The transformation didn't just happen.
It ERUPTED.
Daima felt the power surge through him like a tidal wave, but this time it was different. This wasn't the same Adult Super Saiyan 4 he had shown off earlier—the one that looked like a carbon copy of GT Goku's iconic form. Something had changed. Something had EVOLVED.
His body grew, bones extending, muscles expanding, but the growth didn't stop where it had before. He felt his frame becoming denser, more compact despite the increased size. His hands SWELLED, becoming larger, more powerful—like they were designed specifically to deliver devastating blows.
And his fur—
His fur wasn't red anymore.
It was CRIMSON. A deep, bloody crimson that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. The same color spread to his hair, which grew wild and untamed but now blazed with that same dark red hue instead of the black he had displayed before.
His aura exploded outward, and it wasn't just crimson—it was layered. Deep red at the core, shifting to brighter scarlet at the edges, with crackling black lightning weaving through it like veins of pure destruction.
When the light faded and Daima stood in his new form, even Beerus took a step back.
"What... what IS that?" The God of Destruction's voice carried genuine surprise. "That's not the same transformation you showed before."
Daima looked down at his new body and felt a surge of something he had never experienced before—not in his old life as Derek Thompson, and not in his brief time as Daima Goku.
He felt like he BELONGED in this form.
His hands were massive compared to his previous Adult Super Saiyan 4 appearance. Each finger was thick and powerful, the crimson fur covering them making them look like they belonged to some ancient Saiyan war god. His chest was broader, his shoulders wider, his entire frame radiating a primal authority that the previous version had only hinted at.
He caught his reflection in a shattered window nearby and almost laughed.
I don't look like a dollar store GT Goku anymore, he thought with grim satisfaction. I look like something ORIGINAL. Something that belongs to Daima's timeline, not a cheap knockoff of another series.
"It seems," Whis observed, his voice filled with academic fascination, "that his body has fully adapted to this dimension's power requirements. The previous Adult Super Saiyan 4 was essentially a template—a borrowed form from another universe's possibility. But THIS..." He gestured at Daima with his staff. "This is the form PERFECTED. His biology has accepted and optimized the transformation for his specific existence."
"In other words," Piccolo translated, his eyes wide, "he's stopped being a copy and become the real thing."
"Precisely!"
Vegeta was staring at Daima with an expression that mixed absolute fury with something that might have been awe. "That power... I can FEEL it from here. It's suffocating. How can a CHILD possess that kind of strength?!"
"He's not a child right now," Gohan pointed out quietly. "Look at him. That's not the same person who crashed into Dad's head ten minutes ago."
He was right.
Daima stood at full adult height now, but he was taller than before—easily matching Regular Goku's height if not exceeding it slightly. His crimson fur covered his arms, chest, and back in a pattern that seemed almost tribal, like war paint applied by some cosmic force. His eyes blazed gold with deep red outlines, and when he smiled, his teeth looked sharper than they had any right to be.
He looked like what Super Saiyan 4 was always MEANT to look like.
Not a callback to the Great Ape. Not a fusion of primal and refined.
Something NEW. Something that transcended both.
"This is..." Daima's voice came out deeper, more resonant than before. He flexed his oversized hands, watching the crimson fur ripple with the movement. "This is incredible. I can feel EVERYTHING. Every molecule of air, every vibration in the ground, every heartbeat of everyone watching."
He looked up at Beerus, and for the first time since arriving in this dimension, he felt no fear.
This is the power I defended, he realized. This is what I BELIEVED in. And now it's MINE.
"Lord Beerus," Daima said, settling into a fighting stance that felt completely natural despite being something he had never consciously learned. "I think I'm ready for that real fight now."
Beerus's expression had shifted from surprise to something far more dangerous—genuine interest. The kind of interest a cat shows when it finds a mouse that might actually be worth chasing.
"That form," Beerus said slowly, "is no longer comparable to anything in my experience. The Super Saiyan God of prophecy was supposed to be my destined opponent. But you..." He began walking forward, his aura building with each step. "You might be something even more interesting."
