"You sure you're up for this?" Yamcha asked as he tightened the knot of his belt over his bright orange gi, staring across the snow-covered field at his partner. Piccolo was dressed in his own purple gi for the first time in half a year, and was currently stretching out his shoulder muscles in preparation for a sparring match.

"After having to sit around on my ass for nearly six months? Trust me, I'm more than up for this," he replied with a slight smirk, though Yamcha couldn't help but notice that he didn't bother wearing his weighted turban or cape for his first match back to martial arts training. He knew his limits, and it was clear that he intended to ease himself back into their normal routine, especially since it had only been three weeks since he had their egg. Still, that didn't mean the former bandit could go easy on him. Quite to the contrary, anything less than Yamcha's absolute best effort would be seen as an insult by the proud Namekian warrior. The only thing close to holding back he would be allowed to do was to avoid striking him in the chest for a while yet.

Neither of them needed to ask if the other was ready, as they both simultaneously dropped into a fighting stance. Their eyes fixed on one another before they dashed forward with blinding speed, meeting in the center of the field to trade powerful blows.


"I dunno, your highness, this seems like a really stupid plan..." Shu whimpered out as he peeked out over the top of the bush he was hiding behind, watching with no shortage of trepidation as the two warriors sparred out in the nearby field. "Are you sure we wanna do this?"

"Of course I'm sure! We wouldn't be out here if I wasn't sure!" Pilaf barked back defensively, though he couldn't hide the slight unease in his eyes as he, too, watched the two insanely powerful men duking it out nearby. "That Bulma woman is the only person on the planet that has a dragon radar, and since breaking into Capsule Corp. and stealing it isn't going to happen anytime soon, we've got to find some way to get her to give it to us!"

Mai, who was still surveying the area with a pair of binoculars, nodded her head in agreement.

"I've tracked her car coming out here several times in the past few months, and she usually brings her son along with her. Surely that must mean that she's rather close to these two, and hopefully that's a link we can exploit."

"B-but... You guys know who that is don't you?" Shu stammered out nervously, nodding his head in Piccolo's general direction. "Th-that's the Demon King Piccolo! How the hell are we gonna exploit anything to do with that guy? He can vaporize us in an instant if he wanted to! He nearly killed us the last time we saw him, and we were working for him then!"

"Which is why we aren't even going to mess with him until we have a bargaining chip! Look over there!" the blue imp retorted, pointing over towards the large manor across the field from them. "We'll sneak into there while they're distracted and find something we could use against him. Some dirt we can use to blackmail him, or something valuable to hold for ransom, I don't care! Whatever it is, we'll agree to give it back to him only if he gets the radar from Bulma and gives it to us. We don't even have to be face to face with him for that! It's so foolproof, even you two dolts can't possibly fuck it up!"

Shu looked out at where his master was pointing, his tail immediately tucking between his legs and his ears folding back against his head.

"Th-that place looks like it's haunted..."

"Oh, don't be such a goddamned scaredy cat! We're going in there whether you like it or not! Now let's get going while they're still busy out here!"

The canine ninja didn't get a chance to argue any further, as Pilaf grabbed hold of the back of his shirt and dragged him off through the woods towards the ominous looking mansion.


The three of them eventually made it around to the mansion without being seen, and now stood in the looming shadow of the massive abode. Shu felt a chill run up his spine as he stared up at it.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, boss..." he whined, letting out a small dog-like whimper. Pilaf responded with an exacerbated growl.

"Yeah, well if bad feelings were pork loins and rice, then we wouldn't have to find the dragon balls, now would we? Now get your ass over there and open that door!"

Shu did as he was told, reluctantly making his way over to the massive wooden doors of the house. He couldn't help but shiver as he stared up at the two lion-headed brass knockers. Why'd they have to look like they were glaring right down at him? He tried not to look at them, instead focusing on the doorknob above his head. He reached up to give it a hopeful turn, but unfortunately found it to be locked. He let out an annoyed grumble, producing a lock pick and a small knife from a pouch on his belt. After about a minute of fiddling, he heard a click, at which point his ears perked up victoriously.

"I got it!" he announced in triumph, waving the other two over. Pilaf and Mai dashed over and the three soon found themselves standing in the dark foyer of the mansion.

