Kagato phased into his space ship with a smile on his evil face. He had done little to accomplish his actual goal, but had made up for it and more with the death of Knucks. Kagato sat at his computer screen and his smile grew as he watched Ryoko, and the other little nuisances, try and save Knucks. They would still try to save him, but would find soon enough that Kagato had just killed their best chance for survival. Over all, he had failed by not collecting data from Tenchi or Washu. He had rushed to quickly into killing that he forgot about his plans, but he had also succeeded in a way. He then felt a trickle of blood run down the spot where Knucks had smashed a bottake over his head. He whipped it away with his glove and thought that he shouldn't of killed Knucks. Not because of the experiment, but because that he wanted to make him suffer more than any human could stand. He decided that it was to late now and grabbed the full bottle of wine he had saved for after his victory, but now seemed as good a time as any. He grabbed the bottle and popped the cork. He filled his glass and decided that his victory was here and now-
' You're a fool if you underestimate them now. Knucks was just one person and he didn't even have a real sword. Tell me, what makes you think that he is dead anyways?'
That voice! The voice of doubt always ruined his fun, but it also made him realize that he was jumping the gun a little bit. He switched his computer screen to the camera that was still following Knucks around. The screen was switched, and so was Kagato's mood. Knucks was in a vat of green liquid that filled the giant cylinder he occupied. The injury he had sustained in their battle was slowly healing. Kagato zoomed in on a display screen next to Knucks' healing chamber. It read, " Will recover in: 5 Hours 15min."
Kagato zoomed back out and tried to control his raging temper. He felt the wine glass crushing and cracking from his grip. It finally smashed in his hand and sent the fine wine that filled it splashing to the ground. He quickly regained his composure and weighed his options. He had gathered little information about Knucks while fighting him, and even if he had, it would've been useless because Knucks still had his weights on. Kagato also concurred that Knucks would've done different things if he had a real sword. He then thought of the help that Knucks had behind him: Yosho, Tenchi, Washu, and he couldn't forget, Ryoko. He could take care of Yosho and Tenchi and maybe Washu, but he couldn't take on two enraged powers like Ryoko and Knucks. He couldn't believe that he now thought of Knucks as a challenge-
' Because you can't remember the last time you bled. Knucks drew your untouchable blood and had splattered it on the holy ground that you walk on.'
Kagato was getting very tired of his inner voice always being right and its sarcastic tone. Kagato was near panic when he remembered who he was. He was the man who had, single handedly, destroyed the top powers in this galaxy. He had even had the great Ryoko do his bidding for him. However, now that he looked at Knucks, he remembered his most glorious moments. Those moments that he would use against Knucks to Kagato's advantage. The exact moments in which Kagato had killed each of Knucks' family members. His foolish father, his power drunk mother, and the revenge thirsty sister all fell to his sword. Kagato smiled widely at the thought of sending Knucks to meet them.
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Ryoko slept peacefully in her bed. She had no nightmares, no flashes and no haunting faces, but was awoken by Tenchi pounding on her door. He told her to get up and to get downstairs, and that he thought Knucks was in trouble. Ryoko didn't plan of moving to fast until she heard that Knucks might've been in trouble. That shot her up and forced her to phase into her clothes and rush downstairs.
Tenchi had been the first one out the door but Ryoko was the first to Knucks' side. She saw the injury to his gut and shoulder. He had rolled his head around and groaned something, but had passed out soon after she arrived. Tenchi told her to get him to Washu's lab. Ryoko didn't hesitate and threw Knucks over her shoulder as carefully as possible. She then rushed to Washu's lab, already fearing the worst for her new acquaintance.
Ryoko phased to Washu's lab and didn't see the scientist. She was in a very big rush so she shouted for Washu to answer her. She caught her voice in her head and followed her mother's directions. Washu was already expecting him and pointed to a large cylinder ready for him. The cylinder had a few cords in it and at least a thousand gallons of green goo. Washu instructed her to reach into the goo and get the few floating cords and attach them to Knucks' arms. Ryoko reached into the cold goo and snatched the cords. She quickly attached them to Knucks and lowered him into the cold healing chamber. She lowered him all the way in and found that while letting Knucks slip into the vat of sludge, she couldn't help but think that she was letting him go for the last time. She hated the feeling and hesitated when asked to close the lid. She remembered the moments they had shared and asked Washu, " Can you save him? Please tell me you can save him."
Washu looked her daughter dead in the eye and said, " Ryoko, he is going to live through this for you." She gave her a wink and a smile and reassured her, " Wouldn't want my daughter being lonely again would I?"
Ryoko blushed slightly and smiled back at her mother. She was the only one that knew anything about Knucks' and Ryoko's relationship and Ryoko had the feeling that her crazy mother would play a part in it sooner or later.
Ryoko closed the lid shut on Knucks and hovered next to Washu as she started up the machine. It hummed to life as Washu typed countless commands into her machine. She looked over her shoulder and noticed Ryoko hovering and pointed to the door, " I can't have any distractions if I'm gonna do this right."
Ryoko was a little surprised at this, " Why?" Ryoko looked at Washu, but didn't get an answer. She decided to just come back later, " When can I come back then?"
Washu typed a few more commands into her keyboard and a clock appeared in front of Ryoko, " This is when you can come back in. That's when I think Knucks will be healed. Until then, tell everybody that my lab is off limits."
Ryoko took the watch and read it. She saw a fixed time on the small watch, 8:15 is what it read. Ryoko slowly walked out of the lab without a backward glance.
---
Ryoko now sat in the living room, trying her best to think of something other than Knucks. It was now three in the morning, about two hours after the incident. Nobody was able to get back to sleep after they heard about Knucks. Even Ayeka looked a little bit worried about him. Ryoko sat there, staring into her hand and thinking about anything she could. Tenchi walked over and sat next to Ryoko, " Hey Ryoko. I didn't think that you'd be this worried about Knucks."
Ryoko looked up at Tenchi and saw, for the first time, how distant from each other they had become ever since Knucks arrived. They hadn't had a real conversation, nor had Ryoko fought with Ayeka over him, ever since he came. " Of course I'm worried. He's a friend right?"
Tenchi gave her a curt nod and noticed Ryoko's evasion form answering the question right away, " You alright Ryoko?"
Ryoko looked at him and gave the best smile she could, " Yeah, I'm good. I just was sleeping peacefully for once and I'm a little tired."
Tenchi still felt that there was more to this than she said, but her face gave away nothing, so he didn't push it, " Well… If you ever want to talk, you know I'm here for you."
Tenchi got up to and walked towards the kitchen. Ryoko thought about Tenchi's sudden concern for her feelings. She decided that Tenchi was just being Tenchi and was just concerned. She thought about telling him about her and Knucks, but decided that the time wasn't right yet and to ask her mother about telling him. She was surprised that she no longer felt the warmth in her heart when she thought of Tenchi. On the tail of that, Knucks flashed through her head and she felt the warmth. She knew that Knucks would be her warmth, instead of Tenchi. If he ever got out of that freaking goo.
---
Washu rubbed at her weary eyes and sat back in her seat. Knucks' new home hummed on while it attempted to heal him. She had been trying to get a little background information on him while he unconsciously healed. She had found zilch, notta, nothing, zero information about him. She had run his name through all of her programs, but absolutely nothing came up. Not so much as a relative. She definitely had some questions when he healed fully and she wanted the answers to be good.
She had no idea who had attacked him, but it was someone very, very proficient with a sword. She glanced at Knucks and thought of his bravery. She wondered his reason for being out that late, but will more than likely know soon enough. She walked over to Knucks' stasis tank and stared at his floating form.
' This is the man that my daughter likes? Good taste.' Washu smiled at the thought. She had always wanted her little girl to be happy and Tenchi was just to shy. Ryoko had been here three years and had told her multiple times that she was tired of waiting for Tenchi to make up his mind. Washu agreed and was happy now that Ryoko seemed to have found someone else to pine over-
Washu let out a little yelp as Knucks kicked the glass. She was shocked to see him conscious and fully healed. Washu quickly went to open the latch on the top of the stasis tub. She got to the top of it and yanked the latch open. Knucks shot his head out for air and tried to get the goo out of his eyes, " You trying to kill me?" Washu didn't get what he said at first because his voice was to low.
" The opposite actually. I'm trying to save you." She pulled him onto the platform above the tub and let him breath a little bit before questioning him.
He looked up at her with a smile and asked, " Do you know that you can't breath in there?"
Wash nodded and said, " Yup, but I didn't expect you to wake up so soon. I was waiting to experiment on you again."
Knucks chuckled at that and looked around her lab, " Sounds like fun."
---
Knucks wiped the goo off of him with the towel Washu had given him. He thought of Kagato and the nearly fatal blow he had given Knucks. He now ran his hand over where the wound had been and felt the area was no different form the rest of his abdomen. He put back on his shirt and thought of the blow that he had given Kagato. He shouldn't of been bale to walk away from the fight with a shot to the head like that. Knucks had put everything he had into that swing, and had phased him for a second or two. A very disconcerting thought.
