his head. "Shadows below! You must have realized by now that the life of a Legend Stone bearer isn't going to be easy. That must be why you've yet to tell Aba..."

Arsen trailed off, falling quiet. I blinked at him, trying to figure out now what the hell was going on.

"That sly cat, I always did love this side of him," he said, smiling. He leant back in his seat with a sigh. "I thought I tasted something curious and out of place in a jade as fine as this, but there it truly is in the aftertaste." His gaze met mine, and, for the first time since I'd met him, he looked as old as he actually was. "Don't drink the rest if you wish to continue bearing your Legend Stone. Ah, and my journals may have some valuable...information for you. Use the index. Wintoon. Last two entries."

And without further ado, he slumped over, leaving me sitting there, honestly kind of bewildered at all the shit he'd spewed before I could get a word in, and wondering just how Ababa would take this.

♪♪♪

Gray left not long after Arsen's death, but I had a feeling he'd stuck around for personal reasons instead of leaving for Cobalt Blade right away.

But the important thing was that Gray left, and that left Wen, and it was the beginning of an opportunity to make him mine.

I only have to wait a little longer...and then I'll strike when the chance comes.

♪♪♪

Arsen was as organized as they came, so it hadn't been hard to find the box he'd packed his journals in. I'd taken it to my suite with a big mug of strawberry milk and dug out each journal, and immediately found that he even had a dedicated index for his journals. Who the fuck did that?

I was curious, duh. I took a look at the oldest journal, a worn piece of a book dated more than forty years ago.

We met again today, the three of us. Ababa has a plan, a vision: control of the B-daworld. Perhaps lesser B-daplayers would have been shocked, perhaps lesser people would have questioned it.

Nara and I are not lesser people. I took her hand in mind, and as a pair we told Ababa that we would be his weapons if he so chose it.

Boring stuff.

I flipped through some of the others, but in the end I took to the index. Just how much of a neat freak had Arsen been? He'd listed every single topic he'd ever written about in forty years and meticulously written down which journal and which page he mentioned it.

Wintoon had several entries. He'd pointed me toward the last two, but I took a look at one of the older ones too. They were dated almost fifteen years ago.

It seemed only natural to come to Wintoon in my search for the Wind Stone. Her proud windmills spun every hour, everyday, even when there was little wind in the rest of the region, and the flowers here flourished without end. It had to be here somewhere.

Each entry went on like this. He'd searched long and hard for the Wind Stone and had spent a ridiculous amount of time describing the place. He also made friends in Wintoon, all toward finding that elusive Stone. I skipped on ahead to the penultimate entry on Wintoon.

At last, I confirmed it. The bearer of the Wind Stone is none of the friends I've made. It is instead Michael's seclusive wife.

I knew it would be my last day in Wintoon, so I wandered the streets. Here is how I discovered it was her:

Nah, that part was boring.

I took care to arrive unannounced, when it would only be Michael and Grace at home. I challenged Grace for the Wind Stone, much to both their shock. She handed her children, twins, to Michael and told me to meet her outside.

We battled. She was a ferocious B-daplayer, as expected of someone who had held the Wind Stone all her life. She did not care to use it against me. That was her mistake and the cause of her failure, for I had no qualms doing everything I could to take her down.

I claimed the Wind Stone, and then I killed Michael and Grace Vincent.

But the twins, so young and small...I knew, as I held them both in my arms, that I had made a grave mistake coming to Wintoon. It was not regret, but a curious sorrow that filled me. I would have brought them back with me, for that was what Ababa would have expected, but that did not feel right. If I let Borgnine raise them, they would grow as members of the Shadow Alliance.

It did not seem just, after having taken the Wind Stone and their parents' lives, to take them and condemn them to Borgnine's cruel methods. So I burned their home to erase all traces of their previous lives and my visit, and left them on the doorstep of their neighbor.

Ababa must never know that the bearer of the Wind Stone had children, so I shall fabricate a story about being led to Saitoon instead. Should I one day cross paths with Gray and Liena when they are grown...perhaps I will do what I can for them.

I set the journal down, and sat back. My milk sat untouched on my desk as I took the time to process everything I'd just read. I had plenty of answers now, but just as many questions.

And all I could really think, as I sat there, was what the actual fuck?

♪♪♪

Ababa, all things considered, took the news really well.