"Is that a compliment?"
"It's an observation." Beerus stopped about twenty feet away, his purple aura now blazing around him like controlled destruction. "I've been holding back significantly during our little experiment. Using perhaps... five percent of my power against your lower forms. But this transformation demands more respect."
He raised one hand, purple energy crackling between his fingers.
"Let's start at thirty percent and see how long you last."
Daima felt the pressure increase exponentially as Beerus's power output jumped. The air around them grew heavy, gravity itself seeming to intensify under the God of Destruction's released energy. Several of the watching Z-Fighters stumbled, and even Regular Goku's expression became serious.
"Thirty percent," Daima repeated. "That's more than you used against Super Saiyan God Goku in the original—"
He caught himself. He had almost referenced the "original" timeline like it was a TV show he had watched.
Which it WAS.
But he couldn't exactly explain that.
"In the original what?" Beerus asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Nothing. Just thinking out loud." Daima shook off the momentary slip and refocused. "Thirty percent. Got it. Let's do this."
They moved simultaneously.
The impact of their first clash created a shockwave that flattened everything within a hundred-meter radius.
Whis casually raised a barrier to protect the remaining party guests and Z-Fighters, but even through the magical protection, everyone felt the WEIGHT of the collision. It was like two planets had decided to occupy the same space and reality itself was groaning under the contradiction.
Daima's massive fist met Beerus's palm, and for a moment—one glorious, impossible moment—they were EQUAL.
Then Beerus pushed, and Daima was forced back.
But only a few feet.
"Impressive," Beerus admitted, genuine approval in his voice. "You actually absorbed that impact. Most beings would have been atomized."
"I'm not most beings," Daima replied, already launching his counterattack.
His oversized hands proved to be more than just aesthetic. Each punch he threw carried DEVASTATION behind it. The increased mass, the denser muscle structure, the optimized crimson fur that seemed to channel his energy more efficiently—everything about this evolved form was designed for one thing.
HITTING HARD.
Beerus blocked his strikes, but each impact forced the God of Destruction to actually WORK. His casual, dismissive fighting style from the earlier exchanges was gone, replaced by genuine engagement. Purple and crimson auras clashed and intertwined, creating bursts of energy that lit up the sky like apocalyptic fireworks.
"He's keeping up," Gohan breathed, his scholarly mind struggling to process what he was seeing. "At thirty percent of Beerus's power, he's actually keeping up."
"It's not just keeping up," Piccolo added, his eyes tracking the battle with warrior's precision. "Look at his technique. Every movement is efficient. There's no wasted energy, no unnecessary flourishes. It's like watching a perfectly calibrated machine."
Regular Goku was literally bouncing on his feet with excitement. "This is AMAZING! I've never seen anyone fight Beerus like this! Not even me with Super Saiyan God—I mean, I haven't done that yet, but I can FEEL how strong he is and THIS GUY is matching him and—"
"KAKAROT, SHUT UP!" Vegeta exploded. "Some of us are trying to ANALYZE this so we can figure out how to surpass it!"
"But Vegeta, aren't you excited?! There's ANOTHER Goku who's super strong and I bet if we train together we could both get even stronger and—"
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
In the sky above them, Daima and Beerus had separated again, both floating about fifty meters apart. Daima was breathing hard—even this optimized form had limits—but he was grinning with savage joy.
I'm doing it, he thought. I'm actually FIGHTING a God of Destruction. Not surviving. Not running. FIGHTING.
All those hours of analysis. All those arguments. All those people who said power scaling doesn't matter.
THIS IS POWER SCALING IN ACTION.
"You're thinking too much," Beerus observed, tilting his head. "I can see it in your eyes. You're calculating, analyzing, treating this like an equation to solve. That's interesting, but it's also a weakness."
Daima frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Fighting isn't mathematics, little Saiyan. You can analyze patterns and calculate probabilities all you want, but at the end of the day, combat is about INSTINCT. About letting your body react without your mind getting in the way." Beerus cracked his neck. "Your form is impressive. Your power output is remarkable. But you're fighting like a scholar wearing a warrior's body."
