1139/Normal Saturday Night For Zoisite LeBeouf

Normal Saturday Night For Zoisite LeBeouf
Date of Scene:	19 February 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Izou Saitou regails his Prince and the Professor with tales of Heroes, a Vampire, and the Mantican't. Guest starring the Bakeneko*. (* The Bakeneko did not appear in this scene) Nephrite pitches a crazy plan also. So crazy it just might work!?
Cast of Characters:	Zoisite, Mamoru Chiba, Nephrite

---

Zoisite has posed:
    Knock knock. There's a twink at the door. Who could it be? It's Izou Saitou! "Open up. I've got catnip so if you don't then your sister's cat will." He called Masato over too, without asking if inviting him to Mamoru's room was okay or not, because why would he, he's Zoisite.

    He does not, for the record, have catnip. He does have a bag of bagels though and a thermos of hot chocolate because eff coffee who would choose coffee if they can literally DRINK CHOCOLATE that's like those weirdos who pick up Loser milk at the store instead of chocolate milk.

    What is up with that!?

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Ohhhh my goddddd," groans Mamoru from inside the room, and there's first bed creaking, and then there's shuffling sounds, and then there's the door opening and Mamoru in rumpled pajamas with bedhead and no glasses and a squint in the light of the hall. The room is dark. Koji's bed is made. Mamoru's is not.

"Why would you threaten that. Are you still up. Come in." There are no actual questions, just statements that seem like they should be questions. They're rhetorical statements, even. He opens the door wider and shuffles in, then keeps his eyes squinted as he opens the curtains to the dimmer light outside. "Don't you dare turn on the overhead," he adds, turning on his desk lamp.

He pulls his blankets into something resembling at least the bare minimum of obviously-slept-in made and drops himself onto the edge of his bed.

Nephrite has posed:
    Masato Sanjouin is looming in the doorway behind Izou suddenly. Squinting in the murk of early morning, the rather beleaguered-looking young man decides the correct way to announce his presence is to reach right over Izou's head, and flick on the overhead lights. Thankfully, he hears Mamoru's warning in time, halts the motion, and pulls his hand back. "I trust there is a good reason for this meeting." he grumbles in his raspy voice.

    He is no more happy to be up right now than Mamoru.

Zoisite has posed:
    "Probably!" Izou responds after tilting his head back to look up at Masato, then proceeding forwards into the dorm room so the hallway lights don't cause Prince Endymion to shrivel up and disappear, the poor dear. He puts down the thermos, bagel bag, and distributes them as desired. "So, get this, I met La Crima just now, and she was messing with some sort of Dark Energy animal construct of fairly high complexity. Also there were four girls there too, but they're not important. What's important is that I may have found out who was behind the break-in at Neph--Masato's house, you know when the Em-Tee-Pee data was stolen and his mansion got rekt, and that is probably Norie, the same one who stabbed Neph--Masa--No, he was Nephrite at the time, stabbed Nephrite in the back! Actually had the nerve to call me a 'traitor'! Yeah, the backstabber who is making Dark Energy monsters steal energy from civilians and then getting pissy when the local Girl Power squad Aces the damned thing, is such an authority on loyalty. Yes that was a run-on sentence; eff no, I'm not rephrasing it."

    Then he sits himself down in Mamoru's desk chair, butterfly-style, hands on his ankles, looking almost childishly excited. Waiting for the reaction as he looks back and forth between the Prince and the Professor.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru takes some hot chocolate thinking it's coffee and looks like he isn't sure if he's pleased or disappointed, and a bagel with cream cheese, and he's slowly chewing as way too much energy Izou practically bounces with information.

He puts his glasses on somewhere in the middle, after rubbing his eyes again.

It takes him a moment to rephrase the entire paragraph of words in a way that he can process all the individual parts of it, and while he's doing that, he holds a finger up and chews bagel, buying time.

Then the Prince swallows his mouthful and says, "I mean we can probably just ask who did it at this point, since the information ended up in Inai-sensei's hands. She told me she didn't know who broke in at the time... but it's more fun to blame the person we've actually got beef with already."

