Dendy decides to make an update on her data of T.K.O. (based off mandaree1's fanfiction 'Update'.)

At the sound of the doorbell ringing, Carol blinked, heading to the door from the kitchen. Oh, right! K.O. said he had Dendy coming over today after school. Or, well, T.K.O. now. K.O.'s been really frustrated recently, though the reason was unknown, so Carol's little dumbbell was letting his alter ego out more often than he has before. It was starting to worry her.

Stretching her arms over her head, she walks towards the door and opens with the gap-toothed smile. "Heyya, Dendy!" She kneels down to get closer to the kappa's level. "I'm guessing you're here to see K.O.?"

She nods as she takes out a small packet of math homework from her backpack, giving it to Carol. "He left his homework at school again, so I came here to return it to him since he was not at the Bodega." She opened a sky blue holographic screen, displaying a database. "I also wanted to inquire some information on T.K.O. by studying him in person, assuming he is still in his turbonic form."

"Oh... Really? You're sure?" She gave Dendy a look of mild concern. T.K.O. is very dangerous and it didn't seem like she should allow Dendy to do this. However, from what she heard, Dendy was able to handle T.K.O the most. So, a part of her had a feeling Dendy would be okay. Still, there wouldn't be any harm in giving the child a warning."He's actually pretty inactive, at least when he wants to be," Carol explains with a shrug. "I usually just wrap 'em up in a bunch of blankets and give him space."

Dendy nods, typing it into her database. "I'll make it quick, ma'am."

"Sure thing, kiddo." She leads Dendy to the door to K.O.'s room. "Thanks for bringing K.O.'s homework over, by the way. It was real nice of ya."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Kincaid," She says. "perhaps you could give K.O. a backpack so he will not constantly lose his things."

"I'll be sure to get one for him." Carol turns the doorknob with mild uncertainty. "Now, be careful, alright? He's had a bit of a bad day." And with that, she opens the door to let Dendy in.

The kappa steps inside with a nod and closes the door behind her, but doesn't bother to turn the light on. Sun streams in through the blinds, leaving her with ample ability to see. Action-figures, POW Cards, and comic books lay strewn about the floor; it looks like he kept himself occupied. Maybe she could keep him busy in a not-so-destructive way. She'd just need to find a way to calm him down, which right now seemed impossible.

Dendy carefully steps over the various objects on the floor to find an empty spot in K.O.'s now messy room. She soon sat on an empty spot from the end of the bed, which contains a bundle of blue blankets. They shift, and two magenta eyes glowed in Dendy's direction, glaring at her. Just from that, she knew who those eyes belonged to.

A gland of sweat fell down her face. There he was. Almost right in front of her. Now is not the time to be timid, Dendy, She says to herself. this shall be easy and quick. Dendy takes a quiet, deep breath to recollect herself momentarily before waving to the bundle of blue blankets. "Greetings, T.K.O."

The figure snarls and jumps out of the bundle of blankets, showing himself. T.K.O. lunges for the kappa, flings her from the bed, and pins her to the wall. His face laced with rage as he kept a tight grip on her arms. "What do you want!?" He yells, directly into her face.

Her pupils shrank, her fear rising quickly. However, Dendy took a deep breath. "I'm just here to get some information on you to update your profile."

"Hah! Still your lab rat, huh?" He asks with a deeper growl. A sharp-toothed and sinister grin curls on his face as he lets go of one of Dendy's arms only to raise his hand, a ball of purple energy forming. "Looks like I'll have to teach you another lesson..."

"There is nothing wrong with desiring information." She quickly says, hoping to choose the right words that won't result in her being destroyed by the hands of her only friend. "You are very intriguing and powerful, after all."

The boy frowns at the kappa with a brow raised, more out of confusion than actual anger. T.K.O. didn't believe anything she was saying and had half a mind to beat the living hell out of her right then and there. He sure liked the sudden compliments, though; it definitely boosted his ego. "Huh... This is some sort of trick, isn't it?" He doesn't think much of it, though. He just grins again but in a more prideful and smug attitude.

"I am pretty powerful, you should consider it an honor to be getting any results from me. But... I don't think I'll give them to you." He harshly pins Dendy's free arm to the wall again. "What are you gonna use the information for, huh? So you could stop me? Fat chance. I'm not stupid like K.O. You can't fool me. Go ahead and try."

