Holy Poo!  A Disclaimer!:  This stuff is owned by other people, except
for the stuff that isn't.  If you own the stuff I've used, please do not
sue me.  Firstly, if you do own any of it chances are you already have
one hell of a lot more money than I do.  Secondly, I will be forced to
wave my privates at your aunties.

The Legacy of Kain - Chapter Four (Breif War, Fragile Peace)

    Kevin held his hands out placatingly, backing slowly away from
Tenchi. "Uh...look, Tenchi, I don't know what this is about, but-"
     "Shut up." hissed Tenchi from between clenched teeth.
     "Tenchi, snap out of it, man!"
     "Shut up!" screamed Tenchi, lunging forward and swinging the energy
blade in a wide arc that would neatly bisect Kevin's head.  He threw
himself to the side, evading the blow by inches, his eyes never leaving
Tenchi's.
     "Tenchi?" came Ryoko's voice.  She was hanging in midair behind
him, her red-white sword held ready, hesitating...not sure who to use it
on.
     "Stay back, Ryoko.  This is between me and Kain."
     Ryoko's jaw dropped.  Her eyes went to Kevin, who had gone very
pale.  Tenchi leapt to the attack once more, but with every strike Kevin
leapt away, dodging with uncanny grace.
     "You would have liked to keep us all in the dark a little longer,
wouldn't you?" snarled Tenchi, pressing his advantage, his swings coming
closer and closer to connecting.  "Couldn't resist.  The chance to win
us all over before finally ending what you'd begun.  Had to become one
of us before you destroyed us."
     Kevin executed a backwards flip and eyed Tenchi carefully, his
hands still held out.
     "You monster.  You BASTARD.  It's your fault my mother is dead, but
you won't get anyone else I care about.  It ends here.  Now."
     Kevin straightened himself.  "I don't want to fight you, Tenchi. 
Please.  Don't make me."
     Tenchi merely raised his sword in answer.
     There was a sudden dark disturbance in the air around Kevin, a kind
of living shadow that flowed over him, changing him.  His glasses and
torn jeans vanished, replaced by the familiar slashes of Jurian battle
dress, while his coat became more ornate, an oddly contorted sigil
forming on the back.  His eyes darkened, became a blue so dark they were
almost black.  He held out his hand, and a brilliant purple-white energy
sword flashed into existence.
     He saluted Tenchi, a sad smile on his face.  Tenchi just stared,
wild eyed, and then leapt forward, attacking with new vigor.
     Ryoko stood, open mouthed, for once in her life completely
paralyzed by indecision.

     "Miss Washu?  Washu!"
     Washu grunted irritably.  "Aw, c'mon...can't the greatest
scientific mind in the universe get a little shut eye now and again?"
     "On the floor?"
     Washu opened one eye.  She was, indeed, lying on the floor.  What
the...her glance fell on the computer screen, the chair that Tenchi had
been sitting on, and suddenly everything came flooding back - along with
a new, horrifying implication.  Ayeka sat beside her, worry written
large on her usually composed features.  Mihoshi sniffled.
     "Ayeka.  Damn.  This is not good."  She made as if to stand, but a
sudden wash of dizziness drove her to her knees.  Damn!  Of all
times...a few minutes with one of her machines and she'd be right as
rain, but that was a few minutes they didn't have.  Her hand shot out
and gripped Ayeka's arm, who squeaked in surprise.  Washu's gaze bored
into Ayeka's with an intensity she'd only ever seen once before.
     "Ayeka, listen very, very carefully.  Tenchi might be in a lot of
trouble..."

