Studious yet entertained, #17 watched the fight between the cyan-haired ex-con of space, Ryoko, and the bounty hunter Nagi, without providing any sort of interference on Nagi's behalf - partly because of what Kiyone had told him earlier before they stepped out to watch the battle, and partly because as he saw, the fight was already intense, both combatants wanting to take each other out themselves, and he knew he would actually be doing whoever he helped a disfavor. Nagi and Ryoko were both executing swiftly on moves, and counter-moves, and counters to their counter-moves, and neither had slipped up or made a costly mistake even once. There was no distinct advantage or disadvantage here, and it seemed the battle was even.
Right now, he could see both of them panting, clearly a little tired, but neither about to give it up any time soon. He knew that it was only a matter of time before someone finally did slip up and cost themselves the match. It was exactly as he had figured it was during his fight with Piccolo back in the Dragonball realm, with the exception of his infinitely running energy circuits, which not only prevented him from getting tired in battle, but also allowed him not to age. This was how he and his twin sister Eighteen were able to turn even matches into no-chance affairs.
Ryoko and Nagi now both charged at each other, ready to strike with punches. However, their fists ended up colliding, sending a little more heated electricity into the air. Breaking that spark collision, the two then both went for swinging roundhouse kicks - and ended up colliding again. However, as soon as that broke, Ryoko gave Nagi no chance to use her weapons, immediately lunging at her with a flurry of punches and even some kicks that Nagi was forced to block and dodge at a breakneck rate. Eventually, she managed to stop her and get her with a knee to the gut, followed by an axe kick to the back of the head to put her down.
However, before Nagi could retaliate by doing anything further, Ryoko vanished and reappeared behind her, attacking with a swinging double axe handle which sent Nagi flying a good 50 yards away from the house and tumbling down to the ground. Nagi was able to quickly regain her balance, though, soon after she got on the ground, and land on her feet, as Ryoko now quickly and hungrily charged at her target, ready to deliver a finishing pounding. Nagi, realizing that now was her big chance for victory, immediately took out the energy sword and shot a beam out of it. Ryoko tried to stop to guard herself, but was only successful in stopping, as before she could put up a guard, the beam struck her right in the chest and sent her falling backwards while screaming in pain.
Washu, Kiyone, and Mihoshi gasped, while #17's gaze turned a little more cautious, as now he knew what was coming. Ryoko had slipped up, she'd been the one to make the mistake of rushing in too earnestly, and she was now going to pay for it - possibly with her life, if Nagi's intent was truly that clear.
Little did anyone notice, however, as Nagi walked the long walk over to Ryoko to get ready to kill her, Tenchi, Ayeka, and Sasami had come down from the shrine steps and were now rushing over to the battlefield along with Ken-Ohki and Ryo-Ohki.
"Nagi, stop it!" Tenchi called out to her, he and the royal Jurai sisters suddenly trailing behind the two cabbits. Both Ken-Ohki and Ryo-Ohki, were able to step in between Nagi and Ryoko, right as Nagi had reached the space pirate and was on the verge of stabbing her with the energy sword.
"Huh?" Nagi stirred, realizing that the two cabbits were now protecting Ryoko, much like they protected her back during the battle on Venus.
"Stop it, Nagi! That's enough!" Tenchi yelled again, now only a few feet away from Nagi. This time, she turned around and acknowledged Tenchi and the sisters' presence.
"Great. So you came to save Ryoko this time?" Nagi concluded about Tenchi.
"She's not a criminal anymore! You can't take her!" he insisted.
"Tenchi is right!" Kiyone stated, suddenly stepping up to Nagi. "She's been exonerated of her crimes ever since helping stop Kagato Jurai's coup on the Jurai throne! If you kill her, you'll be the one who becomes a wanted criminal! And being a Galaxy Police officer, I'll have no choice but to arrest you!"
