An Introduction

Saint Dane’s dreams were always troubled. It wasn’t that that bothered him about them, though. It was that his dreams were nothing more than swirling colors and shapes moving around constantly. Nothing was ever stable, always changing. He wasn’t sure why they were like that, they just were. The stranger part, however, was that despite them being void of any real meaning, he always felt bothered while he slept, and whenever he awoke. It was as if he were always running in his dreams. As if some ever looming creature of foreboding was always behind him, and no matter what he did he couldn’t escape it’s presence.

Whenever he awoke, the dream was never ever, not immediately, at any rate. He still felt as if the creature were behind him, and would often try to sleep against a wall, just for that extra bit of comfort it should have provided him, but did not.

The deep sleep state he entered after leaving the Pendulum was not much different. There was no absence of that strange “force” Saint Dane felt behind him at all times. The difference was, the thing revealed itself to him.

Saint Dane ran around a corner inside of his mind, only to come face to face with a tall, bulky alien. Large horns protruded from the creature’s head, and it looked as if his entire body were covered in some kind of natural armor. Saint Dane, in all of his glory, splendor, and worth, cowered against the corner of what he now recognized as a hallway.

The alien took another step towards him. His face was that of a warrior, with various scars and burn marks tracing it. He did not appear angry, but he put off an aggressive vibe all the same. Saint Dane nearly sobbed as the alien stopped in front of him, filling his view.

Saint Dane sensed that this alien was powerful being reckoning. Far surpassing himself, or Kami, or even the saiyan he had faced in battle several days back. Yes, he was defiantly their superior. He also sensed a air of command about this creature, as if he were used to giving out orders, and having them followed unconditionally.

“Saint Dane. You seek power and strength so that you may follow the path of evil. You seek the ultimate evil, yet you have not the means of achieving this. Keep going, for one day, you will have to face me in an ultimate showdown. The winner shall own this universe, and have total control of it’s people. Come, come and get me. I await your challenge.”

The alien spoke in such a deep, clear, commanding voice that all other thoughts forsake Saint Dane so that he could pay perfect attention. Whenever he was finished, the creature turned, and walked down the hallway, disappearing in the dark that consumed the end of it.

Saint Dane stared after, unmoving. Finally, be blinked, but held his eyes closed for several seconds. When he awoke, he was back in his bed, sitting up against the wall. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, drenching the bed sheet. Someone had have bothered with the quilt during the night, probably to put it over him, because it now lay on the floor as a result of his movements in his sleep.

He wiped a hand across his brow, causing more sweat to drip down. He noticed his body was shaking, and immediately stopped it. Dreams over. Time to get to work.

He got up and noticed that a set of clothes identical to his had been laid out on the table, along with food. He quickly devoured the rice, eggs, and toast, as well as taking the coffee in a single gulp. He regretted the coffee immediately.

Tears sprang to Saint Dane’s eyes as the coffee went down, scalding his mouth, throat, and still burning when it hit his stomach. When he realized tears were about to come out of his eyes he stiffened up and wiped them with his sleeve, acting like he had something in them or another.

When he opened his eyes, he almost fell backwards out of his chair. Mr. Popo, Kami’s assistant, had come in without making a noise. Saint Dane had heard many things from others about what Mr. Popo was, none of which he though were true. Despite that, he didn’t have the slightly idea what the small, black man was either. He was certainly not human.

“Hello, Dane. I see you have found your food and clothes. Are they sufficient?” he asked in his somewhat mellow voice. One that didn’t sound like it would come from someone that looked like Mr. Popo.

Saint Dane knew he had to play the good guy card with this fellow. For one, Mr. Popo was faster and stronger than Kami, even if he wasn’t as good of a training. Kami could beat Saint Dane in a fight, so he knew that this little fellow could do it as well. He was also Kami’s closest friend and adviser. If he sensed Dane were evil, or lying to receive training, he would tell the Guardian immediately.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Popo. The food was great, and I was just about to change,” Dane replied, flashing a false smile that Mr. Popo returned.

“Good! Whenever you finish changing, come outside. There is someone you should meet.”

Dane nodded and waited until Mr. Popo was gone to grab his throat, trying in vain to subdue the burns he had just endured. It goes without saying that he did nothing more than anger it even more.

Saint Dane donned his new suit, wondering where it had come from. It was exactly identical to the one he worn now, only that it was worn from the intensive training he had been through over the last couple days. He quickly dismissed the though, figuring that either Kami or Mr. Popo had to ability to summon items from thin air, something that was not knew to him, by now.

Finally, he was ready. After grabbing the last segment of toast, he turned and strode out the door and left down the hallway, walking until he came to a set of large, red, double doors.