Dendy sighs with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not here to get any information on your abilities or powers at the moment, I've seen enough already." That was sorta emphasized, as she already had a finished page on his strengths and weaknesses. "I simply want to observe your behavior when you're in a state of tranquility."

"Yeah, sorry, I don't speak nerd, so I have no idea what that means." T.K.O. glares at the kappa a long moment, realizing this had no effect on her. With a low growl mixed with a sigh, he finally loosens his grip on her arms and lets her go. "Don't think I'll fall for you or your tricks."

It took him a moment to realize what he said before his cheeks heated up in a bright red. Why the hell did I say that!? Is she tricking me to say things wrong? He narrowed his eyes at Dendy, attempting to brush off his words. "I'm keeping an eye on you, Science Baby..."

As she already seemed to type on her screen, not at all paying attention to his wording, T.K.O. begins to pace on all fours, circling her. Dendy takes a small look at his actions and adds 'animalistic behaviors' to the list; it's still in its first drafts, not nearly long enough to make a proper file out of yet. Okay, maybe this wasn't working like she wanted it to. Still, Dendy wanted to try even if the signs that this will fail like it did last time was telling her otherwise. Besides, if this does go downhill like last time, Dendy is prepared with a hopefully more durable containment field as a last resort.

T.K.O. stops circling her to read some of the stuff Dendy put. 'Brooding, irritated, stubborn, cocky...' The list went on and on with things he already knew. Sheesh, tell me something I don't know. He thinks as he scampers to her suddenly. "Lemme see that." He demands. Dendy willingly edges out of the way with a sigh. He adds 'cool' and 'strong' to the list of pros to his form. Dendy allows this, as she thought both of those were accurate.

Dendy knew very well he was strong, but she personally thought he was cool, as much as she didn't want to outwardly admit it. He and K.O. are both cool in her opinion. They're sorta the only people who actually talk to her. They're different from a lot of the other students in her class, and they've made her feel things she's never felt before. A small hint of blush heats up her face as she begins to get lost in her thoughts when K.O. was around her. And sure, her memories with T.K.O. aren't as happy and friendly, but there was a small part of her that wanted something like that someday. Even if she knew it would most likely never happen.

"Does this thing play tunes?" T.K.O. then abruptly says.

Dendy flinches and snaps out of her deep thoughts, the blush on her face fading from her cheeks. She saves the draft and then goes on her TubeTube app.

"It can."

"Well, play somethin'. Maybe make this less boring." He stands next to her, leaning against the wall. "And make it good."

Dendy nods and searches up a random song on her playlist. It was a sorta metal song, so she supposed T.K.O. would like it. Turns out she was right, cuz it caught his attention right away. "Huh, didn't know you liked rock music," He remarks. "kinda weird for a nerd like you." She ignored his remark and let the song play as she went back to her research.

As T.K.O. listened, his mind wandered onto the stuff that happened with Boxman Jr. and Shadowy Figure. Sure, now he has a punching bag, which came with his little house K.O. made for him in his mind, but he still wasn't happy. Especially with how Enid and Rad reacted when he was unleashed. 'You can't handle T.K.O.! You're not strong enough!' 'You're just a kid!' His eyes narrowed, thinking back to how they acted towards him before he first broke from his cage. 'You'll catch up to us someday. Or not.' 'At least you're cute.'

Cute. That very word made his skin crawl and his stomach turn as it echoed in his head over and over again. He hated how K.O. was treated like a dumb kid who knew nothing like they expect him to be. Maybe he shouldn't feel this stuff 'cuz they were talking to K.O. But that's the thing; he technically is K.O. He still can't accept that fact.

'T.K.O. is a manifestation of all your negative emotions. Your rage, your pain, your helplessness. I could not have possibly created what was already within you. All I could do was help you channel it.'

He was created in K.O.'s mind, thanks to that jerk Shadowy figure! But why? Why him? How did he know so much about K.O., his goals, his friends, his abilities? And why did he look happy when he was defeated? Villains aren't happy when they lose! Was he just some creepy stalker? Or did Shadowy Figure know something that he didn't!? If only his cable wasn't unplugged. He could've socked the creep and maybe get that stupid hood off his head! Maybe then he'd know the truth. Maybe then he'd feel like more than just some different version of another person. More than just an alter ego.