Shu trembled lightly as he glanced around, the dated Victorian décor not lending much to disproving his theory that the place was haunted.

"Why do I feel like we just stepped into the setting for an Amnesia game?"

"Oh, quit your bitching! There's nothing in here that can hurt us while those two are outside!" Pilaf retorted. "Now start looking for something we can use! And stick together so we don't get lost!"

Shu let out another whimper, but nodded and followed his emperor's orders. The three made their way slowly through the ground floor of the mansion, coming up regrettably empty-handed. Not even the impressive library, with its collection of lost tomes and recreated artefacts, managed to produce anything they could use as leverage against the dreaded Demon King. Well, nothing they could read, anyway. Most of the books in there were written in some language none of them had ever seen before.

Only when they moved on to the upstairs portion did they reach some rooms that looked like they may yield something useful. Pilaf took particular interest in what had to be the master bedroom, which also happened to be one of the most lived-in rooms they'd come across thus far. The blue imp tore through the dressers and closet, but alas came away empty-handed.

After finding nothing in the demon's own bedroom, their search grew more desperate. The three of them split up to search the next hall, each of them choosing a different room to search. The other two had already disappeared into their room of choice, but Shu hesitated before the next door. The entire time they'd been searching the house, he'd gotten the distinct feeling that they were being watched. He felt like they were being played, that they had only progressed as far as they had because someone – or something – had allowed it. When would they cross the line that they weren't supposed to? When would that mysterious presence finally intervene?

It seemed as though Shu was destined to find out the answer to that question. He reached out to open the door he stood before, letting it swing open. What stood directly on the opposite side of the threshold turned his blood to ice in an instant. He just barely managed to stifle a yelp as he slammed the door closed once more, scrambling backwards until his back hit the opposite wall. The other two heard the commotion he made out there in the hall, scrambling out to see what was going on.

"What's the matter? What happened? Did you find something?" Mai asked in concern. Shu could hardly do more than point a shaking digit at the closed door before him, his words coming out in terrified, broken stammers.

"B-big… Sh-shadow… Th-thing!" he whimpered out in wide-eyed horror. "I-I told you this place was haunted!"

Both Pilaf and Mai flinched upon hearing that, joining Shu in staring at the closed door in horror.

"W-well Mai, g-go on! Ch-check it out!" Pilaf ordered, to which his lieutenant let out a small yelp.

"M-me?! Why do I have to do it?"

"Because I told you to! Now go do it!"

Mai swallowed at the lump in her throat before slinking her way cautiously over to the door, reaching out with a trembling hand to slowly turn the knob. Once she heard it unlatch, she quickly pulled the door open just a few inches, though she immediately looked away and snapped her eyes shut as though afraid she would be attacked. When she wasn't instantly murdered, she cracked open one eye and dared to peek inside. As soon as she did, all of the tension seemed to drain from her body, and she let out an exacerbated sigh as she shot Shu a withering glare.

"Are you serious?" she groaned out, at which point Pilaf grew brave enough to go have a look himself. He, too, soon glared back at his canine minion.

"Seriously, Shu?! You see what all that talk of hauntings did?! You're so paranoid you're literally jumping at shadows!"

"B-but… I could have sworn I saw…" Shu stammered out, though now that the others investigated and found nothing, he was starting to doubt his own eyes. Maybe he really was seeing things…

"Wait..." Pilaf said, taking another quick peek into the room. "I think we just found something we can use!"

Shu perked his ears up at that, picking himself up off the floor and making his way over to the door. He poked his head in to have a look at what his master was talking about. The room looked to be a small nursery of some sort, complete with an infant's crib tucked away in one corner and a few stuffed animals here and there. He could barely see in the dim light of the room, but there seemed to be something inside the crib, something white and shaped sort of like a...

Shu immediately pulled his head out of the room, staring back at his master as though he'd just ordered him to jump into an active volcano.

"With all due respect, sir… Are you out of your mind?! Are you really suggesting that we steal one of King Piccolo's eggs?!"

"This doesn't seem like his typical minion, your highness…" Mai added, clearly having seen the interior of the room for herself. "He doesn't usually put forth this much effort for one of his mutated minions, and they normally hatch immediately after he spits out their eggs… This is something different. This might even be his honest-to-goodness child!"

