Chapter 78: Loophole

[scene: The Midori living room. Esmeraude and Saffir Blackmoon are holding their breath since Kunzite has just told Esmeraude he knows how to kill her, but when a bolt of lightning doesn't appear from his hands to smite them, they breathe a sigh of relief.]

Saffir: He's bluffing.

Esmeraude: Of course he's bluffing.

Kunzite: [stares at them intensely] I'm not bluffing.

Saffir: But the covenant-

Kunzite: It appears I've created a loophole.

Esmeraude: You're not allowed to create a loophole!

Kunzite: No, I'm not allowed to look for a loophole. There is nothing to stop me from discovering one without trying.

Saffir: Oh, please. If there is a loophole, why haven't you killed any Blackmoons within the last thousand years?

Kunzite: Because until now, you've never given me a good enough reason.

Esmeraude: [nervous] Then why aren't you killing us right now?

Kunzite: Because you're to take a message back to your king. Tell him I will be arriving at the park at Cat Rock in about three hours, as close as I can get to Blackmoon Cove without being at Blackmoon Cove. You are to return Zoisite to me, relatively unharmed, and I will spare all of your lives.

Esmeraude: [laughs] Nice try, but we're not falling for it.

Kunzite: If it weren't for Zoisite, I would be glad, since I would welcome the opportunity to wipe this infestation of Blackmoons from the Earth once and for all. But for his sake, I'm prepared to be merciful.

[Saffir rolls his eyes and Esmeraude sputters with laughter]

Kunzite: But harm one hair on his head and you will have made the biggest mistake the Blackmoons have ever made in your long and pathetic existence. Hurt him, and the covenant will be broken.

Esmeraude: [winks] Oh I get it. Now you're trying to trick us into thinking that little retard is already a Shitennou. Nice try, but he would have melted like a crayon on a radiator the moment we brought him onto our soil.

Kunzite: I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying if you release him now, I will leave you in peace and forget this loophole ever presented itself.

Esmeraude: Oh, come on! You can't do a damn thing against us and you know it!

Kunzite: My brother took a knife though his hand. That should be all the evidence you need to take this seriously.

Esmeraude: But he didn't fight back! I hurt him, he didn't hurt me. The covenant might be weakening, but it's not weak enough to let you attack us.

Kunzite: The covenant is not weakening. I've torn a hole right through the middle of it.

Esmeraude : That's a lie. Otherwise you'd have killed one of us and sent the other back as a messenger, just to prove you aren't full of shit!

Kunzite: You have three hours to return Zoisite to me unharmed, or you'll all die. I am not a kind man and I'm not a reasonable man. I'll kill your women, I'll kill your children. I'll kill the babies in their mother's arms, and the unborn in their wombs….

[Kunzite narrows his eyes]

Kunzite: Let him go, or in the words of the great Tarantino "I'll execute every motherfucking one of you." Starting with your precious King Demande.

[Esmeraude and Saffir exchange worried glances, but then Esmeraude laughs again]

Esmeraude: You must think we were born yesterday if you expect us to hand him over just because you've made a bunch of idle threats.

Saffir: [smiles a twisted little smile] Three hours is too early. Be there at exactly 1:00 PM, and I'll tell my brother to hand him over to you.

Esmeraude: [stares at Saffir] You can't be serious!

Saffir: Esmeraude, Let me handle this–

Esmeraude: But one o'clock is when we begin Torturepalooza!

Saffir: Esmeraude!

[They stare each other down. Then Esmeraude giggles]

Esmeraude: Oh, I get it. Yeah, Kunzite, honey, come to Cat Rock at 1 P.M. and we'll give you back your boyfriend. [Winks at Kunzite] Unharmed.

Saffir: Cousin! If you don't stop talking I'm going to rip your tongue out!

Esmeraude: [gasps in outrage crosses her arms and huffs] How rude.

Kunzite: 1 PM. The Park at Cat Rock.

Saffir: Come alone, or we cut his throat.

Kunzite: [shakes his head with cruel smile] I can't promise that. At least one of my brothers will want a piece of this as well.

Saffir: Fair enough, but don't bring anyone who isn't a Shitennou.

Kunzite: [points at their guns] And don't you dare bring any of those. They won't do you any good anyway.

[Esmeraude laughs like a madwoman, as she teleports away, along with her gun and tea set. A moment later Saffir teleports away after her.]

[Kunzite looks at the TV which is still frozen with Neffy's image.]

Chief Midori: I assume you intend to try to rescue my son?

Kunzite: [doesn't take his eyes off the TV but a black dome surrounds the two men taking up most of the square footage of the living room] Of course.

Chief Midori: What can I do to help?

[Kunzite points his hand at the TV and the scene changes. Neffy is getting out of a BMW SUV, along with Mrs. Cope from the Hen Tie High Administrative Office.]

Kunzite: If you want to help, you need to stay as far away from Blackmoon Cove as possible.

Chief Midori: Why?

Kunzite: Because if this goes the way I think it will, Blackmoon Cove is about to become a scene of unprecedented slaughter.

Chief Midori: Then you weren't bluffing?

Kunzite: [shakes his head] I'd never gamble with anything as precious to me as your son's life.

Chief MidorI: What if they bring their guns?

Kunzite: They will bring guns. Lots of them. I'm counting on it. That's why I was careful to mention them.

Chief Midori: [weak with relief] Reverse psychology. So it's all part of the plan?

Kunzite: *nods solemnly*

Chief Midori: So it wasn't a lie after all? You really can kill all the Blackmoons?

Kunzite: [doesn't even smile] Not yet. As long as they have those damned moon marks on their foreheads I can't do a damn thing to them, but those marks should vanish within seconds if they make any attempt to hurt your son.

Chief Midori: But they've already hurt him. Remember? They said they injured his thumb getting that ring away from him.

[Looks down at the ring in his hand and gives it to Chief Midori]

Kunzite: Hold onto this for me. Guard it with your life. I need to leave.

Chief Midori: Where are you going?

[Kunzite watches Neffy and Mrs. Cope walking through the parking lot exchanging silly looks like a pair of lovers.]

Kunzite: I don't have time to explain. My brother doesn't know it yet, but his life is in danger. If I don't get to him in time, Nephrite will die, the loophole will close, and all of this will have been for nothing.

Chief Midori: Does this have anything to do with–

Kunzite: I told you. I don't have time to explain.

[The black dome vanished and Kunzite turns to leave, then pauses to give Chief Midori one last look]

Kunzite: I'm going to save Zoisite and when I do, he's mine, not yours. I gave you a chance,and you handed him over to his enemies. From now on I do what I want with him, whenever I want to, and you aren't to say a word about it.

[Kunzite takes one last look at the TV before vanishing in a flash of purple. The screen shows Nephrite walking into the Osa-P jewelry store with Mrs. Cope, right before the screen goes black.]