T.K.O.'s been forcing himself out of K.O.'s mind every chance he had recently, but it usually ended up with him being wrapped up in blankets until K.O. took control again. Every time he's in public while in control he's either avoided or people would try to "calm him down". He appreciated that people somewhat knew who he was and feared him, but it's hard to like who you are when people constantly want to find the quickest way to get rid of you. T.K.O. wanted to keep fighting, but aside from that, he wanted to be seen as him. Not K.O.

These thoughts always got to him and it was agonizing. It'd make him feel horrible the more he thought about it. He didn't want to talk to Dendy about it, though. It didn't seem like a big deal to him, as he was usually able to handle it. Besides, she wouldn't understand him. Nobody does.

Tears threatened the brims of his eyes. He took a deep breath, preventing them from rolling down his cheeks. Dendy noticed and stopped the song immediately. "T.K.O.? Are you okay?" She asked. "Is the song giving you negative emotions?"

He turned to the kappa, his expression softening ever so slightly as he looked at her. Sigh. He might as well at least vent to her a little. Just to keep him from breaking down and sobbing, which would ruin his eyeliner. "Dendy..." He starts, then averts his eyes from her, walking towards his bed and sitting as he looked down on the floor. "...Do you think I'm cute?"

Without very much thought as she approached and sat next to him, Dendy responds, "A little, admittedly."

"Of course." The boy sighed and watched as the kappa sat next to him. "At least you're honest about it. Anyone who doesn't see me as K.O. just says no, although I know they're lying."

Dendy slightly narrowed her eyes as she looked at her screen. "I do not understand that." "Of course you don't. Nobody understands me."

"I was talking about what you said. I don't understand how you are still seen as K.O."

T.K.O.'s eyes widened in surprise and shock. "Wait, what?"

The kappa averted her eyes from the blue screen to T.K.O.'s direction. "Let me rephrase that. It is difficult to see why you're seen as a separate version of K.O. You may be a part of K.O., but you are still a person of your own. You are T.K.O."

This surprised T.K.O. much more than the compliments she gave him. He let Dendy's words sink in and replay in his mind over and over. He assumed when Dendy saw him, like everybody else, she only saw K.O. Especially since she was his dumb nerd friend. But her response was not what he expected at all. In fact, he began to realize that Dendy was the only one who actually called him T.K.O. for a while. She sees him as T.K.O. The one thing he's been wanting aside from fighting. His lips curled into a smile, but not in a malicious or smug way. It was actually a genuine smile. Finally, He thought. someone who sees me.

"...Thanks, Dendy. I guess you're not as lame as I thought." Wait - did he really just say that? A slight red hue is formed on his cheeks upon this realization. What's going on with me? Why am I acting so stupid?

A brow raised, but Dendy shrugged it off. "You're welcome, I suppose."

T.K.O. felt a warm sensation in his body when looking at Dendy. He didn't know why he was feeling this way, but a part of him didn't want to care anymore. His negative feelings seemed to melt away from him as his body seemed to move on its own. T.K.O.'s arms made their way around Dendy's waist and he held her close, curling up on her and burying his face into the crook of her neck. This was... new. It kinda made him think of whenever Dendy saves him from falling in her lab. K.O. would always be hugged by his friends and mom, but T.K.O. was never actually able to feel it. But now that he was actually hugging someone, Dendy, in fact... he enjoyed it. And he didn't want to let her go.

Dendy gasped, her heart practically dropping with panic as this happened. The fact that the boy had a tight grip only elevated her anxiety. She closed her eyes shut, helplessly bracing herself for an attack that was inevitable now. But as she waited, nothing happened. ...Is T.K.O... Purring? ...No, he's snoring. I suppose his frustration finally wore him out. Dendy thought.

Her shoulders slowly fell, her dread slowly leaving her as she sighed with the reassurance that T.K.O. had no intent to hurt her, as odd as it sounded. Dendy smiled, pulling up her screen and saving the file before closing the screen and lies on the bed, letting the boy follow in her movements, resulting in him laying right beside her. Of course, Dendy did not care. She closed her eyes again, but in a more relaxed and satisfied manner.

All of a sudden... everything felt safe now.