(A/N: I've been sick with a cold these past few days. It kept me home from work, allowing me plenty of time to write, but too lousy to do it. But I managed to get through another chapter. I'm all better now too, but you're probably more interested in what happens next in my story, so lets get to it.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 53: In Hiding

In the days that followed the defeat of both the saiyan king and prince, Baby had spread like the plague. The saiyans fought back, but could do nothing against the parasite. He infected everyone he came in contact with, and, in turn, those infected by him brought him more victims he could infect. Friends and family alike turned on each other once they were infected. Very quickly, a large percent of the saiyan race had fallen under Baby's control.

The remaining saiyans went into hiding, some waiting for a chance to strike, others simply to escape being infected. But Baby was adamant about having every last saiyan becoming his slave. Now the hunt was on for the ones he had yet to infect. And with his super genius intelligence, he was conducting ways to draw out the remaining saiyans, and even preventing them from fighting back once they had been discovered.

Among those untainted by the parasite, there were three that Baby set his sights on above all others, and they were to be brought to him at any cost. The first was Tarble. As the last of the royal family, Baby wanted him under his control, but the young prince had vanished shortly after his brother's defeat and the infection began, as had the other two.

The second one he wanted was Bulma. As intelligent as he was, he also recognized Bulma's ingenuity. He wanted it for his own; who knew what they could accomplish once they put their minds together. Not to mention he intended to take her as his woman, just as he'd told Vegeta. And he also needed her to control Broly's power. He may have the mutant saiyan as one of his followers, but Broly would still go berserk without that collar around his neck, and he was as weak as any other saiyan without access to his true power.

The third, and probably number one on Baby's list of those to infect, was Bardock. After having learned of the saiyan's psychic abilities, the Tuffle wanted him desperately. Someone with the ability to predict the future was highly valuable. Even though he was already the strongest person in the universe, having someone who could inform him of any attacks that may come in the future was incredibly useful.

Unfortunately, for Baby, that very ability is what allowed the saiyan to avoid getting captured for so long. But he suspected that he was still somewhere in the city. He hoped to have the saiyan caught soon, otherwise it would be too late and Bardock would die.

Though the saiyans weren't a large race, Baby knew that it would be difficult to capture every last saiyan on the planet without a bit of help. So he had special machines built to help him. These machines, which he had received the blueprints for through memory implantation from his ancestors, generated a toxic substance called Destron Gas. Like trees converted carbon dioxide in oxygen, these machines converted both oxygen and carbon dioxide into Destron Gas.

Destron Gas was a lethal substance if exposed to it for too long. With his machines pumping it into the air, the very planet would die in a few months. But that wasn't his goal. The planet would eventually recover once the machines were turned off. No, the purpose of the Destron Gas aided him in his plan to infect the saiyan race, and eventually, the universe. To those exposed to the gas, it blocked their ki, preventing them from using energy attacks, which was a serious blow to anyone who stood against him. It also slowly killed anyone who breathed it in for too long. Breathing the Destron Gas for days on end would eventually result in death.

Not for Baby though, or his followers. Baby was immune to the affects of the Destron Gas, as were his followers. The eggs he laid in their heads that controlled them also released an antidote for the Destron Gas, not just keeping his followers alive, but also allowing them to continue using energy attacks while anyone who he hadn't infected couldn't. And if anyone managed to avoid getting infected long enough, they would simply die from exposure to the Destron Gas. In the end, it left the saiyans with two choices, get infected by Baby, or die a in a few months time from the gas. Either way, only Baby and his followers would remain. And once he finished with this planet, he would turn off the Destron Gas generators to let the planet recover and move onto the next one, repeating the process all over again.

But first he had to finish up here. And while a majority of his followers were searching for anyone he still needed to infect, the rest were working on his master plan. Like the Destron Gas generators, Baby had also received memory implants for the blueprints of something else that would make him truly invincible once it was complete, allowing his ancestors to finally take their revenge and eventually dominate the entire universe.

Smirking, he looked up at the enormous machine as his followers worked to the best of their abilities. "It's coming along nicely." He commented.

The nearest follower bowed to him. "It will be complete on schedule, my lord. Soon no one will be able to stand in your way."

A sinister chuckle escaped the Tuffle. "There already isn't anyone who can."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Gohan poked his head out from his hiding place. The streets were crawling with Baby's followers. Gohan couldn't even think of them as saiyans any longer. They may be saiyans in body, but in their minds they were Tuffles, and Baby's devoted slaves. So many people had been taken, saiyan and servant alike. Gohan had even lost his mother, his grandparents, his aunt, his uncle, even his father, having still been weak from his fight with Cooler and unable to resist, had been taken over. Currently, only one member of his family was still free from Baby's control, and that was his grandfather on his father's side.