Through some unknown magic, the door opened after Saint Dane stood in front of it for a few seconds, as they always did. As soon as he stepped outside, a hand closed over his mouth and he was yanked into one of the rows of bushes that ran parallel with the stairs.

Before he could even put up a good struggle, a second set of hands pinned him to the ground, while the first kept his mouth clamped shut tightly. Saint Dane tried in vain to catch a glimpse of his captors’ features, but he could see nothing other than the size and shape of their bodies due to the black clothing their work, paired with a black mask.

“I’ve got him, Siry,” the second one, which was holding his arms, whispered to the first.

“Good,” replied the first one, who must have been Siry. “Hold him tight, Remundi, he has been into the Pendulum Room. He is no weakling, even if he’s not as strong as the pair of us.”

Remundi nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Get on with it already, Siry. We have a deadline, remember? We’re dead if he don’t make it on time.”

Saint Dane’s eyes went from one to the other as the spoke up. He had no idea what they were talking about, but he felt sure he would in a moment. With a strong, violent shake of his head, he was about to free it from the unsuspecting Siry’s hand long enough for a quick burst of words. “How can I be of assistance?”

Less than a second after he finished, Siry got hold of his jaw again, preventing any further chatter from him. That was okay; he had finished his question.

“We have been sent here to carry out a hit that has been placed on Kami’s new apprentice,” Siry replied.

For a moment, Saint Dane’s eyes opened a little wider. Luckily, Siry answered that question, too. “Not you, but him,” he said, pointing through the hedges towards Mr. Popo and a strange alien Digu did not recognize.

“We, however, can not get close enough to him without he and Mr. Popo stopping us. We wanted to catch him by surprise, but he’s staying out there in the open, and we will be seen before we get anywhere near the two of them.”

Saint Dane nodded, having an idea of what they wanted from him. “We’ll split the profits 60:40 if you’ll carry out the hit for us. You can get close without him suspecting anything from you. A simple surprise attack to the back of the head, and you’re done. So what do you say?”

The demon considered it for a moment. If was on the verge of saying no, because Kami’s training would definitely come to an end should he do this. “This new apprentice. He’s going to replace you. Kami won’t have time for you anymore, because he’ll be training this guy. Plus, there is another master you can learn from. Roshi. He’ll teach you more than this old fool will.”

The guy had a silver tongue.

Saint Dane nodded and the two immediately released him. Remundi reached into a pocket and pulled out a wad of zeni, which the saiyan quickly placed inside of his suit, in the breast pocket. Without another word, he rolled out of the plants and strode down the stairs as if he had just walked out of the door. Luckily, neither Mr. Popo or the apprentice had seen him, or they would likely have discovered the plot.

The demon walked up to the couple, who by now had turned to hail him. Only Mr. Popo and done the latter. “Hello, Dane! You look great in that suit, by the way. I thought you’d like to change into some new clothes, after all, you’ve been training in the other suit for days,” he said jubilantly. After noticing Saint Dane staring at the alien, he continued. “Yes, this is the person I wanted you to meet. Dane, meet Spader. He is Kami’s Apprentice, and is very likely to take Kami’s position as Guardian of Earth within a few years, at most. You two will be training together until Dane here decides he is ready to leave.” He directed the last bit at Spader, rather than Saint Dane.

Mr. Popo turned, but Spader and Saint Dane continued staring at each other. The demon worried the alien knew of his thoughts or something of the sort, but whenever he turned to talk to Mr. Popo, he decided he could not possibly know what he was thinking.

“Yes, well, Mr. Popo. Could we finish our little chat? How about over there, by the palm trees,” he said, speaking in a very annoying voice. It was like listening to a country song, while playing a hip-hop and 80’s rock n’ roll song at the same time. Terrible.

The small black man nodded and gave Saint Dane a quick wave before they started to walk to the other side of the floating island. Whenever the demon approximated they were 20 yards away, he raised his hand and a small blast erupted from his finger tip. It collided with the back of Spader’s head, blowing straight through it and continuing through the sky.

The alien dropped to he floor, a large hole clearly visible. Mr. Popo turned, already breaking into tears. “How could you, Dane? How?”

Saint Dane looked horrified. He shook his head and pointed over towards the location that Siry and Remundi were hiding in. “It came from over there!”

The black man looked over there, then suddenly appeared right at the spot, holding the two assassins in the air. Saint Dane let out a manically laugh as he sprinted to the edge of the island and dove off, allowing his weight and gravity to pull him downwards until he was at a dangerous elevation. Immediately he leveled out and flew just over the treetops, still laughing.