He opened the door and walked to where Washu now sat, waiting to start the " interview," she had called it. She had he computer in front of her and motioned for Knucks to sit down, " I want to ask you some questions. I would also like some decent answers."
" Shoot." Knucks sat in the chair and readied for the questions.
" Where are you from? Do you have any family?"
Knucks knew she was going to start out with a hard question or two, " I'm from the planet called Epha and no family members anymore."
" Anymore?"
" My parents and sister were killed by a maniac."
It was obvious Knucks wasn't going to give anymore information than was needed, " Same time?"
It was obvious that Washu was never going to ask another full question again, " Nope."
Washu typed a few things into her computer and continued, " Why are you all the way out here?"
He stood corrected, " Trying to catch the guy who did it."
" Do you know who it was that killed them?"
" Nope. Kind of a "Find the Whacko in the Universe" game."
" I know the feeling," Washu figured that if she opened up a little, he would too. " See. I traveled all over the universe trying to find Ryoko when Kagato took her. Never found her and got captured in the process."
Knucks heard that name and he felt hatred creep into his heart, " He gets around doesn't he."
" What do you mean?"
Washu knew what he was going to say before he said it, " The guy who attacked me last night was Kagato."
Washu knew exactly what that meant and the danger they were all now in. Kagato was trying to get Ryoko's gems and use the power in some psychotic way. She swallowed hard and realized that she hadn't prepared for this yet, " Thanks for the info. Tell everybody that my lab is off limits until I come out. See ya."
Washu rushed Knucks out the door and locked it behind him. She ran to her terminal, hoping that she wasn't to late.
---
Knucks stumbled out of Washu's lab and into the living room. Three smiling faces quickly noticed him and ran towards him. Sasami grabbed his leg and asked if I was alright, Ayeka stood in front of him and asked the same question, and Ryoko walked up to him and hugged his upper half. He embraced both girls, but enjoyed Ryoko's infinitely more than little Sasami's vice like hug.
They let go of him and Sasami brought to his attention that he stank. He figured it was probably the goo smell lingering on his skin and clothes. He would definitely have to take a shower before he went anywhere today.
" What're you doing out so soon? It's only four thirty. Your not supposed to be out till eight fifteen."
Knucks looked into Ryoko's eyes and saw caring and happiness. This gave him the urge to hold her, but he resisted, remembering who was in the room with them. He just kept the warm feeling inside of him and responded, " Apparently, I'm a fast healer."
" I was sooo worried about you Knucks. Don't you ever do that again you hear?" Little Sasami's voice boomed in his ears. He smiled down at her and nodded his head while rubbing the top of her head.
" Yes mame."
He looked towards the Kitchen doorway and saw Tenchi looking on with a smile. He walked over and asked how he was while patting his back. He then said, " We were worried about ya."
" I was more worried about who attacked you."
Knucks looked to the corner of the living room and saw Grandpa rise form his sitting position as he spoke, " You have great skill, yet he struck you down easily."
Knucks felt his ego deflate as Grandpa spoke, " Yeah, but I wasn't using my full power."
Grandpa didn't seem surprised at the statement, but Ryoko now gave him a weird look, " Why didn't you use your full power against him in the first place? You might've beaten who ever that guy was."
Knucks thought he should let his name into the open, " It was Kagato and I thought it would be easy-"
He stopped in mid sentence and looked at the now grim expressions on his friend's face's. Even Grandpa looked deep in thought and somewhat sad, " He isn't that hard to beat. I'm pretty sure I could beat him with my full power."
Ryoko straightened out her expression and looked Knucks dead in the eye, " Do not underestimate this guy Knucks. He could kill all of us in a flash if he wanted to-"
" - and what makes you so sure you could beat him anyways. You cannot even beat me, let alone him."
He turned towards Grandpa and recoiled, " I've never used my full strength against you either," he turned towards the girls now, " and if we let him intimidate us, then he's already won."
Sasami now hoped on the band wagon, " Yeah! We can beat'em!"
Ryoko walked up to him and asked, " Why do you want to help us?"
Knucks thought about that question before answering, " Because you guys have helped me in more than one way. I'm gonna try and repay the favor. Not to mention that I hate that guy."
Ryoko smiled and said, " Yeah, well join the club."
---
They only talked about Kagato a few more minutes before they realized that it was to early to worry that much. Everybody except Sasami, Ryoko and Knucks went back to sleep. Knucks knew he was tired, but insisted on staying up to think. He now sat on the couch and thought of Kagato. He thought of whether or not he really could defeat him. He felt that the time would come when they would find out.
Ryoko walked in from the kitchen and sat near Knucks on the couch. Knucks smiled at her and received one in return. He felt he should break the silence, but couldn't think of anything to say. She broke it for him, " Hi. You feelin alright?"
Knucks smiled as he noticed how slap happy he felt, " Yup, I'm super. You?"
Ryoko reached out, grabbed his hand and held it, " I'm better now. I was worried about you. I thought you weren't going to make it."
Knucks entwined his fingers with hers and looked at her and noticed that she had changed clothes since he last saw her. She now wore her blue and green striped dress with a black undershirt and a dark sash that she tied tightly below her breasts. She was looking at the floor until she noticed him looking at her, " See something you like?"
Knucks laughed and responded truthfully, " Maybe. Is that and offer?"
Ryoko smiled and moved closer to him on the couch, " Three hours out of the tube and-"
She was cut off by Knucks' warm lips. The electricity of his kiss was as potent as the night before but this time, Ryoko knew that this kiss meant more. She thought he was gone and here he was, practically eating her lips off.
Knucks broke away abruptly and Ryoko felt insulted. She was going to say something but saw his eyes wandering off behind her and turned around to see little Sasami frozen and blushing in the kitchen doorway. Ryoko smiled wide and appeared next to Sasami, " What's wrong Sasami? Haven't you ever seen people kiss before?"
Sasami now blushed to a tomato red and stammered, " Well, uh, no….but I, uh, thought, um, that you liked Tenchi?"
Ryoko didn't expect Sasami to say that and didn't know how to explain the new development to her. She tried to come up with a quick answer, " Well… ya see-"
" - ya see, Ryoko found out that Tenchi fell in love with you not her. She over heard him talking with his Grandpa and instead of cry about it, she came to me and found that their were other good guys than Tenchi around."
Sasami now beamed with happiness, and the Grand Canyon had nothing on her smile, " He really likes me?"
Ryoko smiled at Knucks and added, " He sure does, but you can't let anybody know, not even Tenchi or he could stop liking you."
Sasami put her hand over her mouth, " I won't tell anybody. I swear."
" Then hurry along and think about your wedding with him."
Sasami ran into the kitchen giggling as Knucks and Ryoko took each others hand again. They walked back to the couch smiling and sat back down as close as they could to each other. Her warm body on top of his made him feel the sleep starting to take him, " I better go take a shower before I go to sleep."
" You want some company?" She winked seductively again and helped him to his feet.
" They would definitely catch on to us if we did. I'll go it alone today."
He started to walk towards the stairs, but found himself anchored down by Ryoko, " What ya doing after your shower?"
Knucks smiled again, " Sleep sounds good."
That reminded Ryoko about the sleep that she had gotten. She wanted to sleep with him, but decided hat it was a long shot, seeing how tired he was. She got off of his back and moved to the front of him. She took both of his hands and said, " I was actually sleeping last night. I didn't even roll around. I just…. slept."
Knucks looked into her eyes and saw that she was pretty grateful for that, " I told you. I'm happy that you can sleep in peace again."
Ryoko hugged him softly now, " Try and have a good nap. Maybe, we can do something when you wake up."
" Sounds like fun." Knucks pulled her close and engulfed her lips with his. ' This will never get old' Knucks thought to himself.
They finished playing tonsil hockey and Knucks started to walk up the stairs, " See ya whenever."
Ryoko looked up at him and smiled, " Wouldn't miss it."
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The hot sun beat down on the back of his neck as he raised his sword to his enemy. The lush green trees swayed in the wind as the two enemies stared each other down. Suddenly, the wind picked up violently and the trees became darkness. A dark he had never seen before now spread its way around the battle field. Knucks couldn't move and became a bit frightened. All he could do was stare ahead and try to guess what kind of danger the darkness held. He stared hard and saw his enemy from before. Knucks stood and watched as his enemy grew taller, and taller, and taller. Knucks became more frightened with every foot that his adversary grew. Knucks tried to find the top of his enemy, but he could only look up to his knees before the darkness hid the rest of his body. The shadow dweller took a baby step forward and closed the ten foot gap between them. Knucks looked up and saw two red eyes glaring down at him. They came closer as he bent down and showed his evil face. Kagato, with his glaring eyes, gave him a smile and an evil laugh that filled his head and soul. A red outline appeared out of the darkness and came rushing at him-
" Knucks! Will you wake up!?"