"All the more reason for us to take it!" Pilaf retorted, clearly determined to continue on his chosen path. "A simple minion wouldn't be a real bargaining chip. He can create as many of those as he wants, so long as it doesn't cut into his life-force too much. But his child? Oh, that's something that he can't help but protect! And unlike an actual baby, we don't have to take care of this brat while it's still in the egg! It's perfect!"

"Okay, let me get this straight…" Shu began slowly, shaking his head in disbelief. "You want us to kidnap an unborn Demon Prince and hold him for ransom against the Demon King himself?! I'm sorry, sir, but that's just… That's absolutely moronic!"

"Bah!" Pilaf dismissed the canine's arguments with a wave of his hand. "All this fuss over the so-called 'Demon King!' It won't matter once we get the dragon balls! After all, what is a king compared to a god?!"

'And what is a god to a non-believer?'

All three members of the Pilaf gang seemed to freeze dead at the unexpected interjection. That voice, barely more than a hoarse whisper, clearly belonged to none of them. It seemed to originate from somewhere behind them, but when they turned, they saw nothing. Pilaf couldn't hide his terrified trembling, though he immediately turned to glare at Shu – the only other person in the hall that could have produced a male voice such as that which they'd just heard.

"Sh-Shu! Was that you?!" the blue imp barked out, to which Shu couldn't help but shake his head emphatically.

"N-n-no, sir! I tried to tell you before – this place is fuckin' haunted!"

"E-enough of this nonsense!" Pilaf retorted, though he didn't attempt to deny the canine's claim this time. "Mai! Go in there and grab that egg so we can get the hell out of here!"

"M-me?! Why me again?!"

"Because you're the only one tall enough to reach into the crib! Now get going!"

Mai opened her mouth to retort, but found that she couldn't come up with anything to counter that argument. With a reluctant groan, she softly pushed open the door and made her way inside.

"'You should join a military,' mom said… 'It'll be a good experience for you,' mom said…" she grumbled under her breath to herself as she inched her way across the room. "Bet you're proud of me now, huh? Sneaking into a haunted mansion to steal the unborn baby of a demon. Yep, pinnacle of my career, right here…"

Finally, after she was done bitching to herself about the current state of her life, Mai found herself standing over the crib, staring down into it. The egg itself was resting in the center, and she could already feel a mild heat coming from the crib itself. It must have had some heating element built into it to keep the egg warm while its parents weren't tending to it, she supposed.

She leaned forward over the railing, reaching down with both hands to retrieve their stolen bargaining chip. Before she touched the shell, however, she spotted something nestled just behind it that made her stop abruptly. It was a small blue cat, curled up and purring lightly as it slept, clearly taking advantage of the gentle warmth the crib emanated. If it had been any normal cat, Mai would have just taken the egg and not worried about disturbing it. However, as luck would have it, she realized that she recognized this one. It was one of the little changeling creatures that accompanied Goku and Bulma the first time they crossed paths with the Pilaf gang. Actually, now that she thought of it, that man outside who was sparring with Piccolo was there as well…

"Mai, what the hell is taking you so long?! Just grab it!" Pilaf bellowed, to which Mai could only urgently hold her finger in front of her lips in a desperate bid to shut the miniscule monarch up before he woke the cat. By some miracle, the deceptively cute-looking creature hardly twitched at the outburst. Mai let out the breath she'd been holding in a sigh of relief. At least it was a heavy sleeper.

Mai reached in once more, grabbing the egg on either side and, using utmost care to not accidentally knock into the cat and wake it up, she lifted it up out of the crib. Once she was clear, she turned to face Pilaf and Shu, holding out their ill-gotten prize. A wide grin spread across Pilaf's face, and he reached up to snatch the egg from her hands.

"Perfect! Now we just have to get this thing back to our home base and send out the ransom!" the imp announced triumphantly, trying his best to keep his voice down. Shu, for his part, was relieved that everything seemed to be going according to plan, despite the strange occurrences happening around that creepy old mansion. At least, that's what he thought until he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

Shu glanced over towards the crib just in time to watch as a thin tendril of what looked like dark black smoke seemed to snake its way through the bars from somewhere behind it, the tip hovering dangerously close to the sleeping feline. He slapped a paw over his mouth to stifle a startled yelp, pointing shakily with the other towards the apparition. The other two looked to see what he was freaking out about, but could do nothing but watch as the tendril jabbed like a spear against the rump of the tiny changeling.

