Bardock blasted his way through the water, forcing salty liquid aside as he zeroed in on Dai Shinnoma, his right fist extended. However, Dai was already there; his huge forearms came up to deflect the punch. Grinning, Dai smoothly linked in a swing of the spines on his right arm, which Bardock neatly dodged. The old warrior took advantage of the opening to drive his foot into Dai's stomach. The huge demon was flung further into the depths to impact against the ocean floor with a thud.

Another thud followed almost instantly - but this one was different. Rather than an impact, it sounded more like an explosion. Bardock looked up in suspicion, a suspicion which was confirmed by a looming shape far overhead, on the surface.

The hull of an Earth naval destroyer.

Before Bardock could turn back to Dai, the huge demon had blazed past him, piercing the surface like an arrow fired from a mighty subaquatic bow to resume his primary objective. Berating himself inwardly, Bardock followed him.

The veteran emerged into a deluge of gunfire. None of the bullets phased Bardock one little bit, but it was obvious what had happened: The havy had opened fire on Dai Shinnoma. Bardock's eyes scanned the area, quickly locating the spiny demon hovering near a bunch of destroyers and smaller craft. Dai's right hand held the scorched shell of a MIG-29 fighter jet.

"Shoot! Shoot!" came a desperate voice from the flight deck of a nearby destroyer. Bardock quickly found the source of the noise - a portly man in a naval uniform.

"Your puny bullets don't even put a scratch on me!" Dai roared - mostly at the entire navy. "Now watch THIS!" With a mighty heave, the giant beast drew back and hurled the MIG shell nose-first into the flight deck of the lead destroyer. The destroyer exploded spectacularly, annihilating every single human on board.

Growling, Bardock gathered his ki about him and blazed forward, catching Dai on the side of the head. The demon whirled suddenly, letting fly with a broad ki blast; luckily, the demon's lack of prior aiming sent the attack out on an angle, making it child's play for Bardock to dodge. However, the beam smacked into an aircraft carrier and blew the damn thing to pieces.

[More lives lost unnecessarily,] Bardock thought to himself.

"Slick," Dai remarked. "I'm starting to think you have a chance."

"Leave the humans out of this," Bardock demanded. "They are too weak to rightfully join this battle. This is between you and me."

"Au contraire. My primary objective is to destroy the humans, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Dai's hands suddenly rose above his head. Bardock tried to lunge forward, but he found that his muscles were locked in place - something of Dai's devising was effecting his movements. As the frozen Bardock watched in helpless stasis, the huge demon formed a titanic ball of black energy centered on the palms of his hands; the old Saiyajin boggled at how fast Dai had formed such a huge attack.

"Now KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BIRDIE!" Dai suddenly howled, hurling the energy ball downward with a huge gesture. The ball descended at a high velocity, annihilating the entire navy (with the exception of a few small ships) and pushing aside the ocean water as it hit the now-exposed ocean floor. A huge explosion ensued, sending water and wind roaring in all directions. The remaining naval ships capsized almost instantly in the deluge, and Bardock raised his arms to shield his eyes.

When the deluge finally died down, Bardock finally lowered his arms. Water had begun to rush back into where it had been pushed aside by Dai's attack. Most of the debris from the navy had been swept away by the tides, but a few chunks of metal remained, accompanied by floating bodies.

"I must be getting rusty," Dai murmured. "I can usually do better."

"You are dishonorable," Bardock shouted at him. "Those humans did nothing until you provoked them. They did not deserve to die!"

"Of course I'm dishonorable. I'm the bad guy."

"Then prepare to feel the power of a warrior who fights with honour!"

The two combatants squared off again...

-----

Gohan felt a sudden lurching sensation as his father's powerful arms lifted him into the air. The infant gazed into Kakarotto's eyes. A smile adorned his face, but even the baby could see that Daddy was troubled by something.

"Well, Gohan," Daddy said in a hushed voice, "Grandpa's out saving the Earth. Let's hope he can do it." The father turned from the balcony of his home to look out over the ocean.

Without knowing why, young Gohan extended one little hand towards the sun. "Gram-pa," he said solemnly.