Knucks snapped his eyes open and grabbed a wrist, that was attached to a warm hand on his face. He looked around and found himself in his room and no danger around. He looked at the owner of the wrist he was holding, and looked into Ryoko's eyes, " Sorry… Bad dream."
He let her wrist flow out of his hand and grabbed her hand instead, " You just scared me a little." She sat down next to him on the bed and held his hand, " What kind of bad dream did ya have?"
Knucks looked up at her and couldn't help but feel, what might've been, love for her. He moved her closer to his head and pulled her head to his, " Don't worry about me. I'm fine and the dream was just a dream. Besides, we have better things to talk about."
" Like what? Kagato attacking? I don't even want to hear about that."
Ryoko seemed very sensitive about hearing about Kagato. He understood completely, and didn't want to push the matter any further, " No…there's no need to talk about him."
He sounded a little to cocky for Ryoko's liking as she pulled away from his hand, " You are really underestimating him. He took Tenchi to the breaking point last time, and he is probably a lot stronger now."
Knucks sat up and looked at the wall, " I'm stronger than Tenchi, and I think I can beat him."
Ryoko turned around and looked towards the door, " Knucks don't be stupid. You can't defeat him alone." She turned towards him, " And if you try, you'll be killed!"
Knucks felt another blow to his pride and tried to stick up for himself, " You don't know what I can do, and until you do, don't doubt me. I can beat him. You gotta trust me on this."
Ryoko turned back towards the door and phased herself through, feet first. She stopped about half way through and stopped, " You were just beaten by him and you think you can beat him? I'm just trying to protect you, but I can see that you are going to get yourself killed anyways."
She went all the way through his door and left Knucks to wallow in his grief. He stood up and walked towards the bottake in his room. He picked it up and thought of Ryoko. He replayed the image of her face as she told him of his probable fate. She must've hated him when she walked out. He had talked to her like she was inferior to him, and he now thought of himself as a monster. He realized that he was to cocky for his own liking, and that if he had this attitude towards this fight, he would lose. Knucks threw his bottake on his bed and couldn't believe that he had been so full of himself. He had chased away the girl that he liked, all because he thought he would get the victory, hands down.
He needed to apologize to Ryoko, but he also needed to go to the fields and do some work. He decided that the apology would have to wait until that evening and started to walk towards his door. He slowly walked down the hallway, and walked down the stairs even slower. He saw Ryoko sitting on the couch, and knew that if he ever had a chance to apologize, this was it. He walked towards her and caught her attention. She looked into his eyes with nothing but emotionless eyes. Knucks knew she wasn't going to make this easy, but took a seat next to her anyways. He tied up his shoes and looked at her to see that she was staring back at him. Knucks knew that he had hurt her by the look she now gave him.
Ryoko broke the silence first, " Where ya going?"
Knucks kept his eyes trained with hers as he said, " It's my day to work the fields." He looked away and saw that he needed to leave soon, if he hoped to get home before dark, " Ryoko…I'm sorry for how I was up there. I guess, something I did went to my head and I thought it was going to be easy. More importantly, I wanna apologize for the way I treated you. I… didn't mean to hurt your feelings and never want to do it again."
Ryoko now knew how much he cared for her, but the question in her mind was, was he really going to risk his life to save her? " Cool." She grabbed his hands and smiled wildly, " We'll do something when you get back tonight. Okay?"
Knucks saw the wildness in her eyes and knew that she had already forgiven him, " Sounds great. I gotta go now. I'll be back in a few hours or so."
" Alright, bye." Ryoko phased him through the door and set him on the ground outside. He jogged off and didn't even think to look back at her. Ryoko then jumped into the air and teleported right in front of him. She grabbed his tank top and pulled him in for a good bye kiss.
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" OWWWWWW!" Tenchi grabbed his wrist and hopped around as his Grandpa watched and laughed. Tenchi stopped hopping and picked his bottake up, " That wasn't fair!"
This line stopped Grandpa's laughing and brought him to a serious tone, " Tenchi, Kagato will use anything he can to stop you."
Tenchi looked at him weirdly, " What do you mean Grandpa? What can he use against me?"
" I mean Tenchi, that every dirty trick in the book is at his command. What if he uses Ryoko as a shield again? What will you do?"
Tenchi thought of Ryoko and the pain and turmoil Kagato had put her through the last time they fought, " I…I would attack around her I guess."
Grandpa looked at his grandson impassively. Tenchi had been slacking off quite a bit and wasn't sure of his ability level anymore, " Tenchi, I want you to fight Knucks."
Tenchi looked at him, obviously shocked by the new turn of events, " Grandpa, why? Why do I have to duel him?"
" Are you afraid Tenchi?"
" No, no… I just don't see the reason for dueling him."
Grandpa knew this news would hit Tenchi hard, but he had to say it, " Because Tenchi, I must make sure you are ready to face Kagato. You have been slacking in your training and it wouldn't surprise me if your ability level is dropping rather than rising. You will have to do this Tenchi, you and Knucks must now protect Ryoko. It is also because I am sick Tenchi."
Tenchi, once again, had a surprised look on his face, " How sick Grandpa?"
" I have a disease in my lungs. It's hard to explain, but I assure you, I will not die early because of a little virus. But it also means that I cannot fight this battle. You must rely on your abilities, and the abilities of Knucks."
Tenchi believed him but, he couldn't believe that the man he for so many years, thought was invincible is now sick with some lung disease. " Grandpa, I don't know about Knucks, but I know that I will fight Kagato as long as I hold out."
Grandpa smiled a bit, " Do you really doubt that Knucks will help our cause?"
Tenchi looked at the ground and smiled, " No…I just didn't want to answer for him."
" Of course I'll help."
Tenchi spun his head around to see Knucks standing next to a tree. He had probably been there for a few minutes, at least. " Are you spying now?"
Knucks walked over with a smile on his face, " No just hanging out." He shook Tenchi's and Grandpa's hand, " I heard something about a duel…"
Grandpa threw Knucks a bottake, " Warm up and meet me out by the lake in a half hour. There, the whole house will see you duel."
" Should they really see this Grandpa?"
Grandpa looked at his grandson, " You must be comfortable in any situation, especially with your own friends watching."
Grandpa walked away and left the to friends to warm up for their duel. " Sorry about this Knucks. I don't know why he wants us to duel."
Knucks smiled and looked at Tenchi, " As long as it isn't to the death right?"
Tenchi laughed, " I don't think he would go that far. I'm gonna go warm up on my own."
" Alright, see you there."
Tenchi walked off towards the stairs and started to quickly go down them. Knucks turned and started to wave his bottake around. This brought back memories of Kagato again, but Knucks still refused to give them any thought.
He had gone through all of his warm-ups, when he saw Ryoko flying towards him. HE wondered what she was doing here, but saw a smile on her face, so it couldn't be that bad. Could it?
She landed in front of him and spoke, " You warmed up yet?"
Knucks smiled, " Just got finished. Are you always this happy?"
Ryoko hugged Knucks hard now and lifted him off the ground, " Just when you're around."
Knucks could hardly breath, but still found it in him to laugh, " I might need those ribs for my duel. And if I can't breath, how can I kiss?"
Ryoko seemed to actually think about this for a second or two, " Good point. Your smarter than you look."
She set Knucks down and released him from her grip, " I've been told that before. I never believed them though."
" Well, don't let it go to your head." She smiled and leaned in to kiss Knucks. He followed her lead but felt like something was wrong. He stopped leaning, " Hey now! What's wrong with you now?!"
Knucks smiled a bit and tilted his head towards the stairs. Ryoko looked that way and saw Tenchi staring at them with anything but happiness in his eyes.
---
Tenchi reached the top of the stairs, hoping to see Ryoko and hoping to be able to talk with her. What he saw made him feel as if he had been stabbed. He saw her and Knucks getting ready to kiss each other. Knucks must've noticed him because he stopped and tilted his head towards Tenchi. Ryoko looked his way and saw the hate and sorrow in his eyes. Knucks whispered something to her and she, slowly, flew away from the scene. Knucks faced Tenchi and locked his eyes with his, but Tenchi had expected to see pity in his eyes, but he was once again surprised. Knucks looked at him with sorrow in his eyes as well, like he was sorry for doing what he was going to do. Tenchi's anger towards Knucks faded away at seeing this. He couldn't believe that Knucks had Ryoko's heart before Tenchi, but was also a little happy for him.
Knucks felt as if he should say something, " I'm sorry. I was going to tell you, about us , but I didn't think it was the right time."
Tenchi felt the anger coming back on, " Yeah…well, I was going to find out sooner or later right?"
Knucks heard the angry tone in his voice, but didn't know what else to say. He couldn't say anything to make the situation better. For the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words.
" How bout our little duel? Yeah we'll settle this there. If I win, you give up Ryoko and never say more than 'Hi' to her again."
