[Scene: a beach at night. Zoi and Mamoru are walking side by side, their posture tense]

Zoi: You left your watch at the last murder-site, you know. The authorities are on to you. And I'm not just talking about my dad.

Mamoru: Don't worry about it. We already know

Zoi: Don't worry about it? Mamoru, they have guns! They are offering rewards!

Mamoru: We can take care of ourselves. They're not going to catch us. They're only making it more difficult. Eventually, they'll start disappearing too.

Zoi: Mamoru!

Mamoru: What? It's just a fact.

Zoi: How can you feel that way? My dad is going to be the first to come after your gang– [Zoi's stomach twists.] Oh my god! My dad is going to be the first to come after your gang!

Mamoru: Don't worry. He won't be able to apprehend us.

Zoi: It's not you I'm worried about!

Mamoru: Then maybe you should tell your father to back off.

Zoi: [grabs Mamoru by the shoulders] Mamoru, is it really necessary to kill people?

Mamoru: Kill people? [rolls his eyes] I've never killed anyone.

Zoi: Excuse me? Just a few minutes ago you admitted to killing those campers!

Mamoru: No, I admitted to attacking campers. There's a difference.

Zoi: What difference?

[For a minute Mamoru just stares at him]

Mamoru: You really don't know what's going on with those disappearances, do you?

Zoi: No, I haven't a clue.

Mamoru: Good. The less you know, the better…[backs away] …I think we're done talking. Goodbye, Shitennou.

[He turns and starts to walk away]

Zoi: Look. I know why you hate me! It's because you're Endymion and I'm a Shitennou…That's fine…If I were you, I'd hate me too…And I understand why you're siding with the Moon Guardians… But couldn't you find a way not to cut people up?

[Mamoru turns. He looks like he's been jolted with electricity.]

Mamoru: Cut people up?

Zoi: Please? Hate me all you want, but that's ALL that upsets me… These are innocent people. Like my dad. I can't just look the other way while you-

Mamoru: Is that ALL that upsets you? Really? You attacked me just because you think I'm a murderer?

[Zoi nods]

Mamoru: That's the only reason?

Zoi: Isn't that reason enough?

[Mamoru laughs with relief]

Zoi: Mamoru Chiba. This is not funny.

Mamoru: Sure, sure. You're really, honestly bothered because you think I've been killing humans?

[Zoi nods]

[Gathers Zoi into a bearhug]

Mamoru: I'm not a killer, Zoi. Really!

Zoi: [narrows his eyes] What about Minako and the others?

Mamoru: Of course not. Don't you remember what they call themselves?

Zoi: The C'est La Vie gang?

Mamoru: No, dummy. They call themselves "Guardians." As in, they fight to protect the innocent.

Zoi: So they haven't killed anyone either?

Mamoru: Just the one guy, but that was an accident.

Zoi: [brows raised] What one guy?

Mamoru: [releases Zoi and looks away sheepishly] Uh…nothing.

Zoi: But I don't understand. What about the missing campers? And the blood? My father saw you running from some guy who had been slashed to ribbons-are you saying that wasn't you?

Mamoru: That was me, but I didn't attack him. I was trying to heal him…Look. We aren't the ones behind the disappearances. We're trying to save them, but we always arrive just a little too late.

Zoi: You weren't too late this time. That one is going to live.

Mamoru: [elated] Really?

Zoi: Really.

Mamoru: Wait. [eyes Zoi with suspicion] Why would a Shitennou care whether I'm murdering humans or not?

Zoi: Why wouldn't I care? My friends are human, my family is human. I used to be a human, too.

Mamoru: That's not what Rei says.

Zoi: Rei doesn't know what she's talking about.

Mamoru: Rei said Zoisite Midori died before he reached the hospital. After that, Metalia created a Shitennou that looks just like him. As a toy for Kunzite to play with.

Zoi: It may look that way, but I never actually died. Metalia harvested my soul, just moments before I would have been killed, and then transferred it into this other body.

Mamoru: How can you be sure? How do you know she didn't just give you fake memories to trick you, while the real Zoi is in Heaven right now?

[Zoi chews his finger thoughtfully]

Zoi: I guess, I don't…except…No! I do!

[He grins at Mamoru]

Zoi: Metalia tried to make me swear an oath of obedience and I refused. She locked me in a cage and tormented me for days, and I still wouldn't give in. [twirls a lock of his hair] Why would she go to all that trouble if she was just going to replace me with a carbon copy?

[Mamoru stares at Zoi with a stunned expression]

Mamoru: You…you never swore an oath of obedience to Metalia?

Zoi: [laughs] Heck, no! Why would I swear an oath of obedience to Metalia? She hates me.

[Mamoru's expression becomes even more stunned.]

MMamoru: And yet she made you into a Shitennou…

Zoi: She would have never elevated me, you know, except she needed Kunzite, and when he thought I'd died, he'd lost the will to live.

[Mamoru grabs Zoi and swings him around, before setting him back down.]

Mamoru: [beaming] Do you have any idea what you've done? You gave the middle finger to one of the most powerful and EVIL beings in the known universe! And not only did she have to sit there and take it, she had to reward you by making you one of her children!

Zoi: Oh dear…when you put it like that…it sounds pretty foolhardy.

Mamoru: I'm sorry I called you a hypocrite.

Zoi: I'm sorry I called you a murderer.

Mamoru: Let's head back.

[They start to walk back]

Zoi: Wait, what is it you guardians are trying to protect the innocent from? Is there really a bear out there?

[Mamoru's look becomes somber]

Mamoru: I told you. The less you know, the better.

Zoi: But we're on the same side. I can help!

Mamoru: No. You can't. You really can't.

Zoi: Why not?

Mamoru: Look, have you ever had a secret you can't tell anyone? Something you can't tell your parents? Something you can't tell me, not even now?

Zoi: I find it's best not to have secrets like that.

Mamoru: [sighs] This is a very delicate situation…Think of it like a hostage crisis. Things can get very messy, very quickly if the wrong people get involved. And trust me. You are definitely the wrong people…In fact…It's best if we're not seen together. I can accept that you're a Shitennou, but there is at least one person who never will.

Zoi: Minako.

Mamoru: Minako. She trusted a Shitennou once, and he destroyed her entire planet. She has assured us she will never make that mistake again.