The words hit Daima harder than any punch.
Because Beerus was RIGHT.
Even with Daima Goku's muscle memory and combat instincts, Derek Thompson's analytical mind was still running the show. Every attack he threw was calculated. Every defense was measured. He was fighting like he was filling out a spreadsheet, not like a true warrior.
This body knows how to fight, Daima realized. But I keep OVERRIDING those instincts with my own analysis. I'm literally holding myself back.
"Forty percent," Beerus announced, his aura intensifying. "Let's see if pressure can cure your overthinking problem."
He attacked.
And this time, Daima couldn't keep up.
Beerus's speed at forty percent was beyond anything Daima's conscious mind could track. He took a punch to the gut that folded him in half, followed by an elbow to the back that sent him crashing into the ground. Before he could recover, Beerus was there, grabbing him by the tail—wait, he had a TAIL now?!—and swinging him into a nearby building.
The structure collapsed around him.
"DAIMA!" Regular Goku shouted, moving to intervene—
"Stay back, Goku!" Whis commanded, his voice unusually sharp. "This is his battle. Interfering now would dishonor everything he's fighting for."
"But he's getting crushed!"
"Yes. And that's exactly what he needs."
In the rubble of the collapsed building, Daima lay stunned. His crimson aura had flickered but not faded. His evolved Super Saiyan 4 form was holding, but just barely.
Forty percent, he thought through the pain. He jumped to forty percent and I couldn't even SEE his attacks.
Because I was too busy trying to ANALYZE them instead of just REACTING.
Beerus's words echoed in his mind: "Fighting isn't mathematics."
He's right. Goddammit, he's right.
I've been treating this like a Twitter argument. Trying to prove my point through logic and evidence. But this isn't social media. This is COMBAT.
And combat doesn't care about my calculations.
He pushed himself up from the rubble, crimson dust and debris falling from his massive frame. His body ached, but it was a good ache—the kind that said "you got hit but you're still standing."
Beerus floated above the destruction, arms crossed. "Still conscious? Good. You're more durable than I expected. But durability won't save you if you can't actually land a hit."
Daima looked at his oversized hands. At the crimson fur covering his body. At the tail he hadn't even realized he had until Beerus grabbed it.
This body, he thought. This POWER. It's not something I earned through training or battle experience. It was given to me. Forced onto me. I'm wearing Daima Goku like a suit.
But that doesn't mean it's not MINE.
I died believing in this power. I was reborn INTO this power. And if I want to actually USE it...
I need to stop thinking like Derek Thompson.
I need to start BEING Daima Goku.
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, he let go of everything. All the calculations. All the power scaling. All the analysis that had defined his previous existence. He let it fade into background noise.
And he listened to his body.
The crimson fur pulsed with primal energy. His oversized hands tingled with barely contained power. His newly discovered tail swished behind him, a sensory organ he was only now realizing added an entire new dimension to his combat awareness.
His heartbeat slowed.
His breathing deepened.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, Daima Goku opened his eyes and SAW.
"Interesting," Whis murmured. "Very interesting."
"What is it?" Gohan asked, noticing the angel's changed demeanor.
"His energy signature just shifted. It's still the same power, but the FLOW has changed. Before, it was like watching someone operate a machine—competent but mechanical. Now..." Whis smiled. "Now it's like watching someone dance."
Beerus felt it too. The change in his opponent's stance, the shift in his aura, the way those golden-red eyes suddenly seemed to focus with crystal clarity.
"So you finally figured it out," the God of Destruction said approvingly. "Good. I was getting bored with the analytical version of you."
Daima didn't respond with words.
He responded with MOVEMENT.
He was in front of Beerus before the God of Destruction could react, his massive fist already swinging. Beerus blocked on pure instinct, and the impact sent BOTH of them flying backward.
"WHAT?!" Vegeta's jaw dropped. "He actually pushed Beerus back?!"