Knucks now felt angry towards Tenchi for putting Ryoko into this, " What if I win?"
" If you win? If you win…You and Ryoko can keep seeing each other."
Knucks knew that this was a one-sided bet at best, " So… I'm all in here while you still have room for error?"
Tenchi nodded his head, " Or you can just pack up and leave now. Your choice."
Knucks never in his life would've thought that Tenchi could be this cruel. He felt as if he had stabbed Tenchi right in the back by doing this, but he wasn't going to give up Ryoko, " Alright. Our duel will decide this. See you in ten minutes."
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Kagato couldn't believe his ears. His two top enemies where going to duel each other and give him all the data he needed on them. The old man being sick, these where the only two people who could possibly stop him now. Kagato had the largest smile on his face that he ever had before. If he was lucky enough, one or both of the duelers might die. He had over heard the two's little bet, and escalated the danger ever higher.
He sat back in his chair and laid his sword across his lap. Knucks was the favorite in his eyes, but he had underestimated Tenchi last time he saw him in combat as well. Despite what Kagato thought, he felt that Knucks had more power than he had showed him. He might even bring out Kagato's full power.
The entire Masaki household was now gathered around the lake to view the duel. Kagato laughed out loud and thought, ' This is going to be a show.'
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Knucks walked to the lake and quickly saw his friends and Tenchi waiting for him. He walked to the dueling point and started to stretch his muscles. He looked around and saw Grandpa with something wrapped in a sheet in his hand. Knucks also saw the girls sitting on a near by hilltop, but he was only surprised to see Washu hovering an typing on her laptop. She must've found this duel to be pretty interesting if she left her lab for it.
Both Tenchi and Knucks knew this fight was for more than glory. For them, it was about Ryoko, and the love they both shared for her. ' This might get a little brutal.' Knucks thought.
" Alright! Let's get this duel started. Simple rules: the first person to get their opponent in a killing position, wins. Everybody ready? Fight!"
Tenchi sprang forward at speeds Knucks had never seen him move before. Knucks raised his sword and blocked an over head swing. Knucks moved quickly and swung his sword at Tenchi's arm, only to have Tenchi duck and knee him in the stomach. Knucks doubled over and got a bottake on the side of the head for it. He flew a few feet and landed on his stomach. Knucks got up and knew that Tenchi wasn't playing around anymore. Knucks removed his tank top and threw on to a nearby rock. The medium sized rock collapsed from the thousand pound shirt that had landed on it. Everybody seemed shocked, all but Ryoko and Tenchi. Knucks had expected Tenchi to be a little surprised, but he seemed in good control of his emotions. Knucks readied again as Tenchi charged him, and tried to use a speed burst of his own. Knucks saw him move and blocked his shot with ease. Tenchi tried to follow up with a shot to his side, but Knucks simply moved to the back of Tenchi and swung his bottake into his back. Tenchi flew into a nearby tree and fell slumped at the bottom.
He got up after a few moments, and changed into a type of battle armor Knucks had never seen before. It resembled Ayeka's robe, except, he was now much more powerful. Tenchi ran at him again, but this time, Knucks made a conscious effort to block him. Tenchi followed up with shot after shot, but couldn't find an opening. Finally, Tenchi saw one. He kneed Knucks in the chin, and jumped to meet his prone body. He swung his sword from his feet in a complete circle, ending when it hit Knucks with a devastating blow. Knucks' body bounced on the ground before it lay still, seemingly unconscious. Tenchi landed a few feet from him and looked down at him. Knucks then sprang up and tripped Tenchi with his leg. Knucks stood up a little more and swung his bottake, hard, at Tenchi's upper body. He connected and sent Tenchi to the ground. Knucks didn't want to show Tenchi his full potential yet, but he might have to to pull away with the victory. Tenchi stood up and was obviously in a lot of pain, yet, he still ran at Knucks and tried to catch his arm with a swipe, but Tenchi was now to hurt to contend with Knucks. Knucks grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back while putting his bottake to Tenchi's throat.
Grandpa saw this and shouted, " Well… It seems we have a winner!"
Knucks let Tenchi go, and went down to one knee. He had never fought so hard in his life, but knew that he his limits weren't breached yet. He abolished this thought and thought of more important things, like how Tenchi was doing. He looked over and saw Ayeka, Mihoshi and Washu attending to him. Sasami, Ryoko and Grandpa where at Knucks' side, helping him up and brushing him off. Ryoko held him up as Grandpa gave him the object in the sheet, " This is now yours. It was my practice sword for many years. I think you can use it more than I, now."
Knucks took the sheet and unraveled the white string that held the sheet on the weapon. The sheet fell to the ground and revealed a leather scabbard, and a metal handle with silver and black designs running all around it. Knucks took the handle and pulled it from the scabbard to see a his new sword.
" Titanium, with an acid cut edge. A very light weapon, but a special one no than less. Ryoko, would you please bring out your laser sword?"
Ryoko let Knucks stand on his own and brought out her sword. A red glow emitted from it as it hovered in her hand, " Please, swing the sword at Knucks."
Knucks was a little surprised at this command, "And Knucks, defend her attack with your new sword. Go ahead."
Ryoko swung her sword lightly at Knucks, and Knucks' sword actually stopped hers. He couldn't believe that this sword was capable of stopping a laser sword. " How? How can I block her sword?"
Grandpa chuckled, " This sword takes the life force of the holder and puts it into its blade. This makes it unbreakable, and if you ever find out how, you can use this as an attack."
Knucks swung his new play thing lightly and found that all the weight was in the blade. The handle must've been hollow, but felt as solid as a rock. He heard the sword cut the air around him as he swung it. " Thanks. This will come in handy."
He walked over to Tenchi and helped him to his feet. Tenchi looked him in the eye, " You win. Congratulations."
Knucks knew that they were still friends, " Thanks for giving me the fight of my life." Knucks supported Tenchi's weight and walked him back to the house.
---
Ryoko stared on as Knucks and Tenchi fought one another. She had been worried many times during the match that one of them were killed by a previous shot, but was relieved when they got back to their feet. To her, it seemed that they went way beyond a friendly rivalry, but it was probably just her imagination.
Ryoko saw Knucks' shirt on the ground and picked it up. She noticed a small drop of blood on it and started to worry about him. She looked at him carry Tenchi home and thought, ' What am I worrying about? I should be more worried about tomorrow.' She had plans for Knucks tomorrow evening and she wanted them done right. Her and Knucks were going on the town tomorrow, and she wanted it to be romantic. She wondered if Knucks would even want to go, or if he would turn her down. She was thinking to much, and thinking was never her strong suit anyways.
She floated in the air and flew ahead to catch up with the gang. They were already inside, and Knucks was up in his room. She decided to wait until he got out to ask him about the tomorrow nights events. She still found it strange that she liked him over Tenchi when Tenchi had known her for three years, and him only four days now.
' Because you have known him for three years. He has put you and Ayeka through torture because he wants to be shy and cute. Now, you have a better guy. Now you have Knucks.'
Her inner voice raged on and shouted to her all the reasons that Knucks was better than Tenchi. All she needed to know was that Knucks made her feel happier then Tenchi ever did before. That was a good enough reason for her.
Knucks emerged from his room and saw Ryoko leaning on the wall next to his door. She looked up at him and smiled her usual wicked smile. Knucks smiled back and reached out for her hand. She let him grab hers and then asked, " What're your plans tomorrow?"
Knucks looked into her eyes and kissed her cheek, " Nothing. Why?"
Ryoko felt a warm spot where he had kissed her, " Cause I wanted to take you in to town tomorrow night. I guess you could call it a date."
Knucks knew that she would ask him eventually, yet, he still felt his knees go a little weak at the thought of them on a date, " Sure. Why not."
Ryoko let out the breath she had been holding in while he pondered his answer. She felt butterflies in her stomach flutter as she heard him say yes, " Cool. How about at six tomorrow then?"
" Alrighty, See ya then?"
Ryoko grabbed his arm and pulled him close for a hug, " You bet you will."
----------------------------------------------------
Kagato wore a neutral expression when seeing the outcome of the duel. Tenchi survived his defeat while Knucks still hadn't shown his true power. Tenchi had gotten a bit stronger since the last time they fought. Kagato knew that he would give him a good warm up-
' Now you underestimate Tenchi. He defeated you last time, and now he has other power to help him. If you go in over confident, you will die this time.'
He wished so bad that he could turn that voice off. It always gave him a headache and did nothing but delay his thoughts. It always forced him to re-think his plans, and to re-check his attitude.
Kagato now paced his glass floor and thought of a good way to dispatch them both. If he showed his full potential, he could take one down, but he would be to weak to fight the other right away.
' Now you do the worst thing of all, you underestimate yourself. Use your head, or, just use Ryoko to fight them instead.'
He now knew why he even listened to that frail voice in the first place. Every now and then , it gave him extraordinary advice. He would use Ryoko to fight Knucks and Tenchi while he slowly drained her power form her. It was genius.
