The battle began with Bardock hurtling into the fray, his massive arms launching forward to meet Dai's hastily-raised palms in a titanic grapple. Almost instantly, power began to ripple from the bodies of the two combatants, forcing the earth aside beneath them, forming a growing crater. Raditsu instantly moved to his father's aid.

"No!" Bardock stopped him. "Stay back."

Raditsu stopped dead. "But, father-"

"STAY BACK!"

Grudgingly, Raditsu halted, watching Dai Shinnoma and Bardock grapple. By now, the crater in which the two stood was huge, and the rock faces nearby were beginning to crumble as waves of ki set the air to shimmering. The others, Raditsu noted, were making no move to assist Bardock, perhaps assuming that the Ultimate Super Saiyajin could handle the midget demon.

After several agonizing moments, Dai and Bardock released their grips and stepped back. Bardock's massive torso gleamed with sweat, and he was breathing heavily; however, Dai barely seemed winded.

"Is that the best you can do?" the small demon asked smugly.

Bardock scowled at him for a moment. "I'm just warming up, my small friend."

A brief flash of uncertainty crossed Dai's face. "You aren't the only one. Allow me to show you a little trick of mine. Watch closely now."

"I don't like this," Kiwi murmured to Piccolo.

Raditsu chose to remain silent. Stepping back to the edge of the crater, Dai Shinnoma drew himself up to his still-small full height, and Raditsu could feel the demon's ki building. In fact, the huge buildup of power nearly blew Raditsu's mind; it was all he could do to stay on his feet.

Dai Shinnoma's muscles began to ripple beneath his gi, slowly expanding as he gradually grew to a greater height. From deep within his shaggy violet mane came a pair of jutting black horns, and his blue-grey skin toughened into leathery scales. The demon's angular face, already cruel-looking, became even more so as a pair of horns sprouted from either side of his chin. As the demon topped seven feet in height, his gi shirt tore in half and fell away from his body, revealing a massively muscled torso and gigantic arms.

His transformation complete, Dai Shinnoma took one step forward. "I didn't think I'd have to use this," he remarked; his voice had changed to a deep, earthshaking rumble. "You earthlings are proving to be more bothersome than I suspected. Ah well."

Before anyone could react, Dai flashed forward, hurling Bardock to the ground with one kick. Reacting instantly, Raditsu lunged into battle, rage causing his ki to flare to new heights as he moved to protect his father. The long-haired Saiyajin unleashed a flurry of kicks, his legs moving faster than they ever had; he felt a few blows connect and was rewarded with a few grunts of pain from his demonic assailant before a huge fist slammed into his midsection, sending him flying backwards.

Raditsu thrust both hands out as he flew, executing a backflip and landing to face Dai again. Without waiting for the demon to move, he drew back one hand and hurled a golden ki ball at his opponent, a move punctuated by a loud cry. The ki blast flew fast and true... only to be casually brushed aside by the titanic hellspawn.

"That did a lot of good," Dai commented smugly. "Do you want to just sit there and let me kill you now? There's no point in the both of us going through all of this grunting and sweating to reach the inevitable conclusion - which is, of course, me killing you."

A sharp retort hovered on Raditsu's lips, but he altered it as he noticed something. "Maybe not as inevitable as you think," he replied, offering a smirk.

Dai frowned for a moment... then was thrown forward as Kakarotto kicked him in the back of the head. Raditsu moved immediately; as Dai rose, Raditsu sunk his right fist deep into the huge demon's stomach. A huge breath whooshed from Dai Shinnoma's lungs, and he staggered backwards... but he recovered almost instantly and ducked Kakarotto's hammerblow, wheeling around with a mighty backhanded punch, which the smaller Saiyajin blocked. Demon and Saiyajin exchanged a few punches before Kakarotto was finally flung aside like a limp rag.

Raditsu lunged again, this time latching onto Dai's back and shifting his weight backwards, attempting to pull the demon down. It did no good; Dai brought his huge arms back, grabbed Raditsu by the shoulders, and hurled him over his head, sending him soaring through the air to crash into a cliff. A blazing salvo of pain raced through Raditsu's body, a pain which was magnified by several tons of rock falling on him as the cliff collapsed.

-----

Bardock watched the apparent defeat of both his sons with dismay. There had been hope at first, but now that hope was beginning to fade.

Apparently satisfied for now, Dai Shinnoma turned again to face Bardock, his expression smug. "Your sons are rather pathetic," he said in a professional tone. "Then again, they ARE fighting me, so their lack of satisfactory resistance is quite understandable. I am, after all, the ultimate being."

"Perhaps not so ultimate," Bardock responded, struggling to keep his tone level; it would not do to show weakness in front of the enemy.

"Until you can convince me otherwise, I am ultimate."

Grunting a bit in response, Bardock prepared to fight again.