Dragonball: Bloodlines

Part 1: The Last Warrior

Chapter 3: Hardened Rebels

Slade looked around at the sea of serious eyes and gun turrets. It seemed as though everyone inside had been waiting for something like this. The young fighter flexed his hand tentatively, ready to reach for his sword at a moment's notice. Then, all of a sudden, Eve leapt out in front of him with her arms out to her sides, protecting him.

"Wait!" She yelled at them all, "Don't shoot him! This guy just saved my life!"

"Maybe he did it just so you could lead him here!" Said a large, muscular man. "Get out of the way Eve!"

"A bit paranoid aren't you chief?" Slade said with his familiar smirk, he then added calmly, "I don't work for Kane."

"What about that armor?" said a woman voice from the wall of guns being pointed at Slade and Eve's bodies. Slade opened his coat a bit to reveal the chest plate armor he wore, pointing his finger at the spot over the heart.

"No "K"." said someone else. It seemed some of the people were a bit more at ease at seeing this, but no one had lowered their weapons yet. The large man was still unconvinced.

"Just because you don't have a letter on your armor doesn't mean I'm gonna trust you." He spat, "I say it's better to be safe then sorry." He then grabbed Eve by the arm and pulled her away, shooting his weapon at Slade as soon as she was out of harm's way. The beam from the weapon smashed right into Slade's face, causing his head to snap back from the impact. A second later, Slade raised his head back, without a scratch.

"Was that the best you've got?" Slade said mockingly, "I've felt worse from Kane's men."

"Why you..." The large man said, his face growing red. He raised his weapon, as did everyone else. Before they had a chance to fire this time, Slade had unsheathed his sword and disappeared. The only thing they could see of him was the light reflecting off his sword. A split second later, he was back where he had disappeared from, sliding his sword back into the sheath on his back. Before anyone could get a word out, the weapons in their hands fell apart and clattered to the metal floor of the base. Everyone, even Eve, was speechless. Their jaws hung open in disbelief.

"I've no intention of harming you." Slade said, "But calling me a follower of Kane is something I consider a great insult. If you keep it up, I can't be held responsible for what I might do."

"Why should we believe you?" the large man said through gritted teeth.

Slade merely pointed at the sliced up arsenal on the floor.

"Isn't it obvious? That could have easily been you. I just wanted to show you I mean no harm to you all. I hate Kane just as much, if not more than any of you, and don't they say 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend?'"

The large man looked at the broken weapons on the ground, and then at Slade.

"All right." he said finally, "I'll believe you, but I don't like you."

"Well I believe the feeling is mutual." said Slade as the man turned and walked away. Eve walked up to Slade to see if he was hurt.

"That's Aiden." she said, "You'll have to forgive him. He gets overly suspicious sometimes. He's really not so bad once you get to know him."

"I'm sure." Slade said, "Who are the others?"

"Oh, the name's Glenn." said an older looking man who had quite a few battle scars.

"I'm Kado." said a young man about Slade's age. "Those were some great moves back there. I study martial arts too ya know."

"I can tell." Slade said, noticing the young man's lean, muscular form.

"Greetings, I am Page." Said a little man with glasses. "Those weapons you destroyed were my design. Very interesting weapon you have there, I'd love to examine it."

"Maybe another time." Slade said with a laugh. "And who are you ladies?"

"Name's Ena." said a dark-haired woman with an aggressive air about her, "Nice job pissing of Aiden." she laughed.

"I try." said Slade smirking.

"My name is Una. Pleasure to meet you Slade." said a woman identical in appearance to the previous one. However Una seemed to be more peaceful then Ena.

All of these people, Slade sensed, had a deep hatred of Kane, but also a deep fear of him.

"Well, it was nice to meet you all." Slade said, "Maybe we'll all meet again someday. But for now, good-bye." He then turned toward the door.

"Wait!" yelled Eve. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going back into town. I need a place to rest after this long day." Slade said, winking at her.

"Well, how about I let you stay here tonight. Call it a courtesy since you saved me. It's not much but it won't cost you anything." said Eve.

Slade looked at her for a moment, and turned around back inside.

"Thank you." he said.

Eve led him to a small room far inside the base. She turned on the light and Slade looked around. It was quite a small room, but had a weird, cozy charm.

"Like I said, it's not much." said Eve, as though waiting for his approval.

"No, it's great." Slade said, smiling at her, "Compared to sleeping on rocks out in the wild, this is downright fancy."

He took off his sword and trench coat and placed them on a chair near a small desk in the room. Eve looked at the armor he wore, and found herself asking,

"Where did you get that armor?"

Slade looked at it without much thought.

"This? It was my dad's. It's pretty old, before Kane even I'm told. Family heirloom."

"The sword too?" Eve said, hoping that he didn't mind her asking.

"Yeah, only it was my brother's" Slade said, this time with a touch of sadness.

"Where are they now? Your dad, and your brother?" asked Eve, trying to be as careful as possible. She almost knew the answer already, and knew that people most of the time didn't like to talk about it. Slade didn't say anything for awhile, then, not looking at her, said

"They're dead."

"I'm sorry." said Eve, "I didn't mean to pry."

"Don't be sorry. It doesn't really bother me." He smiled at her. Eve smiled back, but could tell that thinking about it was causing him pain. She decided to change the subject.

"That was quite a show you put on back there."

Slade laughed as he took off his armor.

"Well, you're friend needs a little more patience." he said.

"I know," Eve said, a little frustration in her voice, "He gets really jumpy at times. He's given Glenn at least one of those scars because of it."

"Well, I guess Glenn is lucky that he has such terrible aim." Said Slade.

"Really?" asked Eve.

"Yeah, I don't want to sound arrogant, but I moved into that blast back there."

"You did? Why?" Eve asked, amazed more and more by this odd young man.

"Another part of showing him I meant no harm." Slade said.

"I see." said Eve, silently thinking to herself, "That and you might be a bit of a showoff." She giggled a bit, causing Slade to look at her inquisitively. Eve quickly covered this by asking,

"So where are you headed too?"

"Kane's Palace." said Slade.

"What? Why!" Eve said, shocked.

"I'm gonna kill him" Slade stated, without any hesitation.

"Were, you...hired to do it?" Eve asked, hoping he wouldn't get angry.

"No," said Slade flatly, "I'm not a mercenary."

They stood in an uncomfortable silence for awhile, and then Slade spoke up.

"Well, I'm kinda tired, so I think I'm gonna rest a bit, OK?" He smiled at her.

"Oh, all right then." Said Eve, smiling back. She then excused herself. Slade looked around the small room. He stared blankly at his stuff on the chair. He looked at his sword, his coat, his armor, and his bag, all just sitting there. He thought of all these people, fighting against Kane. He especially thought of Eve.

"She's beautiful." He thought, "She's crazy though, if she thinks her and her friends can take down Kane."

But then, he told himself, he was trying to do the same.