His head now filled with the list of things he had planned to use this new power on. He had planned to keep Yosho for a pet dog, and the princesses as his loyal servants. Washu would do all of his work for him, and create new weapons for him to use. Tenchi, if he survived Ryoko, would be his own personal punching bag for all of eternity. Knucks won't survive to see any of this if he crossed Kagato's path. Kagato would have Ryoko hurt him, and then he would finish the job.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
' You're a fool if you underestimate them now. Knucks was just one person and he didn't even have a real sword. Tell me, what makes you think that he is dead anyways?'
That voice! The voice of doubt always ruined his fun, but it also made him realize that he was jumping the gun a little bit. He switched his computer screen to the camera that was still following Knucks around. The screen was switched, and so was Kagato's mood. Knucks was in a vat of green liquid that filled the giant cylinder he occupied. The injury he had sustained in their battle was slowly healing. Kagato zoomed in on a display screen next to Knucks' healing chamber. It read, " Will recover in: 5 Hours 15min."
Kagato zoomed back out and tried to control his raging temper. He felt the wine glass crushing and cracking from his grip. It finally smashed in his hand and sent the fine wine that filled it splashing to the ground. He quickly regained his composure and weighed his options. He had gathered little information about Knucks while fighting him, and even if he had, it would've been useless because Knucks still had his weights on. Kagato also concurred that Knucks would've done different things if he had a real sword. He then thought of the help that Knucks had behind him: Yosho, Tenchi, Washu, and he couldn't forget, Ryoko. He could take care of Yosho and Tenchi and maybe Washu, but he couldn't take on two enraged powers like Ryoko and Knucks. He couldn't believe that he now thought of Knucks as a challenge-
' Because you can't remember the last time you bled. Knucks drew your untouchable blood and had splattered it on the holy ground that you walk on.'
Kagato was getting very tired of his inner voice always being right and its sarcastic tone. Kagato was near panic when he remembered who he was. He was the man who had, single handedly, destroyed the top powers in this galaxy. He had even had the great Ryoko do his bidding for him. However, now that he looked at Knucks, he remembered his most glorious moments. Those moments that he would use against Knucks to Kagato's advantage. The exact moments in which Kagato had killed each of Knucks' family members. His foolish father, his power drunk mother, and the revenge thirsty sister all fell to his sword. Kagato smiled widely at the thought of sending Knucks to meet them.
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Ryoko slept peacefully in her bed. She had no nightmares, no flashes and no haunting faces, but was awoken by Tenchi pounding on her door. He told her to get up and to get downstairs, and that he thought Knucks was in trouble. Ryoko didn't plan of moving to fast until she heard that Knucks might've been in trouble. That shot her up and forced her to phase into her clothes and rush downstairs.
Tenchi had been the first one out the door but Ryoko was the first to Knucks' side. She saw the injury to his gut and shoulder. He had rolled his head around and groaned something, but had passed out soon after she arrived. Tenchi told her to get him to Washu's lab. Ryoko didn't hesitate and threw Knucks over her shoulder as carefully as possible. She then rushed to Washu's lab, already fearing the worst for her new acquaintance.
Ryoko phased to Washu's lab and didn't see the scientist. She was in a very big rush so she shouted for Washu to answer her. She caught her voice in her head and followed her mother's directions. Washu was already expecting him and pointed to a large cylinder ready for him. The cylinder had a few cords in it and at least a thousand gallons of green goo. Washu instructed her to reach into the goo and get the few floating cords and attach them to Knucks' arms. Ryoko reached into the cold goo and snatched the cords. She quickly attached them to Knucks and lowered him into the cold healing chamber. She lowered him all the way in and found that while letting Knucks slip into the vat of sludge, she couldn't help but think that she was letting him go for the last time. She hated the feeling and hesitated when asked to close the lid. She remembered the moments they had shared and asked Washu, " Can you save him? Please tell me you can save him."
Washu looked her daughter dead in the eye and said, " Ryoko, he is going to live through this for you." She gave her a wink and a smile and reassured her, " Wouldn't want my daughter being lonely again would I?"
Ryoko blushed slightly and smiled back at her mother. She was the only one that knew anything about Knucks' and Ryoko's relationship and Ryoko had the feeling that her crazy mother would play a part in it sooner or later.
Ryoko closed the lid shut on Knucks and hovered next to Washu as she started up the machine. It hummed to life as Washu typed countless commands into her machine. She looked over her shoulder and noticed Ryoko hovering and pointed to the door, " I can't have any distractions if I'm gonna do this right."
Ryoko was a little surprised at this, " Why?" Ryoko looked at Washu, but didn't get an answer. She decided to just come back later, " When can I come back then?"
Washu typed a few more commands into her keyboard and a clock appeared in front of Ryoko, " This is when you can come back in. That's when I think Knucks will be healed. Until then, tell everybody that my lab is off limits."
Ryoko took the watch and read it. She saw a fixed time on the small watch, 8:15 is what it read. Ryoko slowly walked out of the lab without a backward glance.
---
Ryoko now sat in the living room, trying her best to think of something other than Knucks. It was now three in the morning, about two hours after the incident. Nobody was able to get back to sleep after they heard about Knucks. Even Ayeka looked a little bit worried about him. Ryoko sat there, staring into her hand and thinking about anything she could. Tenchi walked over and sat next to Ryoko, " Hey Ryoko. I didn't think that you'd be this worried about Knucks."
Ryoko looked up at Tenchi and saw, for the first time, how distant from each other they had become ever since Knucks arrived. They hadn't had a real conversation, nor had Ryoko fought with Ayeka over him, ever since he came. " Of course I'm worried. He's a friend right?"
Tenchi gave her a curt nod and noticed Ryoko's evasion form answering the question right away, " You alright Ryoko?"
Ryoko looked at him and gave the best smile she could, " Yeah, I'm good. I just was sleeping peacefully for once and I'm a little tired."
Tenchi still felt that there was more to this than she said, but her face gave away nothing, so he didn't push it, " Well… If you ever want to talk, you know I'm here for you."
Tenchi got up to and walked towards the kitchen. Ryoko thought about Tenchi's sudden concern for her feelings. She decided that Tenchi was just being Tenchi and was just concerned. She thought about telling him about her and Knucks, but decided that the time wasn't right yet and to ask her mother about telling him. She was surprised that she no longer felt the warmth in her heart when she thought of Tenchi. On the tail of that, Knucks flashed through her head and she felt the warmth. She knew that Knucks would be her warmth, instead of Tenchi. If he ever got out of that freaking goo.
---
Washu rubbed at her weary eyes and sat back in her seat. Knucks' new home hummed on while it attempted to heal him. She had been trying to get a little background information on him while he unconsciously healed. She had found zilch, notta, nothing, zero information about him. She had run his name through all of her programs, but absolutely nothing came up. Not so much as a relative. She definitely had some questions when he healed fully and she wanted the answers to be good.
She had no idea who had attacked him, but it was someone very, very proficient with a sword. She glanced at Knucks and thought of his bravery. She wondered his reason for being out that late, but will more than likely know soon enough. She walked over to Knucks' stasis tank and stared at his floating form.
' This is the man that my daughter likes? Good taste.' Washu smiled at the thought. She had always wanted her little girl to be happy and Tenchi was just to shy. Ryoko had been here three years and had told her multiple times that she was tired of waiting for Tenchi to make up his mind. Washu agreed and was happy now that Ryoko seemed to have found someone else to pine over-
Washu let out a little yelp as Knucks kicked the glass. She was shocked to see him conscious and fully healed. Washu quickly went to open the latch on the top of the stasis tub. She got to the top of it and yanked the latch open. Knucks shot his head out for air and tried to get the goo out of his eyes, " You trying to kill me?" Washu didn't get what he said at first because his voice was to low.
" The opposite actually. I'm trying to save you." She pulled him onto the platform above the tub and let him breath a little bit before questioning him.
He looked up at her with a smile and asked, " Do you know that you can't breath in there?"
Wash nodded and said, " Yup, but I didn't expect you to wake up so soon. I was waiting to experiment on you again."
Knucks chuckled at that and looked around her lab, " Sounds like fun."
---
Knucks wiped the goo off of him with the towel Washu had given him. He thought of Kagato and the nearly fatal blow he had given Knucks. He now ran his hand over where the wound had been and felt the area was no different form the rest of his abdomen. He put back on his shirt and thought of the blow that he had given Kagato. He shouldn't of been bale to walk away from the fight with a shot to the head like that. Knucks had put everything he had into that swing, and had phased him for a second or two. A very disconcerting thought.
He opened the door and walked to where Washu now sat, waiting to start the " interview," she had called it. She had he computer in front of her and motioned for Knucks to sit down, " I want to ask you some questions. I would also like some decent answers."
" Shoot." Knucks sat in the chair and readied for the questions.
" Where are you from? Do you have any family?"
