[Scene: Zoi's bedroom.]
Mamoru: Hey, are you okay?
[Zoi gestures at all the ominous graffiti on his bedroom walls]
Zoi: Why in the world would I be okay?
Mamoru: Right. Well…I came here to apologize.
Zoi: I don't accept! Leave!
Mamoru: I promised you that you could always count on me to protect you.
Zoi: That was back when you thought I was just a scrawny ninety pound human! I don't need you! I'm not interested in you, and I never will be!
[Mamoru doesn't go.]
Zoi: Get out of my room! You don't need to be here!
[Mamoru still doesn't go]
Zoi: Go! You need to spend time with Usagi! Right now! Before you both die because of me…
[Zoi sits on the bed and continues crying]
Mamoru: [sit on the bed next to him and puts his hand on his shoulder] I'm so sorry, Zoi. None of this is your fault.
Zoi: Of course it's my fault! The Death Phantom is after me because I brought about the mass murder of all his followers! And now it's payback time! [sobbing] Why did you come here? You don't owe me any apologies!
Mamoru: I couldn't leave things the way they were at the diner. That was awful.
Zoi: So what! Minako doesn't have the power to hurt me! I don't care! All I've ever wanted was to be with Kunzite! I don't care what he's done or if he's evil or not!
Mamoru: [leans back and lets out a heavy sigh] I want to say I understand where you're coming from-but I can't understand where you're coming from. I wish I could…because then I could forgive Beryl.
[Zoi stops crying and stares at him]
Mamoru: I know why you are pushing me away. I know what it's like to watch people die while trying to protect you.
Zoi:[under his breathe] …Princess Selenity.
Mamoru: [nods] She had everything…family, friends…innocence, beauty, grace…a gentle nature and a loving heart…[his lip curls into a snarl]…until the day we met, and ruined her life.
Zoi: No-
[Mamoru doesn't seem to hear him, his face becoming ferocious]
Mamoru: She wore a fancy white gown and I wore a collar and a chain…Beryl's plaything. Broken in both mind and spirit from a lifetime of torture and abuse…Selenity healed me with her magic. She had that power…Selenity promised me sanctuary in her mother's palace…I-I told her Beryl would come after me, and her mother wouldn't break a treaty with the Shitennou over a slave, but she just laughed and told me that she would protect me, no matter what-
[Mamoru buried his face in his hand]
Mamoru: Beryl killed her right in front of me, and I was too much of a coward to stop her. I watched her die. Beryl killed her then told me Metallia was going to destroy the Moon Kingdom, just because I tried to run away…Minako and the others… that was all my fault! I had a dagger, but I used it on myself! I couldn't let Beryl take me alive…They were so young, just girls! They had everything, until I met Selenity and poisoned their lives!
[Zoi gathers Mamoru into a hug]
Zoi: It's ok, ok…[once Mamoru has cried himself out Zoi hold him at arms length and gives him a wry halfsmile] Is that what's been tearing you up inside and making you act so crazy? If so, I've got some good news-Beryl lied to you.
[Mamoru looks at him, unblinking through tearfilled eyes]
Zoi: I've heard the other side of the story. From Neffy…There was no truce with the Moon Kingdom. Not really. The Shitennou only pretended there was, to put themselves into a better position to exterminate the people of the Moon Kingdom…They knew Selenity's mother had the Silver Crystal and planned to use it against Metallia. That was the ONLY reason they attacked.
[Mamoru's eyes widen with dawning comprehension]
Zoi: If anything, you screwed them over. [giggles] Your defection to the Moon People really threw a wrench in their plans. They'd wanted to wait a few more days, to draw up a strategy…They thought you'd gone to Selenity to divulge all their plans…Because of you, they had to attack in a completely haphazard fashion, giving the White Queen time-
[He stopped. Why did he want to say 'to destroy the Silver Crystal' when he clearly remembered Neffy insisting the Silver Crystal had been stolen? The more he tried to puzzle it out, the more it hurt his head to think about it]
Mamoru: Then…Selenity didn't die because of me?
Zoi: No! [giggles more] If anything, I'm sure Beryl would have told her that you betrayed her. So you should congratulate yourself for running away. Since Selenity soul's would be tormenting itself for trusting you, the way Minako is tormenting herself for trusting Kunzite!
[Mamoru wraps his arms around him]
Mamoru: Thank you! You don't know how much I needed to know all that!
Zoi: Hey [pats his back in a brotherly manner] It's ok. Anything for my protector.
[A flash of starlight appears and Neffy materializes along with Jeddy and Kunzite. Kunzite stares at Mamoru like a wolf about to go on the attack, and Mamoru levels a similar look at Kunzite.]
Zoi: Kunzite! [rises from the bed with a huge smile and runs into his arms]
[Kunzite's entire demeanor changes as he holds Zoi]
Kunzite: Nephrite told me everything that has happened.
Zoi: Is there a way to fix this?
Kunzite: Of course. But we need to leave. As soon as you are ready.
Zoi: [over his shoulder to Mamoru] Could you go downstairs and look after my dad? I don't want him to be alone if the Death Phantom arrives here.
[Mamoru nods, then rises and retreats down the stairs]
Zoi: Where are we going?
Kunzite: To Washington DC, to talk to Mother.
Zoi: [face falls] Metallia? She won't do anything to help me! She hates me! She's just going to make it worse! She might even torture and kill me herself, just to rob him of the satisfaction!
Kunzite: Zoisite. We don't have any other options.
[The words are chilling to him. He takes a deep breath and composes himself]
Zoi: Okay. Let's go.
[The Four Shitennou teleport away to a Victorian looking parlor decorated with chintz and pictures of Beryl and the Shitennou as they might apart at varying ages.]
[They step forward, but then stop short when they see their mother has company]
[Metallia, looking very much like Mary Worth is sitting at a tea table dining on coffee and apple pie topped with cheddar. In the chair opposite her is the Death Phantom in his robe, also dining on coffee and pie]
Metallia: [stern] Come in, boys. We were just talking about you.