"It was about time," he told me, not at all looking bothered by the death of someone he'd known for forty years. He paused, examining my expression before continuing. "We considered each other friends, a long time ago. But you saw what he was like these past few years—undermining me at every turn."

"D'you think he was going to betray you eventually?" I asked.

"My dear Enjyu," he said with one of his sinister smiles, "I know he already did. You of all people should know that the kind of friendship we once had can lead only to betrayal."

He was right. I did know. It was the first lesson in life I learned, and here it was being confirmed to me time and time again. Everywhere I went, in every person I met and saw...friendships meant nothing in the end.

♪♪♪

I wanted to hop on my bike and just start driving, but today Ababa stood with me in headquarters' garage. It was a little weird to be here with him, but we couldn't risk anyone seeing our would-be guest.

"I suppose she shall have to be sent far, far away from the Wastes lest she run into her brother," mused Ababa, "I can think of a few places..."

"Petro Kingdom," I said without really thinking. I was distracted, still kinda caught up in what I'd learned from the journals Arsen had left me.

"Hm...that place," said Ababa, "Far enough to the south, yes, and we already have an arm there acquiring products for us. Excellent suggestion, Enjyu."

We waited in silence after that. Ababa was likely plotting something, and I just didn't feel much like talking. It wasn't much longer of a wait as the van from Heltoon arrived and grunts came over to help with unloading it.

Liena burst out the back of the van firing B-daballs everywhere, apparently having broken her restraints. Though the grunts around us panicked, Ababa and I stood perfectly still as they yelled in terror. While this was unexpected, it wasn't anything we weren't prepared for.

I held up a hand, and caught one of her shots.

"Enjyu," she said, coming to a stop in front of me, blaster still raised and pointed directly at my face. She glanced at Ababa, but focused on me instead. That was her biggest mistake.

"Welcome back," I said with a sneer. "Looks like you had a good time."

"Where's my brother?" she demanded. I heard the faint click that indicated she was getting ready to fire. "Tell me or I'll give you more than a second scar."

"He's out," I said. I looked her over, noting how she just exuded strength and confidence. If she'd completed every trial...maybe she really was my equal now. "So, training paid off, huh?"

"I agree with Enjyu," said Ababa, reaching up to remove his hat. "You must have had some eye-opening experiences."

His third eye opened, a familiar sight to me by now, and before Liena could react, his mind control beam hit her. She lowered her B-daman, expression falling slack and blank.

"Liena, my newest agent of the Shadow Alliance!" said Ababa, smiling as he replaced his hat. "I have a mission for you in Petro Kingdom."

She was quiet for a long moment, her gaze almost unsettling. I wondered if she was fighting it inside her head. Very rare were those who could break through Ababa's mind control, but knowing Gray, it stood to reason Liena would have as much willpower as him.

"Anything...for Shadow..." she finally said.

Or maybe not.

♪♪♪

I never told anyone what the journals said. It really was valuable information, but it wasn't information I could use, not when the only one I could blackmail with it was fucking dead. It was just something I'd have to save till later.

And when Gray finally contacted us another year later, I said nothing about his parents, because by then he'd found Cobalt Blade.

♪♪♪

Cowtoon sprawled out before me. I could see most of the town from the cliff that served as my vantage point, and I watched as our target sped through the streets.

This was the owner of the legendary Cobalt Blade? He was just some kid that raced cats. He was a bigger idiot than anyone else.

I leant against my bike, watching him run across the Wastes. I knew from one look that if I had to battle him, I would win. He was never going to beat me.

I'd seen enough. Gray's report said he was going after him tonight. We were all going to pile into Ababa's office; the Shadow Alliance would be watching the end of a legend before it even began.

This had all started with Cobalt Blade, and it was about to finally end. Once I've destroyed Cobalt Blade, we'll finally be able to turn all our efforts to the rest of the Legend Stones instead.

The Lightning Stone sat embedded in a choker I wore around my neck now, hidden in plain view. I was biding my time to reveal its existence, maybe when it was time to show the world I was the best. It pressured me with a weight that served as a familiar and constant reminder of what the Lightning Stone meant: power.

The power to take, the power to do whatever I wanted, the power to never be hurt by predictable betrayals, the power to be the best in the world.

And it was mine, and mine alone.