Knucks knew she was going to start out with a hard question or two, " I'm from the planet called Epha and no family members anymore."
" Anymore?"
" My parents and sister were killed by a maniac."
It was obvious Knucks wasn't going to give anymore information than was needed, " Same time?"
It was obvious that Washu was never going to ask another full question again, " Nope."
Washu typed a few things into her computer and continued, " Why are you all the way out here?"
He stood corrected, " Trying to catch the guy who did it."
" Do you know who it was that killed them?"
" Nope. Kind of a "Find the Whacko in the Universe" game."
" I know the feeling," Washu figured that if she opened up a little, he would too. " See. I traveled all over the universe trying to find Ryoko when Kagato took her. Never found her and got captured in the process."
Knucks heard that name and he felt hatred creep into his heart, " He gets around doesn't he."
" What do you mean?"
Washu knew what he was going to say before he said it, " The guy who attacked me last night was Kagato."
Washu knew exactly what that meant and the danger they were all now in. Kagato was trying to get Ryoko's gems and use the power in some psychotic way. She swallowed hard and realized that she hadn't prepared for this yet, " Thanks for the info. Tell everybody that my lab is off limits until I come out. See ya."
Washu rushed Knucks out the door and locked it behind him. She ran to her terminal, hoping that she wasn't to late.
---
Knucks stumbled out of Washu's lab and into the living room. Three smiling faces quickly noticed him and ran towards him. Sasami grabbed his leg and asked if I was alright, Ayeka stood in front of him and asked the same question, and Ryoko walked up to him and hugged his upper half. He embraced both girls, but enjoyed Ryoko's infinitely more than little Sasami's vice like hug.
They let go of him and Sasami brought to his attention that he stank. He figured it was probably the goo smell lingering on his skin and clothes. He would definitely have to take a shower before he went anywhere today.
" What're you doing out so soon? It's only four thirty. Your not supposed to be out till eight fifteen."
Knucks looked into Ryoko's eyes and saw caring and happiness. This gave him the urge to hold her, but he resisted, remembering who was in the room with them. He just kept the warm feeling inside of him and responded, " Apparently, I'm a fast healer."
" I was sooo worried about you Knucks. Don't you ever do that again you hear?" Little Sasami's voice boomed in his ears. He smiled down at her and nodded his head while rubbing the top of her head.
" Yes mame."
He looked towards the Kitchen doorway and saw Tenchi looking on with a smile. He walked over and asked how he was while patting his back. He then said, " We were worried about ya."
" I was more worried about who attacked you."
Knucks looked to the corner of the living room and saw Grandpa rise form his sitting position as he spoke, " You have great skill, yet he struck you down easily."
Knucks felt his ego deflate as Grandpa spoke, " Yeah, but I wasn't using my full power."
Grandpa didn't seem surprised at the statement, but Ryoko now gave him a weird look, " Why didn't you use your full power against him in the first place? You might've beaten who ever that guy was."
Knucks thought he should let his name into the open, " It was Kagato and I thought it would be easy-"
He stopped in mid sentence and looked at the now grim expressions on his friend's face's. Even Grandpa looked deep in thought and somewhat sad, " He isn't that hard to beat. I'm pretty sure I could beat him with my full power."
Ryoko straightened out her expression and looked Knucks dead in the eye, " Do not underestimate this guy Knucks. He could kill all of us in a flash if he wanted to-"
" - and what makes you so sure you could beat him anyways. You cannot even beat me, let alone him."
He turned towards Grandpa and recoiled, " I've never used my full strength against you either," he turned towards the girls now, " and if we let him intimidate us, then he's already won."
Sasami now hoped on the band wagon, " Yeah! We can beat'em!"
Ryoko walked up to him and asked, " Why do you want to help us?"
Knucks thought about that question before answering, " Because you guys have helped me in more than one way. I'm gonna try and repay the favor. Not to mention that I hate that guy."
Ryoko smiled and said, " Yeah, well join the club."
---
They only talked about Kagato a few more minutes before they realized that it was to early to worry that much. Everybody except Sasami, Ryoko and Knucks went back to sleep. Knucks knew he was tired, but insisted on staying up to think. He now sat on the couch and thought of Kagato. He thought of whether or not he really could defeat him. He felt that the time would come when they would find out.
Ryoko walked in from the kitchen and sat near Knucks on the couch. Knucks smiled at her and received one in return. He felt he should break the silence, but couldn't think of anything to say. She broke it for him, " Hi. You feelin alright?"
Knucks smiled as he noticed how slap happy he felt, " Yup, I'm super. You?"
Ryoko reached out, grabbed his hand and held it, " I'm better now. I was worried about you. I thought you weren't going to make it."
Knucks entwined his fingers with hers and looked at her and noticed that she had changed clothes since he last saw her. She now wore her blue and green striped dress with a black undershirt and a dark sash that she tied tightly below her breasts. She was looking at the floor until she noticed him looking at her, " See something you like?"
Knucks laughed and responded truthfully, " Maybe. Is that and offer?"
Ryoko smiled and moved closer to him on the couch, " Three hours out of the tube and-"
She was cut off by Knucks' warm lips. The electricity of his kiss was as potent as the night before but this time, Ryoko knew that this kiss meant more. She thought he was gone and here he was, practically eating her lips off.
Knucks broke away abruptly and Ryoko felt insulted. She was going to say something but saw his eyes wandering off behind her and turned around to see little Sasami frozen and blushing in the kitchen doorway. Ryoko smiled wide and appeared next to Sasami, " What's wrong Sasami? Haven't you ever seen people kiss before?"
Sasami now blushed to a tomato red and stammered, " Well, uh, no….but I, uh, thought, um, that you liked Tenchi?"
Ryoko didn't expect Sasami to say that and didn't know how to explain the new development to her. She tried to come up with a quick answer, " Well… ya see-"
" - ya see, Ryoko found out that Tenchi fell in love with you not her. She over heard him talking with his Grandpa and instead of cry about it, she came to me and found that their were other good guys than Tenchi around."
Sasami now beamed with happiness, and the Grand Canyon had nothing on her smile, " He really likes me?"
Ryoko smiled at Knucks and added, " He sure does, but you can't let anybody know, not even Tenchi or he could stop liking you."
Sasami put her hand over her mouth, " I won't tell anybody. I swear."
" Then hurry along and think about your wedding with him."
Sasami ran into the kitchen giggling as Knucks and Ryoko took each others hand again. They walked back to the couch smiling and sat back down as close as they could to each other. Her warm body on top of his made him feel the sleep starting to take him, " I better go take a shower before I go to sleep."
" You want some company?" She winked seductively again and helped him to his feet.
" They would definitely catch on to us if we did. I'll go it alone today."
He started to walk towards the stairs, but found himself anchored down by Ryoko, " What ya doing after your shower?"
Knucks smiled again, " Sleep sounds good."
That reminded Ryoko about the sleep that she had gotten. She wanted to sleep with him, but decided hat it was a long shot, seeing how tired he was. She got off of his back and moved to the front of him. She took both of his hands and said, " I was actually sleeping last night. I didn't even roll around. I just…. slept."
Knucks looked into her eyes and saw that she was pretty grateful for that, " I told you. I'm happy that you can sleep in peace again."
Ryoko hugged him softly now, " Try and have a good nap. Maybe, we can do something when you wake up."
" Sounds like fun." Knucks pulled her close and engulfed her lips with his. ' This will never get old' Knucks thought to himself.
They finished playing tonsil hockey and Knucks started to walk up the stairs, " See ya whenever."
Ryoko looked up at him and smiled, " Wouldn't miss it."
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The hot sun beat down on the back of his neck as he raised his sword to his enemy. The lush green trees swayed in the wind as the two enemies stared each other down. Suddenly, the wind picked up violently and the trees became darkness. A dark he had never seen before now spread its way around the battle field. Knucks couldn't move and became a bit frightened. All he could do was stare ahead and try to guess what kind of danger the darkness held. He stared hard and saw his enemy from before. Knucks stood and watched as his enemy grew taller, and taller, and taller. Knucks became more frightened with every foot that his adversary grew. Knucks tried to find the top of his enemy, but he could only look up to his knees before the darkness hid the rest of his body. The shadow dweller took a baby step forward and closed the ten foot gap between them. Knucks looked up and saw two red eyes glaring down at him. They came closer as he bent down and showed his evil face. Kagato, with his glaring eyes, gave him a smile and an evil laugh that filled his head and soul. A red outline appeared out of the darkness and came rushing at him-
" Knucks! Will you wake up!?"
Knucks snapped his eyes open and grabbed a wrist, that was attached to a warm hand on his face. He looked around and found himself in his room and no danger around. He looked at the owner of the wrist he was holding, and looked into Ryoko's eyes, " Sorry… Bad dream."
He let her wrist flow out of his hand and grabbed her hand instead, " You just scared me a little." She sat down next to him on the bed and held his hand, " What kind of bad dream did ya have?"