That sounds like a decision made before coffee. He drinks some hot chocolate, then straightens up a little and looks over to Neph. "You can take Koji's chair," he suggests, "and you can turn the light on now if you want? My eyes have adjusted and I won't scream." Then Mamoru looks down into his hot chocolate. "They're probably going to keep calling us traitors until we do something about Beryl and the demon. I mean... Norie really is kind of nuts, isn't she? She works for Beryl now, but she certainly didn't at the time. What kind of animal was it?"

He doesn't address the rest. Zoi is so enthusiastic and that's a good thing. Or at least a cute thing.

Nephrite has posed:
    Masato's eyes have adjusted to the demi-darkness now. "I shall have to decline the offer to turn the lights on. I have also acclimated to the current light level." He closes the door behind him once has entered, and just leans against the door instead of sitting. There was a time when he could have made his own chair, but now he must make-do with what's available to him. Sigh. A life without instant chairs will be tough indeed.

    He listens to Zoisite's rapidfire explanation, and Endymion's response, and then waits. And waits. "...Is that all?" he finally asks, incredulously. This is hardly 'get up very early' news. This could have waited!

    Nephrite slowly turns his head to look at Mamoru, with an expression that says, 'Why is this human paramecium even in our lives?'

    "A youma at the Thousand Waves spa made the same accusation, before I ended its temporary life. It wasn't the intelligent type, like Thetis, so my explanation didn't have any affect." He sighs closes his eyes as he rubs the bridge of his nose back and forth between thumb and forefinger. "Speaking of Beryl and Metallia, I wanted to run something by you, and ask for permission."

Zoisite has posed:
    "Well, yes, but it has been a mystery all this time, and now I've found the trail! Do you think Inai was working with an Obsidian agent the whole time though? Would she have lied about that? I crave answers! Our readers crave answers!" He whips out a hand-drawn 'manga' from a back pocket. It's somewhat crunched from being folded a few times to fit, but he offers it to anyone who might want to take a look.

    The Adventures of the Earth Prince - Book One: Lost Boys. It's a very stylized, embellished, and name-changed version of the history of the Shitennou and their headliner Prince up until now, with various story elements adjusted to not be spilling secrets or even alluding to them.

    He turns to Masato when spoken to. "Yup! That's all!" Izou chirps, still smiling. When the gloomy bastard seems unimpressed, Izou's smile quickly becomes a scowl. It's amazing how swiftly his mood swings, and how much it openly shows on his face and in his body language. One leg goes down on the floor, the other leg crossed over the first, and his arms folded, as he indignantly says, "Well, you wanted to know, and with the Goofy Ghast off the suspect list, who else could it be?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It was absolutely could-have-waited news, but Zoisite knows his Prince -- chocolate and a food offering buy a lot of forgiveness, though the addition of coffee would buy even more. He solemnly holds his bribery up in answer to Nephrite's unspoken question, then takes another sip of hot chocolate. "I don't think even Thetis would buy any explanations we have," he says. "But, a thing that needs permission? Why am I worried all of a sudden?"

Then Mamoru stares at Zoisite for a moment, and puts his cocoa and bagel down on his desk, and actually looks hesitant. "I mean... I was Obsidian in name only for a long time, you know. I was desperately afraid for all of you, because you had *that thing* in your heads."

He takes the manga and holds it in his hands, but keeps talking for a moment. "I was afraid for me, because I thought she might get me too. She never did. I was forgetting things on purpose just in case she could get in, and for like six months I was giving those memories to Pyrite to store for me so I wouldn't lose things forever. *I* was leaking information to the girls. *I* was passively sabotaging the MTP. I'm really hoping this isn't actually a surprise..."

Endymion takes a long breath. "I was working with a bunch of heroes to get you all out with me. I didn't want to leave you there alone, not when you followed me in. But at the same time, I couldn't allow something that would threaten the destruction of my planet."

A beat. "I definitely didn't break in or bust up Neph's house, though, and Lacrima's a good suspect, except for the fact that she was working for Riventon, who was at the meeting anyway. I think he would have told me. Also, I broke Kyouka's arm over the whole thing and I still feel shitty about that, so I really think if you want to know we should ask her."