Daima didn't let up. He pressed the attack with ferocity that surprised even himself, his body moving without conscious direction, his crimson form blazing through the sky like a comet of pure destruction.
His oversized hands proved their worth in ways his analytical mind had never calculated. They weren't just bigger—they were perfectly balanced, allowing him to generate devastating power from angles that shouldn't be possible. His tail worked unconsciously, adjusting his aerial momentum and balance, adding an extra dimension to every movement.
And his instincts—Daima Goku's TRUE instincts—finally awakened.
Every block was precise. Every strike was optimal. Every movement flowed into the next with seamless efficiency.
He wasn't fighting like Derek Thompson wearing Daima Goku's body anymore.
He was fighting like DAIMA GOKU.
"YES!" Regular Goku cheered from below. "THAT'S IT! THAT'S HOW YOU FIGHT!"
Beerus was grinning now—a genuine, delighted grin. "NOW you're interesting! Fifty percent!"
His power jumped again, and Daima felt the increase like a physical wave. But instead of panicking, instead of trying to calculate his response, he simply... MOVED.
Their battle intensified, spreading across the sky above West City. Each clash created shockwaves that rattled windows for miles. Their auras intertwined and exploded, crimson and purple painting the heavens with apocalyptic beauty.
"He's actually matching fifty percent," Piccolo said quietly, disbelief coloring his voice. "That form, fully realized... it's on the level of the gods."
"Not quite," Whis corrected gently. "Lord Beerus at fifty percent is still holding back considerably. But for a mortal to push him even this far..." He chuckled. "It's quite remarkable."
Daima and Beerus broke apart again, both showing signs of exertion for the first time. Beerus's robe was torn in several places, and Daima's crimson fur was matted with sweat and dust.
But they were both smiling.
"You know what I like about you?" Beerus said, catching his breath. "You're not fighting for pride or survival or any of the usual boring motivations. You genuinely just want to KNOW. To test. To understand."
"Is that strange for a warrior?"
"It's strange for ANYONE. Most beings are too caught up in the immediate concerns of battle to appreciate the... scientific beauty of it." Beerus laughed. "You turned a fight with a God of Destruction into a RESEARCH PROJECT."
Daima laughed too, surprising himself. "I mean... when you put it that way, it does sound kind of ridiculous."
"Ridiculous? It's ENTERTAINING. Which is the highest compliment I can give." Beerus's expression became more serious. "But here's the thing, little power scaler. Your research project has proven your hypothesis. That form of yours—fully realized—IS on the level of godly power. Not quite God of Destruction level, but close enough to be respectable."
"But?"
"But you've hit your ceiling." Beerus raised one finger, purple energy crackling at its tip. "I've been fighting at fifty percent. I can go much, MUCH higher. The question is... can you?"
Daima looked at his crimson hands. Felt the primal power flowing through his evolved form. Searched for anything more, anything deeper, anything he hadn't yet tapped.
And found... nothing.
This was it. The fully evolved Adult Super Saiyan 4. His ultimate form. The peak of what Daima Goku could achieve with the transformations he currently possessed.
It wasn't enough.
"I see you've realized it," Beerus observed. "That's the limitation of your approach, power scaler. You can calculate and analyze all you want, but at the end of the day, there are beings who exist beyond calculation. I am one of them."
Daima should have felt despair. Should have felt the crushing weight of inadequacy.
Instead, he felt... excited.
There's MORE, he realized. Even beyond this form, even beyond my best calculations, there's MORE to discover. More to achieve. More to PROVE.
I'm not at the top yet. And that means I have somewhere to CLIMB.
"You're smiling," Beerus noted. "I just told you that you've reached your limit, and you're smiling."
"Because you're wrong," Daima replied. "This isn't my limit. It's just my limit RIGHT NOW."
Beerus stared at him for a long moment. Then he threw his head back and laughed.
"I LIKE you! You're delusional in exactly the right way!" He powered down, his aura fading. "Fine. I've seen what I wanted to see. Your 'Super Saiyan 4' is impressive—genuinely impressive. Not quite what I was looking for in the Super Saiyan God prophecy, but certainly more entertaining than I expected from this little backwater planet."