Knucks looked up at her and couldn't help but feel, what might've been, love for her. He moved her closer to his head and pulled her head to his, " Don't worry about me. I'm fine and the dream was just a dream. Besides, we have better things to talk about."
" Like what? Kagato attacking? I don't even want to hear about that."
Ryoko seemed very sensitive about hearing about Kagato. He understood completely, and didn't want to push the matter any further, " No…there's no need to talk about him."
He sounded a little to cocky for Ryoko's liking as she pulled away from his hand, " You are really underestimating him. He took Tenchi to the breaking point last time, and he is probably a lot stronger now."
Knucks sat up and looked at the wall, " I'm stronger than Tenchi, and I think I can beat him."
Ryoko turned around and looked towards the door, " Knucks don't be stupid. You can't defeat him alone." She turned towards him, " And if you try, you'll be killed!"
Knucks felt another blow to his pride and tried to stick up for himself, " You don't know what I can do, and until you do, don't doubt me. I can beat him. You gotta trust me on this."
Ryoko turned back towards the door and phased herself through, feet first. She stopped about half way through and stopped, " You were just beaten by him and you think you can beat him? I'm just trying to protect you, but I can see that you are going to get yourself killed anyways."
She went all the way through his door and left Knucks to wallow in his grief. He stood up and walked towards the bottake in his room. He picked it up and thought of Ryoko. He replayed the image of her face as she told him of his probable fate. She must've hated him when she walked out. He had talked to her like she was inferior to him, and he now thought of himself as a monster. He realized that he was to cocky for his own liking, and that if he had this attitude towards this fight, he would lose. Knucks threw his bottake on his bed and couldn't believe that he had been so full of himself. He had chased away the girl that he liked, all because he thought he would get the victory, hands down.
He needed to apologize to Ryoko, but he also needed to go to the fields and do some work. He decided that the apology would have to wait until that evening and started to walk towards his door. He slowly walked down the hallway, and walked down the stairs even slower. He saw Ryoko sitting on the couch, and knew that if he ever had a chance to apologize, this was it. He walked towards her and caught her attention. She looked into his eyes with nothing but emotionless eyes. Knucks knew she wasn't going to make this easy, but took a seat next to her anyways. He tied up his shoes and looked at her to see that she was staring back at him. Knucks knew that he had hurt her by the look she now gave him.
Ryoko broke the silence first, " Where ya going?"
Knucks kept his eyes trained with hers as he said, " It's my day to work the fields." He looked away and saw that he needed to leave soon, if he hoped to get home before dark, " Ryoko…I'm sorry for how I was up there. I guess, something I did went to my head and I thought it was going to be easy. More importantly, I wanna apologize for the way I treated you. I… didn't mean to hurt your feelings and never want to do it again."
Ryoko now knew how much he cared for her, but the question in her mind was, was he really going to risk his life to save her? " Cool." She grabbed his hands and smiled wildly, " We'll do something when you get back tonight. Okay?"
Knucks saw the wildness in her eyes and knew that she had already forgiven him, " Sounds great. I gotta go now. I'll be back in a few hours or so."
" Alright, bye." Ryoko phased him through the door and set him on the ground outside. He jogged off and didn't even think to look back at her. Ryoko then jumped into the air and teleported right in front of him. She grabbed his tank top and pulled him in for a good bye kiss.
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" OWWWWWW!" Tenchi grabbed his wrist and hopped around as his Grandpa watched and laughed. Tenchi stopped hopping and picked his bottake up, " That wasn't fair!"
This line stopped Grandpa's laughing and brought him to a serious tone, " Tenchi, Kagato will use anything he can to stop you."
Tenchi looked at him weirdly, " What do you mean Grandpa? What can he use against me?"
" I mean Tenchi, that every dirty trick in the book is at his command. What if he uses Ryoko as a shield again? What will you do?"
Tenchi thought of Ryoko and the pain and turmoil Kagato had put her through the last time they fought, " I…I would attack around her I guess."
Grandpa looked at his grandson impassively. Tenchi had been slacking off quite a bit and wasn't sure of his ability level anymore, " Tenchi, I want you to fight Knucks."
Tenchi looked at him, obviously shocked by the new turn of events, " Grandpa, why? Why do I have to duel him?"
" Are you afraid Tenchi?"
" No, no… I just don't see the reason for dueling him."
Grandpa knew this news would hit Tenchi hard, but he had to say it, " Because Tenchi, I must make sure you are ready to face Kagato. You have been slacking in your training and it wouldn't surprise me if your ability level is dropping rather than rising. You will have to do this Tenchi, you and Knucks must now protect Ryoko. It is also because I am sick Tenchi."
Tenchi, once again, had a surprised look on his face, " How sick Grandpa?"
" I have a disease in my lungs. It's hard to explain, but I assure you, I will not die early because of a little virus. But it also means that I cannot fight this battle. You must rely on your abilities, and the abilities of Knucks."
Tenchi believed him but, he couldn't believe that the man he for so many years, thought was invincible is now sick with some lung disease. " Grandpa, I don't know about Knucks, but I know that I will fight Kagato as long as I hold out."
Grandpa smiled a bit, " Do you really doubt that Knucks will help our cause?"
Tenchi looked at the ground and smiled, " No…I just didn't want to answer for him."
" Of course I'll help."
Tenchi spun his head around to see Knucks standing next to a tree. He had probably been there for a few minutes, at least. " Are you spying now?"
Knucks walked over with a smile on his face, " No just hanging out." He shook Tenchi's and Grandpa's hand, " I heard something about a duel…"
Grandpa threw Knucks a bottake, " Warm up and meet me out by the lake in a half hour. There, the whole house will see you duel."
" Should they really see this Grandpa?"
Grandpa looked at his grandson, " You must be comfortable in any situation, especially with your own friends watching."
Grandpa walked away and left the to friends to warm up for their duel. " Sorry about this Knucks. I don't know why he wants us to duel."
Knucks smiled and looked at Tenchi, " As long as it isn't to the death right?"
Tenchi laughed, " I don't think he would go that far. I'm gonna go warm up on my own."
" Alright, see you there."
Tenchi walked off towards the stairs and started to quickly go down them. Knucks turned and started to wave his bottake around. This brought back memories of Kagato again, but Knucks still refused to give them any thought.
He had gone through all of his warm-ups, when he saw Ryoko flying towards him. HE wondered what she was doing here, but saw a smile on her face, so it couldn't be that bad. Could it?
She landed in front of him and spoke, " You warmed up yet?"
Knucks smiled, " Just got finished. Are you always this happy?"
Ryoko hugged Knucks hard now and lifted him off the ground, " Just when you're around."
Knucks could hardly breath, but still found it in him to laugh, " I might need those ribs for my duel. And if I can't breath, how can I kiss?"
Ryoko seemed to actually think about this for a second or two, " Good point. Your smarter than you look."
She set Knucks down and released him from her grip, " I've been told that before. I never believed them though."
" Well, don't let it go to your head." She smiled and leaned in to kiss Knucks. He followed her lead but felt like something was wrong. He stopped leaning, " Hey now! What's wrong with you now?!"
Knucks smiled a bit and tilted his head towards the stairs. Ryoko looked that way and saw Tenchi staring at them with anything but happiness in his eyes.
---
Tenchi reached the top of the stairs, hoping to see Ryoko and hoping to be able to talk with her. What he saw made him feel as if he had been stabbed. He saw her and Knucks getting ready to kiss each other. Knucks must've noticed him because he stopped and tilted his head towards Tenchi. Ryoko looked his way and saw the hate and sorrow in his eyes. Knucks whispered something to her and she, slowly, flew away from the scene. Knucks faced Tenchi and locked his eyes with his, but Tenchi had expected to see pity in his eyes, but he was once again surprised. Knucks looked at him with sorrow in his eyes as well, like he was sorry for doing what he was going to do. Tenchi's anger towards Knucks faded away at seeing this. He couldn't believe that Knucks had Ryoko's heart before Tenchi, but was also a little happy for him.
Knucks felt as if he should say something, " I'm sorry. I was going to tell you, about us , but I didn't think it was the right time."
Tenchi felt the anger coming back on, " Yeah…well, I was going to find out sooner or later right?"
Knucks heard the angry tone in his voice, but didn't know what else to say. He couldn't say anything to make the situation better. For the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words.
" How bout our little duel? Yeah we'll settle this there. If I win, you give up Ryoko and never say more than 'Hi' to her again."
Knucks now felt angry towards Tenchi for putting Ryoko into this, " What if I win?"
" If you win? If you win…You and Ryoko can keep seeing each other."
Knucks knew that this was a one-sided bet at best, " So… I'm all in here while you still have room for error?"
Tenchi nodded his head, " Or you can just pack up and leave now. Your choice."
Knucks never in his life would've thought that Tenchi could be this cruel. He felt as if he had stabbed Tenchi right in the back by doing this, but he wasn't going to give up Ryoko, " Alright. Our duel will decide this. See you in ten minutes."