Then he looks down at the manga and starts flipping through. "You drew this? This is *awesome*!!"

Nephrite has posed:
    Nephrite just shakes his head and sighs. "I am more accepting of you disrupting it than someone who was allegedly on our side but lying about it. And you storing your memories elsewhere actually gave me an idea. When I had my journal sent to you, right after the psychic feedback we all got from you and Pyrite doing... Whatever it was you did at the Soryuu Shrine, I used my magic to seal my own memories. So that I wouldn't remember the help I was giving or the information I had leaked. I was a traitor to my own plan. If I were angry at you, I would have to be angry at me too." He tilts his head. "Which I am, but for different reasons."

    Pushing off the door with his back muscles, Masato walks deeper into the room, and nabs Koji's chair after all. Once he is settled, he gives Izou a Look, and says, "Thank you for pursuing this matter. I appreciate that you care so much about resolving this mystery that you would wake us both up to be certain we found out as soon as possible. I am just not really..." He rubs his eyes for a little bit before blinking repeatedly and then finishing, "...Sure what to do with this. Midnight Tokyo failed. I will admit my pride is still hurt that something I spent so much time and energy devising went so poorly in the end, and that there were unexpected people I had trusted who were part of that, but... It's for the best. If anything, I would actually suggest asking Norie about help in dismantling the structure of Midnight Tokyo, since the frame and bare necessities for it to be operational are completed. It could technically be turned on at any point if they just find a power supply. And they had someone who knew how to do so or could figure it out. And actually wanted to." He shrugs.

    "I am going to be looking for a way to undo the seal on my memories. The parts that were blocked off from my time post-meeting you and being recruited are all back. But my life as a human? My identity as Masato Sanjouin? If I have any family out there, or anything like that? All of that is still locked. And I can't use my magic anymore, so I can't undo it on my own."

    Then he realizes he has gone off on a tangent, and gets back on track. "Right. The thing I wanted to ask permission about... Also, you should apologize for breaking Inai's arm if you haven't already. But the thing I wanted to ask about!" He is still so groggy. "I would like..." He pauses dramatically. "...To call Beryl, to attempt to recruit her to our side."

Zoisite has posed:
    Deciding to just mutter unintelligibly at Masato's lack of enthusiasm, Izou shrugs off the explanation of how useless the knowledge is now, and that they can just ask Kyouka. Right, because she's so trustworthy. Kyouka 'So Trustworthy' Inai. Right. RIGHT.

    "Yes, I'm always being told how good I am with my hands," he can dance a knife along his knuckles, among other things, after all, "So I decided to apply myself. It took some practice, but not nearly as much as I thought I'd need. Perhaps I was an artiste in a past life." He grins.

    Then he hears Masato explain about his memories, and how Midnight Tokyo is technically still viable and someone on the inside who could start dismantling or sabotaging it might be a good idea, and then 'jgkdaljkfdlasjdl'. jgkdaljkfdlasjdl indeed. It's the type of jgkdaljkfdlasjdl one feels in one's soul.

    "jgkdaljkfdlasjdl???" he says to Masato questioningly, in the tongue of the Ancients, as they offer up prayers to the Great Old Ones as they lie dead and dreaming deep beneath the sea.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru grins at Izou, and he leans to bump the other boy's knee. Affection.

"I apologized when I did it," Mamoru interjects, and then... then the explanation of how Masato feels about the failed Midnight Tokyo Project and asking Lacrima for help dismantling it because she's so trustworthy-- but that doesn't begin to hold a candle to the surprise on the prince's face when Masato asks to try and recruit Beryl.

He glances at Zoisite, who has managed to keysmash out loud, and he looks back at Nephrite incredulously.

"Absolutely not," he says, shocked. "Leaving aside how she thinks torture is a great idea, leaving aside what an incredible creeper she is..."

He holds up his hands and then drops them, unsure of how to physically communicate the vast levels of 'are you JOKING' he is currently possessed of. He takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. "...she voluntarily sold her soul to that fucking demon for the power to rule my planet and get in my pants, then burned our cities for the energy to transport mind-controlled troops to the moon to slaughter everyone there in an attempt to get the Silver Crystal to feed to that demon. She killed our people. She killed Serenity's people. She killed my family."