     The duel continued for some time.  They were evenly matched -
Tenchi's swordplay was somewhat erratic, but his training stood him in
good stead, and he had the added advantage of rage-fueled strength. 
Kevin relied more on defense, using his longer reach and quicker
reflexes to keep Tenchi at bay.  No one spoke, but for the occasional
grunt and sizzle as a thrust came a little too close.
     Ryoko's hands were so tightly clenched her fingernails dug into her
palms, drawing blood.  She had never been so torn.  She couldn't take
Kevin's side - against Tenchi?  The man she had loved, who had been so
kind to her?  But Tenchi had to be wrong...how could Kevin, the quick,
bright young man who had seen so deeply into her in so short a time be
Kain?  She was in such an agony of indecision that she didn't even
notice Ayeka until she was right beside her, breathing heavily from
running.
     "Ryoko!  I...Washu...said..."  She looked over at the combatants. 
Tenchi yelled out, bringing Tenchi-ken down in an overhead strike. 
Kevin sidestepped neatly, spinning around to face his adversary once
more, his back to Ayeka and Ryoko.  Ayeka's eyes widened as she saw the
symbol on the back of his coat.  "Ryoko," she said, and Ryoko turned to
look at her, so cold had her voice become.  "We have to kill him."
     "I..." Ryoko said, turning back to the duel just in time to see it
end.  Tenchi, swinging almost randomly, had managed to knock Kevin's
sword out of alignment for a crucial moment.  Tenchi leapt in, slicing
upwards.  Kevin stumbled back, barely avoiding death, and cried out as
Tenchi-ken carved a gash diagonally across his chest.  He screamed
again, this time in fury, gesturing with one hand.  A dark bolt of
energy leapt from his fingers, striking Tenchi and throwing him to the
ground.  Kevin advanced on Tenchi as he regained his feet groggily. 
Their swords met, and this time Tenchi-ken took the worst of it, flying
from Tenchi's hand and bouncing on the grass, out of reach.  
     Tenchi swallowed, looking up into Kevin's eyes.  His face was
contorted with anger, his eyes now completely black.  He could feel the
heat from the blade on his throat.  He closed his eyes.  I'm sorry, Mom,
he thought, and prepared to die.
     "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Ayeka," he heard Kevin say, in a
rough, tortured voice very unlike is usual light tone.  He looked
around.  Ayeka stood a few yards away, next to Ryoko, dressed in battle
garb and flanked by Azaka and Kamidake.  Her fists, clenched at her
side, crackled with barely contained energy.  Ryoko seemed to abruptly
snap out of her trance and ignited her sword.
     Kevin sighed.  "Okay, look.  I hate to do this, but unless you two
calm down right now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to slit his throat. 
You don't want that, do you?"
     Ryoko snarled defiantly, but the sword disappeared.  Ayeka followed
suit.
     "Right."  Kevin took a deep breath.  "Now.  I can see that you have
learned something of what I am, and you both have reasons to hate me. 
We are all going to go to the house, and we are going to sit down and
talk about this, all right?"  He gestured, and Tenchi started to walk,
carefully, back to the house.  "Jeez," muttered Kevin, sounding a little
more his old self, "are you people ever on a short fuse."

     Kevin shifted his weight from side to side uneasily.  He was a
little nervous.  Seven pairs of eyes bore into him, the expressions of
the people staring at him running the full gamut from barely contained
rage, through curiosity and composure, ending up at confused hurt.  That
last was the hardest to bear.
     He sighed.
     "Well, guys..."
     He was interrupted as Ayeka shot to her feet, her voice as
imperious as any there had ever heard it.  "I fail to see why we should
allow this...monster...freedom to speak.  We know who he is.  I say we
put him to death."  She gathered her robe around her as she spoke this
pronouncement, and she looked every inch the Royal Princess she was, at
least until the small panda statuette materialized above her head and
clonked her.
     She sat down with as much dignity as she could muster, which was,
by this point, not a lot.  Ryoko cackled at her.
     "Ayeka, I don't know what your sudden mad on for Kevin is all
about," came Washu's voice from the cushion she was reclining on, "and
frankly, I don't care.  I asked you to calm the two of them down so that
we could all talk, and you did more or less the opposite.  Now.  You're
either going to keep quiet, or I'm going to attach your lips together on
the molecular level.  Do I make myself clear?"
     "Yes."
     "Yes...?"
     Ayeka sighed, admitting defeat.  "Yes, Washu-chan."
     "Good.  Kev?  We're waiting."
     Kevin took a deep breath, lit a cigarette, and began to tell his
story.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Hmmm...Tenchi may well be a little OOC, but his mom's
death is one of the major tragedies of his life, so I think I can get
away with it.  Plus I've always wanted to see that dude go mad with
rage, just once.  Send C+C plus any sacrificial virgins you may know of
to kakapo101@hotmail.com.