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Kagato couldn't believe his ears. His two top enemies where going to duel each other and give him all the data he needed on them. The old man being sick, these where the only two people who could possibly stop him now. Kagato had the largest smile on his face that he ever had before. If he was lucky enough, one or both of the duelers might die. He had over heard the two's little bet, and escalated the danger ever higher.
He sat back in his chair and laid his sword across his lap. Knucks was the favorite in his eyes, but he had underestimated Tenchi last time he saw him in combat as well. Despite what Kagato thought, he felt that Knucks had more power than he had showed him. He might even bring out Kagato's full power.
The entire Masaki household was now gathered around the lake to view the duel. Kagato laughed out loud and thought, ' This is going to be a show.'
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Knucks walked to the lake and quickly saw his friends and Tenchi waiting for him. He walked to the dueling point and started to stretch his muscles. He looked around and saw Grandpa with something wrapped in a sheet in his hand. Knucks also saw the girls sitting on a near by hilltop, but he was only surprised to see Washu hovering an typing on her laptop. She must've found this duel to be pretty interesting if she left her lab for it.
Both Tenchi and Knucks knew this fight was for more than glory. For them, it was about Ryoko, and the love they both shared for her. ' This might get a little brutal.' Knucks thought.
" Alright! Let's get this duel started. Simple rules: the first person to get their opponent in a killing position, wins. Everybody ready? Fight!"
Tenchi sprang forward at speeds Knucks had never seen him move before. Knucks raised his sword and blocked an over head swing. Knucks moved quickly and swung his sword at Tenchi's arm, only to have Tenchi duck and knee him in the stomach. Knucks doubled over and got a bottake on the side of the head for it. He flew a few feet and landed on his stomach. Knucks got up and knew that Tenchi wasn't playing around anymore. Knucks removed his tank top and threw on to a nearby rock. The medium sized rock collapsed from the thousand pound shirt that had landed on it. Everybody seemed shocked, all but Ryoko and Tenchi. Knucks had expected Tenchi to be a little surprised, but he seemed in good control of his emotions. Knucks readied again as Tenchi charged him, and tried to use a speed burst of his own. Knucks saw him move and blocked his shot with ease. Tenchi tried to follow up with a shot to his side, but Knucks simply moved to the back of Tenchi and swung his bottake into his back. Tenchi flew into a nearby tree and fell slumped at the bottom.
He got up after a few moments, and changed into a type of battle armor Knucks had never seen before. It resembled Ayeka's robe, except, he was now much more powerful. Tenchi ran at him again, but this time, Knucks made a conscious effort to block him. Tenchi followed up with shot after shot, but couldn't find an opening. Finally, Tenchi saw one. He kneed Knucks in the chin, and jumped to meet his prone body. He swung his sword from his feet in a complete circle, ending when it hit Knucks with a devastating blow. Knucks' body bounced on the ground before it lay still, seemingly unconscious. Tenchi landed a few feet from him and looked down at him. Knucks then sprang up and tripped Tenchi with his leg. Knucks stood up a little more and swung his bottake, hard, at Tenchi's upper body. He connected and sent Tenchi to the ground. Knucks didn't want to show Tenchi his full potential yet, but he might have to to pull away with the victory. Tenchi stood up and was obviously in a lot of pain, yet, he still ran at Knucks and tried to catch his arm with a swipe, but Tenchi was now to hurt to contend with Knucks. Knucks grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back while putting his bottake to Tenchi's throat.
Grandpa saw this and shouted, " Well… It seems we have a winner!"
Knucks let Tenchi go, and went down to one knee. He had never fought so hard in his life, but knew that he his limits weren't breached yet. He abolished this thought and thought of more important things, like how Tenchi was doing. He looked over and saw Ayeka, Mihoshi and Washu attending to him. Sasami, Ryoko and Grandpa where at Knucks' side, helping him up and brushing him off. Ryoko held him up as Grandpa gave him the object in the sheet, " This is now yours. It was my practice sword for many years. I think you can use it more than I, now."
Knucks took the sheet and unraveled the white string that held the sheet on the weapon. The sheet fell to the ground and revealed a leather scabbard, and a metal handle with silver and black designs running all around it. Knucks took the handle and pulled it from the scabbard to see a his new sword.
" Titanium, with an acid cut edge. A very light weapon, but a special one no than less. Ryoko, would you please bring out your laser sword?"
Ryoko let Knucks stand on his own and brought out her sword. A red glow emitted from it as it hovered in her hand, " Please, swing the sword at Knucks."
Knucks was a little surprised at this command, "And Knucks, defend her attack with your new sword. Go ahead."
Ryoko swung her sword lightly at Knucks, and Knucks' sword actually stopped hers. He couldn't believe that this sword was capable of stopping a laser sword. " How? How can I block her sword?"
Grandpa chuckled, " This sword takes the life force of the holder and puts it into its blade. This makes it unbreakable, and if you ever find out how, you can use this as an attack."
Knucks swung his new play thing lightly and found that all the weight was in the blade. The handle must've been hollow, but felt as solid as a rock. He heard the sword cut the air around him as he swung it. " Thanks. This will come in handy."
He walked over to Tenchi and helped him to his feet. Tenchi looked him in the eye, " You win. Congratulations."
Knucks knew that they were still friends, " Thanks for giving me the fight of my life." Knucks supported Tenchi's weight and walked him back to the house.
---
Ryoko stared on as Knucks and Tenchi fought one another. She had been worried many times during the match that one of them were killed by a previous shot, but was relieved when they got back to their feet. To her, it seemed that they went way beyond a friendly rivalry, but it was probably just her imagination.
Ryoko saw Knucks' shirt on the ground and picked it up. She noticed a small drop of blood on it and started to worry about him. She looked at him carry Tenchi home and thought, ' What am I worrying about? I should be more worried about tomorrow.' She had plans for Knucks tomorrow evening and she wanted them done right. Her and Knucks were going on the town tomorrow, and she wanted it to be romantic. She wondered if Knucks would even want to go, or if he would turn her down. She was thinking to much, and thinking was never her strong suit anyways.
She floated in the air and flew ahead to catch up with the gang. They were already inside, and Knucks was up in his room. She decided to wait until he got out to ask him about the tomorrow nights events. She still found it strange that she liked him over Tenchi when Tenchi had known her for three years, and him only four days now.
' Because you have known him for three years. He has put you and Ayeka through torture because he wants to be shy and cute. Now, you have a better guy. Now you have Knucks.'
Her inner voice raged on and shouted to her all the reasons that Knucks was better than Tenchi. All she needed to know was that Knucks made her feel happier then Tenchi ever did before. That was a good enough reason for her.
Knucks emerged from his room and saw Ryoko leaning on the wall next to his door. She looked up at him and smiled her usual wicked smile. Knucks smiled back and reached out for her hand. She let him grab hers and then asked, " What're your plans tomorrow?"
Knucks looked into her eyes and kissed her cheek, " Nothing. Why?"
Ryoko felt a warm spot where he had kissed her, " Cause I wanted to take you in to town tomorrow night. I guess you could call it a date."
Knucks knew that she would ask him eventually, yet, he still felt his knees go a little weak at the thought of them on a date, " Sure. Why not."
Ryoko let out the breath she had been holding in while he pondered his answer. She felt butterflies in her stomach flutter as she heard him say yes, " Cool. How about at six tomorrow then?"
" Alrighty, See ya then?"
Ryoko grabbed his arm and pulled him close for a hug, " You bet you will."
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Kagato wore a neutral expression when seeing the outcome of the duel. Tenchi survived his defeat while Knucks still hadn't shown his true power. Tenchi had gotten a bit stronger since the last time they fought. Kagato knew that he would give him a good warm up-
' Now you underestimate Tenchi. He defeated you last time, and now he has other power to help him. If you go in over confident, you will die this time.'
He wished so bad that he could turn that voice off. It always gave him a headache and did nothing but delay his thoughts. It always forced him to re-think his plans, and to re-check his attitude.
Kagato now paced his glass floor and thought of a good way to dispatch them both. If he showed his full potential, he could take one down, but he would be to weak to fight the other right away.
' Now you do the worst thing of all, you underestimate yourself. Use your head, or, just use Ryoko to fight them instead.'
He now knew why he even listened to that frail voice in the first place. Every now and then , it gave him extraordinary advice. He would use Ryoko to fight Knucks and Tenchi while he slowly drained her power form her. It was genius.
His head now filled with the list of things he had planned to use this new power on. He had planned to keep Yosho for a pet dog, and the princesses as his loyal servants. Washu would do all of his work for him, and create new weapons for him to use. Tenchi, if he survived Ryoko, would be his own personal punching bag for all of eternity. Knucks won't survive to see any of this if he crossed Kagato's path. Kagato would have Ryoko hurt him, and then he would finish the job.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"