He looks up again and stares at Masato. "She killed me, Neph. And then when everyone was given a second chance, reborn? She's trying to do it again. I don't understand. I don't understand how you think she could ever be trusted, how you think this would go. She killed me."

Nephrite has posed:
    Masato allows Izou and Mamoru to have their reactions and responses. He expected pushback, of course, and a need to explain himself. In the end, his response is simple. "I know. I helped her." he says in a sad tone. "She has done an enormous amount of evil, and needs to be punished appropriately for that. But I have been given more chances than she has, and only recently was I able to choose correctly. I at least want to give her the option. I am not saying she should be forgiven, because what she has done can't be forgiven. But if she was no longer connected to Metallia... No longer serving that demon... If she could be set to right and allowed to work until the day she dies, and maybe even beyond that, to in some small way undo some of the damage she has done... As much as I may hate her, I want to believe in second chances."

    Then he takes in a breath and lets it out slowly. "And I have an offer that might be appealing to her, even if she is never 'one of us'. At least making her 'not serving Metallia' and 'not actively trying to take over the world' would be better than the current situation. Shouldn't I try? If we can spare more lives, even if the method is distasteful beyond words..." He points at Izou while still looking at Mamoru. "...Shouldn't a hand be extended? Not in forgiveness, or acceptance, but in avoiding another war that kills everyone and everything?"

Zoisite has posed:
    Izou doesn't have anything to say to that immediately. For once, he is speechless. The reminder that he was also complicit, and got offered multiple shots at redemptions, and even now can't make up for all the lives he took, how he aided and abetted the downfall of Silver Millennium, the Golden Kingdom, and the death of his Prince. He watched it happen twice. ALMOST happen twice.

    He loathes Beryl. Would never willingly accept her as an ally, no matter how he might treat her to keep the peace. But he's actually thinking about this now. The best punishment of all, would be in making her empathize, restoring her compassion and humanity, making her aware of how much evil and hurt she has inflicted on the world and so many others, and the fact that she can never make up for it... That guilt, that pain, that knowing that there was a world in which she could have been one of them, if she had accepted Endymion's decision, and not been seduced by a demon's whispers... Whispers that Zoisite knows intimately.

    But he doesn't pitch in. This isn't him asking for permission, it's Nephrite. And how their Prince decides is going to have to be it.

    But the vindictive side of Zoisite wants that vengeance. To let her know what it feels like to be out in the cold after experiencing the warmth by the fire. To know she can never ever have it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No, Nephrite," says Prince Endymion, and he's still incredulous, but he's also-- there's sympathy creeping in, because he feels like he can understand how Neph might have come to this idea. Projection. Guilt. He understands projection and guilt.

All the same, he shakes his head. "I'd like to know what you think it's safe or acceptable to offer her. But-- I cannot stress to you enough how much I do not want to risk even being forced to bend my knee to her again, nevermind dying again because she can't have her trophy prince after all. What you seem to be suggesting smacks of appeasement, and I can't imagine her accepting anything less than to rule *my* planet, with the potential side benefit of me as her obedient arm candy."

He takes a breath. "Also, if I'm not explaining why I'm saying no well enough, Kunzite might be able to explain it better."

Nephrite has posed:
    There's tension as Zoisite is silent, and Nephrite waits for his Prince's answer. The answer comes and... It's one of the possibilities that he was prepared for. He closes his eyes and nods. "Of course. Then no contact will be made. You don't need to explain anything that you don't want to." He raises his head and opens his clear blue eyes and says, "My plan, was to make her Metallia's jailor instead of her servant. To set her to guarding Metallia's cage, as the only person in the entire city of Midnight Tokyo, alone there, forever. And I was going to make her want to do it, by making her realize that she can never be forgiven, she can never atone for what she has done, and to hurt because of it, by restoring her humanity and empathy. She would just be there, in the Dusk Zone. No one else to speak to. No one to touch. Just keeping that demon bound for all time."

