DB The Next Chapter.

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Gene looked around nervously. He was in a vast, grassy field, with a dark, brooding sky overhead. Where the hell am I? He thought. I don't remember coming here.

Suddenly, a hand on his shoulder made him spin around. "Wha." he began to say, but stopped when he looked up to see who it was. Lord Hazanko. Yelling in surprise and fear, as well as anger, he stumbled away from the imposing figure. "What the hell are you doing here?" He blurted out, feeling for his Caster at his side. He groaned when he realized it wasn't there.

"I'm watching you, Gene." Hazanko rasped in his harsh voice. "Always watching." He reached out to grab Gene.

"No!" Gene yelled. "Stay away from me!" With that, he took off running, stumbling over dips in the rough ground. He finally came to a halt, breathing hard. Slowly he looked behind him. No one there; he sighed with relief. When he turned back around, he gave a small yell of surprise. Standing in front of him was a man about his height, wearing a long, black trenchcoat. Blond hair swayed slowly in front of his eyes in the wind, which was all that Gene could see of his face. "Who are you?" He asked slowly.

The man replied "Come to the fields tomorrow. I will await you there," as if ignoring his question. Before Gene could say anything else, the man simply turned and walked away, fading as he did so.

Gene stood there for a moment, staring at the spot where the man had been standing. He shook his head and turned back around, only to find the Anten 7 standing there. Slowly, they approached him. Gene knew that he wouldn't be able to fight all of them without any of his weapons, so he tried to run. "No! Damn it!" He yelled when he found that his feet were rooted to the spot. The 7 advanced on him, and all he could do was struggle.

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"Ahhhhh!" Gene screamed as he sat up wide-eyed in bed. It took a moment for his breaths to slow, and when they did, he laughed at himself. "It was only another dream, Gene." He said to himself, laughing at his stupidity. But am I really that stupid? Gene thought to himself. That dream was so vivid, so real. Just like the last night's dream. He still remembered that first night's dream all to well. It was as if it had actually happened. Shaking his head once more, he struggled out of bed and hurriedly pulled a pair of pants on, then ran as fast as he could to the kitchen for breakfast.

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Much to the surprise of Jim, Melfina and Suzuka, Gene and Aisha paid absolutely no attention to each other that morning. Both sat in silence throughout breakfast, and finally Gene pushed his chair out, stood up, and walked out of the room. He reappeared a few minutes later wearing his cloak and holding his Caster at his side. Without a word, he opened the front door of the building and sauntered outside.

Once the main door to Starwind & Hawking Enterprises had shut behind him, Gene grimaced to himself. Well, he thought. I might as well see if the message in last night's dream will be true. He smiled slightly as he started off down the busy streets the city on of Sentinel III. What a fool I am.

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Gene soon neared the edge of the city, beyond which the fields lay. As soon as the final building was behind him, he broke into a swift jog. When he reached the edge of the fields, he stopped, peering out into the expanse of grass. Even though he saw nothing out in the flatlands, he decided to keep moving forward.

Gene walked for what seemed like quite a long time, but no matter which way he looked, he saw nothing. He slowed to a halt, and began to laugh silently at himself. "I am such an idiot." he mumbled under his breath. He decided it was time to turn back.

Just as he began to turn around, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Slowly he turned back the way he had been facing to get the object into his full range of vision. He wasn't quite sure what it was at first, but as he peered closer, he gasped in shock. There's no way! I. must be crazy.

Standing little more than 200 feet away from Gene was a man. A man in a black trenchcoat, with blond hair.