Bardock stood beside his grandson, looking more irritable than ever. "I hate this running and hiding." He grumbled. "I want to fight."

Gohan looked up at him. "But Grandpa Bardock, you can't take that risk. We need to keep you out of Baby's control at all costs, even my life. You know what will happen if he gets you."

Bardock sighed. "Yeah, I know."

They had to prevent Baby from gaining access to his psychic powers no matter what. Baby was already unbeatable, but if he were to gain the psychic saiyan…

But Bardock seriously hated running. He'd already had his whole team sacrifice themselves for him as they fought off Baby's followers so he could get away. Now those closest to him were the ones that were the most determine to capture him and present him to their new master.

Seeing that his grandfather wasn't going to do anything stupid, Gohan peaked out of his hiding place again. He could see Baby now, standing beside whatever nightmarish machine the others were building, Destron Gas generators on both sides of him, and Broly standing guard. Gohan didn't know what this new machine was for, and, quite frankly, he didn't want to know. He wanted nothing more than to blast it, and the two gas generators, but he couldn't use any energy attacks with the Destron Gas in the air. And they were too heavily guarded to go in on their own and destroy them with their bare hands.

As he had frequently done over the past few days, Gohan kept an eye out for his parents. Next to Broly when he had his power unleashed, his father was the strongest of Baby's followers. To run into him would be trouble. Hopefully, his father would be with his mother. It had been discovered a few days ago that his mother was pregnant again, and his father had been dotting on her ever since, even in his possessed state.

As a future big brother, Gohan couldn't stand the thought of his unborn sibling becoming another one of Baby's victims. The evil Tuffle had decreed that the moment any child was born, they were to be taken to him to be infected, or "cleansed" as Baby and his followers referred to it. The thought had the young saiyan feeling completely disgusted. He'd rather be dead than a mind slave to the parasite.

Sighing, he turned back to his grandfather. "Grandpa, its getting too crowded here. We're going to have to move."

Bardock groaned, but didn't argue. He and his grandson checked their surroundings and crept from their hiding spot. Flying was out of the question; they would be spotted instantly. They had to keep to the ground. And it would be no use trying to blend in with the crowd and pretend to be a follower; anyone infected could somehow sense anyone who wasn't one of "them".

As Gohan led the way, he immediately ducked behind a destroyed building as he spotted an infected saiyan flying around. He accidentally kicked some rubble, making enough noise to give away their position.

The infected saiyan, who was known as Onio, suddenly turned in their direction and fired a blast of energy. He was way off from where the two saiyans were actually hiding, but now he knew that someone or something was there, and began flying towards them.

"Oh, no." Gohan whispered, sensing the infected saiyan approaching. "He's coming."

Bardock's agitation had reached its peak. "Screw this!"

He flew out from his hiding spot, suppressing his energy as much as possible. The infected saiyan's eyes widened in surprise as Barock's fist slammed into his gut, followed by a blow to the back of his head that knocked him out.

Gohan hurried out of his hiding place. "Grandpa, what if they sensed that?"

"We were in trouble either way." Bardock told him. "This one would have raised the alarm."

An evil chuckle reached him. "Oh, but you are in trouble, my friend."

Bardock swore. He knew that voice. It was Tora, his best friend and mate to his sister. He saw the larger saiyan standing on top of the fallen building with his arms crossed as he looked down at the other two. He wasn't alone either, Fasha was with him, as was Borgos. Bardock briefly wandered where the other member of his team, Shugesh, was at the moment. Probably searching for him in another part of the city.

"It's time you were purified." Borgos told them. "Will you come quietly, or do you intend to resist?"

"What do you think?" Bardock snarled.

Tora cracked his knuckles. "Resist it is then." He glanced at his companions. "Remember, we need Bardock alive, but the kid is expendable."

"Although it doesn't have to be this way." Fasha added. "Come on, brother dear, why don't you and Gohan there join us. Then we can be one big happy family again."

Bardock laughed loudly and humorlessly. "A family? Is that what you call it? You're nothing but mind slaves, mere extensions of Baby infecting you to make you his devoted servants. You obey him without thought or question, with no free will that disgusting parasite isn't manipulating to his benefit. You and I are hardly even related anymore. You're barely even saiyans right now."

Tora glared at him. "While we take that last part as a compliment, we will not stand for you to insult Lord Baby."

You will pay dearly for this." Borgos declared.

"Had he not ordered us to capture you alive," Fasha added, "I'd kill you myself."

Bardock took a fighting stance. "Then you might as well, because you'll never take me alive."