    He shakes his head. "It's the only punishment and atonement I could think of big enough for her crimes. Death would be a blessing. And I want to deny her even that. An immortal queen of an empty city, with no subjects, just the monster she allowed to shape her, and the cage that keeps said monster contained so that no one else can ever be used."

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite still has nothing to say. He is looking down at the floor as he bounces one leg on the other. He looks thoughtful, and pensive, and he does not argue with Endymion about the decision, or offer support for Nephrite. No is no.

    Even if he would relish in inflicting the kind of pain that Nephrite has described. The pain of knowing what it feels like to belong, and be accepted, and then to be removed and made to realize acceptance is an impossibility, that she will never belong, and that the best she can hope for is infinity in isolation.

    He closes his eyes.

    Would he relish it though?

    His cruel streak has softened or might... Be entirely gone. He doesn't feel joy from the thought. But he wants it all the same. Maybe it's about wanting justice. Unlike Nephrite, though, Zoisite is willing to settle for death. If they want to punish her for eternity, maybe they can stick her soul in a rock and carry it around with them, or something. Force her to obey them by giving over information, weaving magic, getting a mana body destroyed in their place, whatever. Some way to make the punishment *last*.

    It would have given him joy considering all the ways he could torment that awful, evil woman just a couple months ago. Maybe he is growing after all, if he is no longer the sadist that the Dark Energy had twisted him into.

    "No explanation needed," he confirms. "We trust you with our everything, highness. We trust the decisions you make are the right ones." Then he smiles slightly. "We trained you, so we should know first hand what kind of man you are."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Endymion puts his glasses down next to his cooling cocoa and rubs his face, slouching. He drops his arms to his lap and stares at the floor for a second. Then he looks back up and sighs. "Thank you. I do want you to understand the why of my decision-- I don't want to seem arbitrary, even though you trust me. I have the luxury of being able to explain my reasoning, now, and a lack of communication is one of the things that damned us all in the beginning."

He sits up again, hands at his sides on the edge of the bed. "Punishing Beryl with worse than death is tempting, but it wouldn't be. Should she agree, who do you think broke Queen Serenity's seal on Metalia in this era? It didn't just wear off. Letting the thing get enough energy to break loose enough even to get to the dusk zone is too dangerous. Putting the thing's liberator in charge of jailing it is..." He shakes his head.

"Fortunately, Sailor Moon is strong enough -- especially if she has everyone's help -- to use the Ginzuishou to destroy the demon instead of just sealing it. This beautiful planet won't be safe until they're dead, and if there's a chance to just kill Beryl outright, it needs to be taken with no hesitation. She has wasted the chance you're talking about. She got me first, and it was so easy to get you when your forgiveness was doing the asking." He nods to Zoisite. "And when, no matter what, it was better with me than without."

Finally, he sounds-- smaller. Maybe just Mamoru. "Thank you for your confidence. I don't want to lose you again, even to frustration."

Nephrite has posed:
    Nephrite smiles his lop-sided smile. A sardonic smirk under other circumstances, but right now, just a smile that doesn't quite sit straight on his face. "I had to ask though, didn't I? Because I'm me now. And... That is the sort of thing I would do." Then he stands up, and walks over to the bed, where Masato claps Mamoru on the shoulder, and says, "Thank you for hearing me out." A pause. "I still want to find a way to break the seal on my memories though. That is a separate matter entirely. As well as from..." He turns to look at Izou, and gestures up and down vaguely. "...That."

Zoisite has posed:
    Izou's own smile is wiped away. "How rude! Don't call me 'that'! Again, I was doing you a favor by investigating!" Petty bickering and back-and-forth sniping imminent. It must be so great for Endymion to have them back.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Your memories, we can figure out a way to work on," Mamoru says, exhaling in relief. It's still too early for all this, but-- but that actual that, it's out of the way, it's not happening even a little bit, and even if he's definitely Awake now, he can at least relax. Maybe hot chocolate instead of coffee was a good idea after all. That was enough adrenaline to shock <s>a unicorn</s> an elephant. "I mean, I'm supposed to be psychic, right? We can try stuff."

Then he grins at Zoisite, and reaches for his cocoa and bagel again, scooting back to lean against the wall and watch the bickering.

It is so great for Endymion to have them back.