"Yow!" Puar shouted, suddenly leaping up to float in the air, rubbing at her backside where she'd been struck. She looked around for a moment to try to find what could have done such a thing, soon locking eyes with the three intruders, the smallest of whom held her masters' egg in his arms.

"H-hey! You put that down right now!" she squeaked out, trying her best to sound intimidating. Whether it worked or not was anyone's guess, as the only response Pilaf could manage either way was to turn tail and run out of the room, Shu and Mai following closely behind.

When they were halfway down the hall, the imp chanced a look back over his shoulder, and what he saw pulled a startled yelp out of him. They were no longer being pursued by a tiny floating cat. Instead, a full-grown tiger was barreling down the hall towards them and gaining on them quickly, its razor-sharp teeth bared threateningly. At the rate they were going, they'd be in the beast's jaws in seconds.

Suddenly, Emperor Pilaf came to a skidding halt. Wait, what the hell was he running for? They'd come looking for some leverage to use against Bulma and her allies, so why not use it? He turned on his heel to face the monstrous feline with a newfound confidence, holding the egg up above his head.

"Stop right there or I'll smash it!" he threatened, at which point Puar stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at the group for a long moment, eyes darting from them to the egg and back to them again, clearly unsure what to do. Then, she turned tail and ran, turning into the next hallway and out of sight. Pilaf let a victorious grin spread across his lips. It was already working better than he had planned!

"Alright, let's get out of here!"


Puar came to a stop only when she was sure she was out of earshot of the three intruders, transforming back into her normal form. She then took a deep breath, shouting out as loud as she dared, hoping it was enough to get Piccolo's attention.

"P-Piccolo! Come quick! Someone's stealing your egg!"


"Stop!"

Yamcha wasn't prepared for the abrupt command, stumbling forward in the middle of throwing a punch and nearly tumbling into the snow. Once he got his feet under him again, he looked up to his partner with his brows furrowed in confusion. Piccolo was staring off towards the mansion, his eyes wide in what almost looked like fear. He lingered for but a moment, soon taking off at full sprint back towards their home.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Yamcha asked, immediately following after him. Piccolo didn't answer, but the urgency in his every move was unmistakable. The former bandit could feel the panic building up inside of him. He couldn't think of anything that would make his lover act this way other than something to do with their egg…

Unfortunately, his fears were confirmed when they reached the mansion. Just as they got there, they spotted three figures rushing out of the front door, the smallest among them carrying a large egg in his arms.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going with that?!" he shouted out, to which the three thieves turned to look at him in surprise.

"Th-that's far enough!" Pilaf retorted hesitantly once he noticed that Piccolo himself was chasing after them. "Come any closer and I swear I'll destroy this thing!"

The threat hit home, and just like Puar before, the two of them found themselves paralyzed to advance any further. Yamcha watched with his teeth grit in helpless anger as the little blue imp gave a taunting chuckle.

"Hahahaha! You fools! Soon you will all bow to the great Emperor Pilaf!" he bellowed out before turning his attention towards his minions. "Mai, get the mech ready!"

"Yessir!" she replied, quickly retrieving a capsule from her coat pocket. She clicked the button and threw it to the ground, and in a burst of smoke a large bipedal mech appeared. The three of them climbed into it in a flash, the stolen egg clutched tightly in one of its large claws.

"Alright, now listen up!" came the diminutive emperor's voice through the mech's speakers. "Unless you want this kid turned into scrambled eggs, you'll get your friend Bulma to bring us her dragon radar right now!"

"Uhh, boss? Shouldn't we ask for more? Like… money, or something?"

"Shut up, Shu! I know what I'm doing!"

As their opponents bickered, Yamcha chanced a glance over towards his partner. Piccolo was glaring as intensely as ever at the bastards that had stolen their unborn child, and it was quite clear that the only reason they were still alive was because they still had the egg in their grasp. Still, Yamcha could practically see the Namekian's mind working at a million miles an hour, trying to devise some way to get it back safely.

