Chapter 6 – Vegeta's Downfall
Piccolo flew through the hatch in Capsule Corp's ceiling and landed next to Gohan. "What's happening?" he asked.

"Someone's taken over my Goku!" wailed Chi-chi.

"Vegeta's fighting him now," said Bulma. "It's some kind of android that followed Goku from the machine planet."

"I suspected something like this," said Piccolo. "Whatever it is, it's taken control of Goku's body and it won't let go. What's worse, it has all of Goku's power. I've felt how his ki's shot up when he was training with Uub. Vegeta has no idea what he's in for."

Baby seemed driven by a mad desire to win against Vegeta. It puzzled Vegeta; he was getting tired of the lightning-quick punches and kicks. He fought on, however, because if he let up, Baby would have the advantage.

Baby was slowly gaining the edge. His punches were increasing in ferocity. Finally he landed a hit on Vegeta's chest, sending him flying back. "KAMEHAMEHA!" yelled Baby, firing the huge blast at point-blank range. Vegeta had no choice but to block it. He felt the Kamehameha wave flying around him, damaging him. When it was finished, Vegeta was panting hard.

"I will not back down, tapeworm!" yelled Vegeta as he powered up as best he could.

"Maybe I'll raise the stakes as well," said Baby. He screamed and began transforming into a Super Saiyan 3. Vegeta flew up and kicked him in the face; Baby stumbled backward, clutching it.

"Fool!" said Vegeta, extending one hand. "Fancy transformations take up too much time! There's no reason to wait for you to finish if I'm fighting to kill you!" He released a huge ball out of his extended palm. "BIG BANG ATTACK!"

Baby uncovered his face in time to see the huge ball fly at him; there was nothing he could do. He was thrown backward, slammed through a mountain, and into the ground, where he lay in a gigantic crater. Vegeta flew over to him. He was lying, bloody and heaving, in the crater, cursing under his breath.

"Where's your power?" asked Vegeta, amused. "If you were really Kakarot I'd be disappointed."

Baby had an idea. He put both hands to his temples. "Taiyo-ken!" he yelled suddenly. As Vegeta cursed, Baby flew up toward him and kneed him hard in the gut. Then he flip-kicked Vegeta's back, sending him into the crater. He cupped his hands at his sides. "KA, ME, HA, ME..."

Vegeta opened his eyes. "No!" he yelled. "You'll destroy the Earth at this much power! We'll all be killed! You can't survive in space!"

"You mean Son Goku can't!" laughed Baby. He shot his hands forward. "HAAAAAAAAAA!"

The beam shot forward. This was more than enough to destroy the Earth. Vegeta had no choice; he flew upward, spreading his arms, and took the blast head-on. When the dust cleared, the Earth was still there. In front of Baby floated the body of Vegeta, covered in blood and lifeless. It fell to the ground.

Piccolo watched with wide eyes. "Vegeta!" he gasped. "Gohan, you're the only one left who has a chance! You must do something!"

Gohan was trembling. "I..." he said shakily. "I...can't..."

Piccolo glared at him. "I did not train a coward!" he roared with all the rage of his younger days. In an explosion of ki, he flew off after Baby.

Gohan couldn't move. He seemed to be frozen in place. He watched in fear and embarrassment as Piccolo went off to fight Baby in his place.

Piccolo flew up behind Baby. "Turn around," he said, barely containing his anger. Baby turned and saw Piccolo. He briefly sized him up.

"You are not worth my time," said Baby, dismissing him. "Although I suppose this is another opportunity to try out Son Goku's abilities. KIENZAN!"

He formed the disk above his head and threw it straight at Piccolo. It moved so fast that Piccolo only had time to look down as he was sliced in half. As his waist and legs fell to the ground, he stared at Baby coldly. With a sickening sound, a new pair of legs shot out of the bleeding stump of Piccolo's waist. Baby stared at the regenerated Piccolo.

"So," he said. "Maybe I underestimated you. Regeneration...that's a new trick. A pity you have to die." He suddenly appeared behind Piccolo and kicked him upside the head.

"Ungh!" grunted Piccolo as he flew sideways. Baby was already waiting for him. He let Piccolo sail into his open hand, then kicked him upward. He shot several ki blasts at Piccolo, hurting him further still. He waited while Piccolo recovered his breath. Then he charged again.

Piccolo couldn't get in any punches of his own, so he tried to block everything Baby threw at him. It worked for a few seconds, but then Baby landed a punch on Piccolo's stomach. Staggering in pain after the force of the punch, Piccolo spat up blood. Grinning with pleasure, Baby kicked Piccolo in the stomach so hard that the outline could be seen out his back. Piccolo flew backward, unable to breath and coughing horribly.

"Poor little creature," Baby said menacingly. "I'll give your poor stomach a rest." He grabbed Piccolo's neck and punched his head to one side. He punched it to the opposite side. Forward, backward, up, down, he kept Piccolo's head as his personal punching bag. Finally he put his spread-out fingers on Piccolo's chest, and they began to glow. It was at this moment that Piccolo raised his hand and said weakly, "Ma...Makankousappo..."

The jet of red-and-white spiraling light issued from his fingers. Baby realized what it was and dodged to the left; but not before the light hit the side of his leg. Searing with pain, Baby howled and regained his hold on Piccolo's neck.

"DIE!" he yelled, squeezing hard. Piccolo's eyes bulged. His life began to leave him. He made indistinguishable rasping sounds. Just before the final moment, something impacted Baby's head, hard. He lost his grip on Piccolo's neck, and Piccolo collapsed to the ground, gasping. Baby looked wildly around to see what had happened.

Gohan was floating there. His fists were clenched hard and his eyes radiated pure rage. "Enough," he said, teeth clenched.

Baby was taken aback by the fearlessness of this individual. "And who might you be?" he asked.

Gohan's power began to rise steadily. "I am your end."