Daima blinked, the combat high slowly fading. "Wait... you're not going to destroy the Earth?"
"Why would I? I'm having FUN." Beerus floated back down toward the party grounds, where Whis was waiting with an amused expression. "Besides, there's still the matter of the ACTUAL Super Saiyan God. Your little interruption delayed the ritual, but I'm still curious to see what it produces."
He pointed at Regular Goku, who perked up immediately.
"You. Tall Goku. Finish your ritual. I want to see this Super Saiyan God form and compare it to your miniature counterpart's transformation."
Regular Goku's face lit up like a child on Christmas morning. "Really?! I get to fight you too?! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!"
"Your enthusiasm is exhausting," Beerus muttered, but he was still smiling.
Daima powered down, his evolved form receding. The crimson fur faded, his body shrank, and within moments he was back to being a child-sized Goku in Daima's distinctive outfit.
But he didn't feel small.
He felt like he had just learned something that no amount of Twitter arguments could have ever taught him.
Fighting is different from analyzing, he thought as he floated back down to the ground. But that doesn't mean my analysis was WRONG. It just means I was looking at it from the wrong angle.
The power scaling is real. MY power is real. But there's more to strength than numbers on a spreadsheet.
There's instinct. Experience. The willingness to grow beyond what you thought was possible.
I have Daima Goku's body. I proved that it's strong enough to fight a God of Destruction at fifty percent. But I'm not DONE.
This is just the beginning.
He landed next to Regular Goku, who immediately grabbed his hands and started shaking them enthusiastically.
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" Big Goku exclaimed. "You were all WHOOSH and POW and CRIMSON and GIANT HANDS and you actually HIT Beerus and he looked like he was having FUN and I want to learn your transformation and we should DEFINITELY train together after this and—"
"Kakarot, give the boy some space!" Vegeta snapped, though his glare at Daima was contemplative rather than hostile. "You. Small Goku. That form you achieved at the end—the crimson one with the enlarged hands. That wasn't the same transformation you demonstrated earlier."
"No," Daima admitted. "It... evolved. I think my body finally adapted to this dimension's power requirements."
"Adapted," Vegeta repeated, his teeth grinding. "In the middle of battle. You achieved a perfected transformation through combat adaptation."
"...Yes?"
Vegeta looked like he wanted to punch something. Probably Daima. Possibly himself.
"Of COURSE you did. Another Kakarot, pulling power-ups out of nowhere through sheer plot convenience. Why am I even surprised anymore?"
"Vegeta, don't be jealous!" Goku said cheerfully. "I'm sure if you tried really hard, you could—"
"FINISH THE RITUAL SO I CAN WATCH YOU FIGHT BEERUS AND THEN BEAT BOTH OF YOU MYSELF!"
"...Okay, okay, jeez."
The Z-Fighters began reassembling for the Super Saiyan God ritual, with Videl taking her place at the center once again. But before they could begin, Beerus raised a hand.
"One moment." He pointed at Daima. "You. I want you to participate in the ritual."
Everyone froze.
"What?" Daima asked, certain he had misheard.
"The prophecy says five righteous Saiyans must pour their hearts into another. But it doesn't specify which Saiyans or which recipient." Beerus's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "I want to see what happens if BOTH Gokus participate. The original and the dimensional variant."
Whis clapped his hands with delight. "Oh, what an intriguing idea! The ritual powered by two versions of the same Saiyan from different dimensional frequencies! The results could be quite unexpected!"
Daima looked at Regular Goku, who was looking back at him with that same innocent excitement.
"What do you say?" Big Goku asked. "Want to help me become a Super Saiyan God?"
Daima thought about all the implications. The power scaling ramifications. The potential butterfly effects on the timeline. The possibility that his presence might fundamentally alter how the Super Saiyan God form manifested.
Then he thought about how cool it would be to be part of the actual Super Saiyan God ritual.
"Yeah," he said, a grin spreading across his childish face. "Let's do it."