"Yamcha…" he began in a surprisingly calm tone. "When I give you the signal, I need you to run as fast as you can and catch the egg…"

Yamcha flinched slightly at that suggestion, though he could tell that his lover was deadly serious at the moment. He was almost afraid to ask what he was planning, but knew that he wouldn't be getting much more explanation than that. All he could do was focus on their opponents, wait for whatever signal he was supposed to react to, and get ready to run as fast as he'd ever run in his life.

"Now," Piccolo called out just loud enough for him to hear. Yamcha didn't waste any time trying to see what his partner was doing, instead taking off at full sprint towards the enemy mech. The three intruders were momentarily too stunned by the sudden action to think to react, and in that moment a beam of energy shot out from somewhere behind him and cleanly severed the mech's arm from its body. Yamcha felt a wave of panic hit him as he watched their egg fly from the mechanical claw. He pushed as much power into his legs as he could, running faster than he ever had before. Even so, he didn't know if he'd be able to make it. At the last second, he dove forward, just barely grasping the egg against his chest before his back hit the ground.

The rest of the world may as well have disappeared at that moment, as Yamcha found himself single-mindedly concerned with the wellbeing of their egg. He checked the shell for cracks, and was somewhat relieved to find that there were none. The tiny ki emanating from it pulsed in what he could only describe as panic, the infant within shifting around unhappily. Well, at least it was alive, though whether it was uninjured would have to be determined once they got Dende there to check it out.

"Wh-what?! How did you—?!" Pilaf stammered out in horror as he stared down at his mech's severed stump of an arm. No, this wasn't how this was supposed to go! He had the perfect bargaining position! How could he lose it just like that?! With nothing left to ensure his survival against what was surely an absolutely livid Demon King, he slammed on his vehicle's thrusters, rocketing the mech high into the air in an attempt to escape.

Alas, there was no escaping from the ire they'd raised. Within seconds, they heard and felt something slam into the top of the mech, the force of the impact denting the thick metal of the cabin. A moment later, they watched as claws pierced the metal and ripped the mech open as though it was a ball made of tissue paper. The three let out a yelp as they stared up into the rage-filled eyes of Piccolo himself, grasping at each other in a panic as the demon opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of energy not unlike a dragon letting loose a huge blast of fire.


"And that's what happened," Yamcha concluded his story with an exacerbated sigh.

"W-wow… Jeez, I can't imagine how stressful that must have been for you guys…" Bulma replied. She'd come by earlier while he was gone to retrieve Dende – not an entirely unexpected visit by any means, but Yamcha had to admit he'd forgotten about her coming over with all the excitement of the day. "So, did they get away?"

"Yeah, as angry as Piccolo was – and hot damn, I've never seen him so pissed – he decided to let them live. He said he didn't want to start our kid's life off by shedding blood over it. They managed to eject some sort of escape pod out of their mech and got away. I don't think they'll be trying that stunt again anytime soon, though."

"Well, I'm impressed by his self-control, then. If I was in that situation, I'm not sure those creeps would have left here alive. How's he holding up, by the way?"

"You kidding? He hasn't let the egg out of his sight since. He was already super protective over it before, but now he's gone into full mama bear mode. I'm pretty sure he'd castrate anyone who so much as looks at it too hard right now."

Bulma let out a light chuckle at that.

"Now that sounds a little more like the Piccolo I know."

At that moment, the two of them spotted Dende making his way down the stairs. Yamcha immediately jumped up to his feet from where he'd been seated on the couch, clearly eager for whatever news the child guardian had to offer. Thankfully, the young Namekian offered him a reassuring smile.

"The baby seems to be just fine. I can't sense any injuries, though it seems a bit scared by everything that happened. Just keep an eye on it and stay close to it for a while and everything should be okay."

"Oh, thank Kami… or, err… thank you, I suppose," he replied, letting out a huge sigh of relief. He then stared upwards towards the ceiling in the direction he sensed his partner's energy. He could sense Piccolo still in the nursery, holding their egg close in his arms. Staying close to it clearly wouldn't be a problem, but it was clear that they'd be postponing their return to training together for a while yet.