"And besides, the whole 'killing a good guy' thing is kind of overrated," #17 chimed in, especially surprising Tenchi and the Jurai sisters, who had yet to have ever seen him at all up to this point. "You say she was the only criminal you never caught - well, she's not a criminal anymore, and you just beat her! If she was still going around committing crimes, I'd have no problem with tihs at all, and I might help you out. But to kill her now that she's apparently turned over a new leaf and her bad rap's been pardoned, just because she got past you back when that wasn't the case, that's just a little kind of obsessive, don't you think?"
"Yeah! Ryoko may be one of the most notorious space pirates in, like, forever, but she's not really a bad person at all and she's not a criminal anymore!" Mihoshi added as well, surprising everyone with an actually sensible point in a serious situation - even if this was the point that everyone else had already made in the first place.
In any case, Nagi still hadn't given in, and she was still somewhat aiming to kill Ryoko, but everyone's words had actually gotten her to at least stop and think about it abit. Ryoko, meanwhile, did use this little while to recover, but nonetheless had to face the fact that she was finally beaten; her chest was still throbbing in pain, Nagi was standing over her, and at a moment's notice, the bounty hunter could kill her. She noticed that Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki were standing in front of her trying to protect her, and actually thought it was a little silly, but was not going to try to push anything in her state, instead opting to let the course of whatever was set to happen play itself out. And the tide of the situation would quickly determined when Sasami, noticing the two cabbits in front of Ryoko, decided to walk up beside Nagi with something to say.
"Nagi, if you go through with this, Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki will hate you forever. Just look at them," Sasami told her. That statement struck a chord within Nagi, as she immediately looked at the two cabbits, specifically the male one, and the death glare that Ken-Ohki was giving her had clearly betrayed her intentions. Realizing now that out of loyalty for his sake that she could not go through with it, Nagi also saw the complete inconvenience of the matter - by killing Ryoko, she would not only be turning herself into the wanted criminal, she'd be caught in a trap here in the middle of everyone else here, and Ken-Ohki, her loyal pet cabbit, would help with the trap rather than with getting her out of it.
All this combined meant that this cold act of murder would be completely turning her back on the honor she stood for, as well as setting herself up for an instant grand freefall. Therefore, she now had no choice but to show her arch rival the same respect and mercy that Ryoko had shown her back on Venus - even if she won this one fair and square. She then put away the sword and looked down at Ryoko.
"Get up," she then instructed Ryoko.
"Come on, you… you know I'm really in no condition to do that right now," Ryoko said, still favoring her chest. "Look at where you hit me with that beam, remember?"
"You know you can get up. You've had more than enough time to recover," Nagi insisted.
"Okay, fine… sure, I could… but how do I know you're not gonna take advantage of my pain and kill me right then and there?" Ryoko suddenly asked, raising a good point even though her injuries.
"Come on. Do you really think I'm in any position to do it right now?" Nagi asked right back, using the situation itself as more than a decent rebuttal. To affirm to Ryoko that she could trust her, Nagi stuck her hand out, offering to be the one to pick her up. "Besides, your man and the rest of your friends here are absolutely right, it's not my style. Or in my best interest. If it makes this any easier for you to trust me, I'm about to personally help you up. How's that?"
Ryoko wouldn't accept that, however, thanks to her fighting pride; rather than taking the lift, she used her teleporting power to pick herself up and lean back on the walls of the house, at the same time still favoring her upper chest in pain, though less than before now. Nagi came forward a few steps, and Ryoko, not taking notice of the smile on Nagi face, immediately stuck a hand up and got ready to defend herself, but couldn't get a charge in.
"Relax," Nagi then said, stopping in her footsteps. "Your new cyborg friend and the officers are right. If your record's been pardoned because you stopped Kagato's coup, then you're not a criminal anymore. Killing you does notthing but make me one. We just had a terrific battle, you slipped up once, and I finally beat you. As far as I'm concerned, my bounty hunting record is perfect again. It's as simple as that." She then turned around and looked down to see Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki. Ryo-Ohki ran and came into Sasami's arms, while Ken-Ohki got back up on Nagi's shoulder. "Thanks for stopping me," she then said to her cabbit.
//Just thought we could use a change of pace a little bit to make sure this episode had enough room to build up all the characters. If I overstepped my bounds a little with this, then I apologize.//
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