Finale

'And the worst thing is,' King Vegeta said. 'He kept going on and on about how he wanted to kill the baby. Like he'd been waiting for an opportunity to blow up a baby his whole life!'

'He's messed up, alright,' Nappa said casually, chewing a thumbnail. 'The doctors said he was cured, but I think he's still a bit psycho.'

'Yes,' said King Vegeta slightly irritably. 'But he was much more psycho than usual when he talked about this baby.'

'Afraid of it, I guess,' Nappa said. 'Or maybe he's just screwed up about babies in general because of the thing with his children,'

'Yes,' King Vegeta said thoughtfully. 'He is screwed up about babies.' He stared out of the tower window onto the grey city of Horzborg, his lips pressing together thoughtfully. 'He always said he never wanted to have children.'

'So much for that, huh?' Nappa smirked. He leaned back idly. A sudden flash of comprehension came into his eyes.

'Sir,' he asked tentatively. 'Did you give Bardock explicit orders not to kill the baby?'

'I told him I wasn't going to order him to kill it,' King Vegeta said slowly.

'Yes,' Nappa said. 'But did you actually look him in the eye and say that he was under no circumstances to go to Pistopon and kill Brolli?' King Vegeta stood without saying anything for a moment.

'No,' he finally said.

'We should go down there,' Nappa said, rising from his chair. At that moment his office door was ripped open.

'Commander,' a young secretary screamed, bursting in. 'There's been some kind of explosion at the Space Station!' Nappa and Vegeta's eyes met for a few seconds.

'You don't think-' No answer was necessary. They charged through the door and down the stairs.

King Vegeta charged along the cobbled main street of West Point, closely followed by Nappa. The buildings and roads seemed to flicker by like a grey blur, and the King of the Saiyans found himself standing at the doors of the Space Station, barely remembering how he'd got there. He started to mount the stone steps.

Suddenly the world filled with a harsh white light. King Vegeta had barely enough time to raise his arm to protect his eyes when a blast that reduced the steps to rubble emanated from the building. A burning wind howled through the doors and the King was nearly knocked over by the blast. He struggled to keep his footing. Then the light faded, and the sound was replaced by a deafening silence.

'Were we just attacked?' a low voice said behind him. King Vegeta turned, kicking the rubble away from his ankles, and saw Nappa standing about ten feet away, covered with ash.

'No,' King Vegeta said. 'Something happened in that- building…' he gaped at what was left of the West Point Space Station in horror. The whole building was more or less destroyed. Parts of the framework still stood up, but the edifice had been mostly reduced to rubble. Soldiers were dragging themselves out of the mess, covered in blood, pipes were spilling water and small fires were starting to break out. People began to pour out of the buildings around.

King Vegeta continued to gawk at the horrendous mess in front of him until Nappa came up and prodded him on the shoulder.

'So what in hell do you think just happened there? Gas leak?'

'Get a grip,' the King snapped, snapping out of his shocked state. 'It was Bardock. In fact- yes, I can sense his presence here.'

'You can what now?'

'Just help me find him, OK?' They picked through the rubble, tossing boulders aside, until King Vegeta found an arm running with blood. He yanked it out of the destroyed remains of the Space Station to find an unconscious Bardock on the end of it, his clothes tattered and his hair standing raggedly on end. King Vegeta slapped Bardock awake. He had no patience for kindness at that moment.

Bardock groaned and blinked his eyes painfully.

'What happened here?' King Vegeta asked as soon as he saw Bardock had regained consciousness. Bardock looked around in shock, pulling himself to a sitting position, trying to take in the mess around him.

'I didn't do it!' he blurted out.

'Then what happened here?'

'I- he- Paragus did this!' Bardock yelled.

'What?' King Vegeta yelled incredulously. 'I saw that blast. Paragus did not do this.'

'Where is Paragus, anyway?' asked Nappa, appearing from the right. 'I thought he was in Pistopon.'

'Oh, all right,' Bardock said, his chin sinking into his chest. 'Brolli did it. The baby.'

'WHAT?' the two men yelled at once.

'Now I know you're on something,' Nappa sneered. Bardock glared up at him.

'You said he had unimaginable potential for destructive power. I guess you were right?'

'I meant in twenty years, not now!' King Vegeta yelled. 'By the White Goddess, Bardock, you can't be serious! Did that baby really do this?'

'I'm sorry,' Bardock said miserably. He knew already what this meant for them all. An implacable, invincible enemy, daily growing stronger…

'Damage report!' a small secretary said, running up to the three of them. 'We have only three fatalities so far, all aliens,' the three Saiyans sighed with relief. 'Unfortunately,' said the secretary. 'We must report that nearly all the equipment contained within the Space Station was destroyed.'

'Damn it!' yelled Nappa. 'That was our whole budget for this year!'

There was an awkward silence.

'But you bought insurance, didn't you Nappa?' King Vegeta asked, slowly, worriedly. The Saiyan Commander stopped dead, a look of terrible realisation on his face. He said nothing.

'I said, but you bought insurance, didn't you, Nappa?' King Vegeta asked more insistently, leaning towards him. Nappa continued to say nothing.

'I think it looks like he didn't buy insurance,' Bardock piped up nastily.

'Nappa, you bought insurance, didn't you?' King Vegeta snarled, his voice terrible. 'Please tell me you bought insurance.' Nappa slowly shook his head, staring forward as if in a daze.

'There wasn't enough money left in the treasury for insurance,' he said dismally. 'We spent it all on the Space Station.'

'DAMN IT TO HELL!' screamed the King, slamming his fist into a boulder, which disintegrated. 'All our money gone for nothing, and on top of that, I've been bested by Paragus!'

The little secretary stared in horror. 'I'm sorry sir?' he said. 'You think a man called Paragus is responsible for this?'

'Yes, I do,' the king said. 'And I- where is he?' The four of them were suddenly silent, glancing around them. Without warning, an undamaged space pod burst from the rubble about twenty feet away. King Vegeta caught a glimpse of Paragus' pointy hair in the monitor before it blasted away into the air.

He immediately flew straight up, catching up with the pod in seconds. He saw Paragus' face through the window, with the infamous Brolli in his right arm and another child at his left. Paragus gazed out at him with an expression of apprehension. King Vegeta shook his fist furiously.

'Paragus!' he howled. But the space pod blasted up into the pink sky and out of sight. Cursing inwardly, King Vegeta descended onto the rubble.

'So he's running away,' he said furiously. 'I wonder where he thinks he's going.'

'Turles,' Nappa and Bardock said instantly.

'Great,' King Vegeta muttered, burying his head in his hands. 'That is just what my life needs right now. The Space Station's just been destroyed, it wasn't even insured for Goddess' sake, I've been made to look like a complete gimp by Paragus, I'm covered in ash and now this. What a terrible day.'

'You think you've got it bad?' Bardock said dismally. 'I just got beaten up by a baby.'

The End