Chapter 90: Kunzite Desdichado

[Scene: Zoi's hospital room. Kunzite drops to one knee and kneels before his mother so low his head almost touches the floor, then he stares at his mother with determination in his eyes.]

Kunzite: Bring him back.

Metalia: You perssssisssst in thissss inssssuborrrrdination? He issss lost to you! Can't you underrrrssssstand that?

Kunzite: No.

Metalia: NO?

Kunzite: Never.

Metalia: You continue to defy me?

Kunzite: As long as there is life in my body, I will try to bring him back.

[For a second Metalia just shrieks in outrage. Then she holds out one claw and plunges it into Kunzite's chest. When she draws it out, she is holding an object that looks like a pink gemstone in her fist. With her other hand she sends dark energy to wash over him.]

[All at once she looks like Mary Worth in a lab coat.]

Metalia: I told you I could unmake you, but you refused to listen! As of this moment, you are no longer my son! Since you love these pathetic human creatures so much, you are now one of them!

[She puts the stone in the pocket of her labcoat and turns to walk away but reconsiders and zaps him with dark energy.]

Metalia: A human without the capacity for suicide or selfharm, so don't even think of taking the coward's way out!

[She leaves]

[Kunzite tries to summon his powers and finds he cannot. He is devastated. Not because he has been turned into a human, but because as a human, he has no way of helping Zoi, even if his father does manage to prevent him from being cremated.]

[He walks out to the parking lot to look for his Maserati. It is nowhere to be seen. He goes to the ATM in the hospital's lobby and inserts his debit card. After several attempts his PIN is still unrecognized. If his debit card won't work he knows his credit cards won't either. He opens his wallet and sees he's got a little less than $300 in cash. Not counting the foreign currencies for his spur of the moment dates with Zoi. They won't be going on those, given in their current circumstances, but in a pinch, he can convert those bills into dollars at a bank.]

[He returns to Zoi's room and pulls a chair up to Zoi's bed and rests his hands and face upon Zoi's chest, taking comfort in the rhythm of heartbeat, the steady rise and fall of his breathing, even though he knows it's just an automated response of a body that no longer houses a mind or a soul.]

Kunzite: I will find you, Zoisite. Even if it takes forever. We will be together again.

[Kunzite is still sitting like that when Chief Midori returns shortly before dawn.]

Chief Midori: No luck?

Kunzite: [Sits up and looks at Chief Midori with a broken expression] I won't be able to bring him back.

Chief Midori: I assumed as much when I didn't get a phonecall.

Kunzite: I'm sorry.

Chief Midori: To be perfectly honest, I never really dared to get my hopes up.

Kunzite: I wish he'd never met me.

Chief Midori: I'm not going to lie. You weren't my first choice for my son. And knowing what I know now, you definitely aren't my first choice. But I also know that nobody could love him any more than you do. In the short time you were together, he knew more happiness than most people do in a lifetime.

[Kunzite sits in gloomy silence. Then a sobering thought occurs to him. He feels equal measures of dread and solace as he realizes his life is in danger, and by staying in the room, he's putting Zoi's father's life in danger as well.]

Kunzite: I need to leave.

Chief Midori: Where are you going?

Kunzite: Not far. To the employee breakroom. I need to get some coffee. If one of my brothers comes in here, tell him I went into the breakroom to get some coffee.

[Kunzite rises and leaves the room before Chief Midori can ask any more questions.]

[One of the advantages of being the adopted son of the town's chief surgeon is that he has full access to the break room. He pours himself a cup of coffee, and sits with his back to the door and waits.]

Jeddy: Kunzite?

Kunzite: Et tu, Jadeite?

[Kunzite turns his chair around and sees Jeddy standing near the door holding a large Krispy Kreme box. He holds it out in Kunzite's direction, but he's shaking a little.]

Jeddy: I brought you some doughnuts.

Kunzite: That didn't take long.

Jeddy: [frowns nervously] What didn't take long?

Kunzite: [smirks] I was expecting Nephrite, but I should have known better. It's always the little guy who has something to prove.

Jeddy: I'm not little.

Kunzite: You're little on the inside.

[Normally Jeddy would be offended by such a statement, but now he just looks frightened.]

Kunzite: [sips his coffee and lowers his gaze] Are you afraid of me, Jadeite? You shouldn't be. I've lost my powers, so I'm no match for you now. But of course you already knew that. Or else you wouldn't be here.

Jeddy: [breaks into a sweat] What are you talking about?

Kunzite: You came in here to kill me.

Jeddy: What makes you say that?

Kunzite: There was a prophesy.

Jeddy: A prophesy?

Kunzite: [nods] Everything has been foretold. I just wasn't paying enough attention at the time. Mainly because it came from Nephrite and he's wrong more often than he's right: "The lamb will slaughtered, the mighty will fall, hate conquers love, brothers will kill brothers, so much blood will be spilled it will form a river…." It has all come to pass… except for the part about brothers killing brothers.

Jeddy: [winces] I still don't know what you're talking about.

Kunzite: I don't know what I'm talking about either. All I know is whatever you have in that box doesn't smell like doughnuts.

Jeddy: [chuckles nervously] You're crazy. There is nothing in this box but doughnuts. See?

[Jeddy opens the box and pulls out a crossbow and aims it right at Kunzite.]

[Kunzite takes a sip of his coffee]

Kunzite: A crossbow. Very nice. Quiet enough to use in a hospital, but you don't have to get very close to your target.

[Jeddy just stands there shaking]

Kunzite: Go on. What are you waiting for?

[Jeddy doesn't move]

Kunzite: [stands and spreads his arms out at his sides] Don't you want to go down in Dark Kingdom history as the Shitennou that put an end to Kunzite O'Sama?

[Jeddy swallows hard]

Kunzite: Would this be easier if I turned around and faced the other direction?

Jeddy: Yes, please.

Kunzite: Then you'll go down in Dark Kingdom history as the Shitennou who shot Kunzite O'Sama in the back while he was drinking a cup of coffee.

[The crossbow wavers in Jeddy's hand]

Kunzite: Never mind. Forget what I just said. I shouldn't be discouraging you. You're doing me a kindness, actually.

[Kunzite turns around and picks up his cup of coffee and takes another sip.]

Kunzite: He was only a part of my life for the blink of an eye. But that blink of an eye has rendered the whole rest of my existence completely unbearable.

[Kunzite waits, but Jeddy still doesn't act]

Kunzite: For thousands of years I've been alone. Then I found him. You must have seen the changes in me, you've known me for so long. Do you really want to take a chance of looking into my eyes and seeing me regain my powers, and my status of First Among Kings, now that I've lost him?

[Kunzite sets the cup down again. Right before he hears the twang of the crossbow firing. There is a shower of dust as the bolt embeds itself in the ceiling. Kunzite looks up and wonders how even Jeddy could miss by that much at such close range.]

[He turns around and sees Neffy pushing Jeddy's wrist and grinning at Kunzite like a Cheshire cat.]

Neffy: [chuckling] Oh, no, you arrogant bastard! I've waited far too long to see you laid low to let this fool end my fun this quickly.

[Neffy grabs the crossbow from Jeddy and tosses it to the ground]

Neffy: [feints at Jeddy] Go on. Get out of here, you fool.

[Jeddy teleports away]

Neffy: [to Kunzite] Consider this prophesy averted. From now on, you're under MY protection, Kunzite. You're going to live a long, full life. [Grins] A life full of suffering, that is. I'm going to make sure of that.

[Neffy laughs like a fiend as he teleports away.]

[Kunzite sighs, sets down his coffee cup, and returns to Zoi's room]