Inside the throne room, the air was cold enough to turn breath into mist.
There were no lights, only the flickering glow of purple torches that cast long, distorted shadows against the high stone walls.
At the far end of the hall sat a throne of iron.
The figure upon it remained shrouded in darkness, only his small hands visible as they gripped the armrests.
"Shu, the dog."
"Lord Pilaf."
A voice of something ancient and hollow, speaking in an archaic tongue.
"What tidings dost thou bring from the den of the scavengers?"
A figure stepped forward from the gloom, kneeling perfectly still.
He was a lean dog animalia. He wore shinobi wrappings, and two blades were strapped to his back.
His eyes glowed with a bloodthirsty hunger.
"The woman... Mai. She gutted the Scrappers. The filth is gone, My Lord. The leaders... just meat now. Disposed of. They won't offend your eyes... ever again.
"Their lives mean naught to me, I crave knowledge of the interlopers. Who dares to tread upon the path I have paved? Who seeks to pluck the stars from my grasp?"
"Mai dug these up... from the ruins. First... the Starch girl. The Capsule heiress. Then the pig... Oolong. That Scrapper rat. And the third..." Shu replied, gesturing to a screen that flickered to life.
The screen showed a grainy image of a small boy standing over a fallen Yamcha.
"...is a boy. With a tail... like a monkey. My archives are silent. No origin. No bloodline. Nothing."
Pilaf leaned forward slightly, though his face remained a mask of shadow.
"A most curious company. A daughter of industry, a perfidious beast, and a child unknown. They seem not a force suited to dismantle the Scrappers' dominion so readily. And yet, the child hath vanquished their mightiest champion."
"Yamcha... the wolf. He's gone. Not dead... just gone. Crawled back into the wastes... like a whipped dog."
"A mangy, solitary wolf is of no consequence." Pilaf dismissed with a wave of his hand.
"My interest lies with the girl and the boy. Tell me, how many of the dragon balls do they possess?"
"Mai missed the exact count... but they took the pair from the scavengers. We hold three here. That leaves two... still lost in the world. But... Mai suspects the girl built something. A compass. It tracks the Balls... wherever they hide."
A low, dry chuckle echoed through the throne room.
"A compass... how providential." Pilaf mused.
That means... if the dragon balls remain here, united, even fools such as they would suspect a trap. It is too convenient
The small figure on the throne stood up.
"Shu, take the dragon balls we possess and deliver one dragon ball to each pair of the Rejekts."
A wicked grin spread across his face.
"These intruders hunt the spheres, do they not? Then let them come. They will track the signals straight into the jaws of my warriors. Let the Rejekts ambush them the moment they arrive, and we shall pluck the remaining dragon balls from their cold, dead bodies."
"As you wish, my Lord." Shu whispered, his form dissolving into the shadows.