Instantly, he and the three infected saiyans vanished. Explosions went off in the sky as they broke out in battle.

"Grandpa, wait!" Gohan shouted.

This was bad. They shouldn't be fighting. If they gave off too much energy, those that had learned to sense others' presence would know they were here. Even if that wasn't the case, they were at a disadvantage. After having his power boosted by Guru, Gohan was a lot stronger. Both he and Bardock were more powerful than these three, but they had been in hiding for days, not getting enough food or sleep. Fighting wasn't the answer; they had to flee.

Gohan flew up into the air to where the four were fighting. "Grandpa, shut your eyes." He gave no further warning. "Solar Flare!"

Tora, Fasha, and Borgos cried out as they were blinded. Gohan grabbed his grandfather's arm and dragged him away. Bardock resisted for a moment, then went along with him, leaving his former companions behind to recover from the attack. They hadn't gotten too far before something appeared in front of them and they were both knocked to the ground.

"Gohan, why are you running away?" the person said. Gohan looked up into the once friendly cheerful face of his father. "Don't you know how worried your mother and I have been?"

Gohan glared at him, reminding himself that this wasn't really his father, not in his mind. His real father was gone, and the body before him was just an empty shell that Baby had infected with his essence.

Goku turned to Bardock. "You too, Father. Raditz and I have been looking for you everywhere, and Mother misses you terribly."

Bardock growled. "You mother and brother are nothing more than mindless hosts to that horrible creature, as are you."

Goku grinned evilly. "That's not very nice. No matter what changes we've gone through, we're still your family. As for the mindless part, you're very wrong about that. We're quite capable of thinking on our own. Our minds have just been open up to the glory of our lord and master."

"You're no different than a brainwashed cult worshipping a demon as a god. And I know a thing or two about cults after conquering Planet Luud. Actually, you're even worse."

"Lets agree to disagree." Goku reasoned. "For now anyway. Soon you'll be seeing things our way."

Fury ignited within Gohan, and he felt power flowing through him. He knew that neither he nor his grandfather were a match for him. His father was much stronger and faster, not to mention he had Instant Transmission. Their only hope was to distract him long enough to get away.

"Grandpa," he said, "I'll try to hold him off while you get away."

Bardock turned to his grandson, ready to argue. This was something they had gone over numerous times over the past few days. "Forget about it. I'm not leaving you here alone. I'm not losing anymore family to these freaks."

"I don't matter," Gohan argued back, "but we have to keep your power out of Baby's hands at all costs!"

He flew towards his father, the two breaking out in a fight. Goku pulled no punches. Gohan had spared with his father before, but Goku always went easy on him. But not this time. This time, Gohan was learning first hand just how strong his father was.

Bardock remained where he was, looking torn. He didn't want to leave his grandson, but knew he had to get away before he was caught. Not for the first time, he cursed this power he had been given.

"Grandpa, go!" Gohan shouted. "You have to leave now! You know I'm right! Forget about what you want to do and do what you have to do!"

Bardock ground his teeth together furiously. "DAMN IT!" He bellowed, and took off.

"Not so fast." Goku said, knocking Gohan away and speeding after his father.

Gohan hated fighting his father, but he couldn't let his grandfather be caught. It would give Baby far too much power, and he already had too much. Cupping his hands together, he summoned up all his strength.

"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!"

He got lucky. The Destron Gas hadn't spread this far yet and he could still access his energy attacks. A powerful Kamehameha Wave flew at Goku. He was forced to abandon the chase and turn around to block it. He caught the powerful energy blast, struggling with it for a few moments before tossing it upward.

The next thing Gohan knew, his father's fist was buried in his gut. As he doubled over in pain, Goku's elbow came down on him from above, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Let me show you how it's done." He said. "Ka-me-ha-me-HA!"

With no care to his son's wellbeing, he unleashed his attack. A mighty explosion spread across the ground, which Gohan was caught in the middle of. And when the dust finally cleared, he lay battered and beaten in a large crater, barely conscious.

Goku landed by the boy's side, looking down at him in disgust. "Well done, Gohan. You managed to let your grandfather escape." A sick smile twisted his features. "But that's ok. I'm sure you can help us find him again once you've been purified."

Gohan struggled to open his eyes. "Dad… please…"

Goku chuckled. "Don't worry; soon you really will be my son once again."

(A/N: Pretty dark chapter. No Bulma or Vegeta in this one either. And poor Gohan. I feel bad for Bardock too, having to run away like that, but he can't let Baby get hold of his powers. Things will progress further next chapter. Sort of. I'll be revealing more stuff from the past, and they'll be a twist.)