[Scene: Mettalia's inferno. The servant Youma have been called into a meeting with their superior, Thetis, so Beryl and Jeddy are attending to Metalia personally.]

[Kunzite appears in a flash of purple]

Metalia: So the silver haired imbecile returns...You're early. It is not yet dawn. I assumed you would have wanted to spend every last minute with your little monkey whore.

Kunzite: [bows low] I couldn't wait to get back to serve you, Mother. Every moment I was away from here seemed like an eternity.

Jeddy: [to Beryl] he's laying on pretty thick, isn't he?

Beryl: well, it is Kunzite...and Mother

Metalia: [to Kunzite] Maybe I don't want you here?

Kunzite: That would sadden me, Mother, but it would not change the fact that your safety is the most important thing to me right now.

Metalia: Yes. Of course. As well it should be. [A go set appears on the table in front of her.] Care for a game, my child? To whittle away the time?

Kunzite: It would be my pleasure. [pulls up a chair]

Metalia: The rest of you, leave and don't come back.

Jeddy: Where to you want us to go?

Metalia: I already told you! Go find those two little brats and annihilate them!

Jeddy: But they've escaped through a portal to another time or dimension.

Metalia: Then build a door to the other dimension and go after them!

[Jeddy looks at Beryl in confusion]

Jeddy: Can we do that?

[Beryl gives him a quick shake of the head]

Beryl: We'll consult with Nephrite and have him set up more trackers.

Metalia: Yes. Go find that drunken gigolo and put him to work.

[They teleport away]

Metalia: Idiots...Pining for your pet monkey yet?

Kunzite: I've instructed Zoisite to find and kill these two Impossible Children. I think it would be an excellent way for him to distinguish himself in our cause.

Metalia: Feh. What can he do that the others can't.

Kunzite: He attends the same school as our adversaries, and they appear to be attracted to him. This might give him an advantage.

Metalia: Feh! You fool! They've tipped already their hand to us! If this two juvenile delinquents have half a brain they will never show themselves at that school again! [shakes her head in disgust] If these are my true children, Hell only knows what manner of atrocities they are up to at this moment.

[Meanwhile: At the Midori residence. Chief Midori is looking for directions on a package of cold cereal. Zoi materialize and takes the box from his father's hand.]

Zoi: Morning dad. [Gets bowls and milk]

Chief Midori: Morning son. You're coming home at an odd hour.

Zoi: [pours cereal and they settle to eat] This is the last night I get to spend with Kunzite for the foreseeable future. [Eats glumly] There are a couple of junior demons out to assassinate Metalia, so she's sealed herself away until they can be found and exterminated. [under his breath] It's funny. She killed the White Queen and the people of the moon to keep them from sealing her away, and a thousand years later she's done it to herself.

Chief Midori: Who are the White Queen and the People of the Moon?

Zoi: It's a long story...[looks up from eating] Dad? Is it ok if I skip school today?

Chief Midori: Because of the late night?

Zoi: No, because Kunzite wants me to see if the demons show up for school, and kill them if they do, and I really don't feel up to it.

[Chief Midori gives him a look]

Zoi: They're posing as students. I'd give you their names, but then you might get reckless go after them yourself, and I really don't want that.

Chief Midori: Welcome to my world.

[They eat in silence]

Chief Midori: Well...as long as you're staying home from school, I was thinking maybe we could drive up to Seattle and pay Mamoru Chibi a visit in the hospital.

[Zoi bursts into a fit of giggles]

Chief Midori: Why is that funny?

Zoi: Dad. I really don't think that would be appropriate.

Chief Midori: Why not? I know he has feelings for you, but he accepts you can never be anything more than friends, so I'm sure he would be happy to see you.

Zoi: [laughing harder] That would just make it more weird.

Chief Midori: Why?

Zoi: Dad. I'm the one who put Mamoru in the hospital.

Chief Midori: ...

Zoi: I don't have any recollection of this, but according to Minako and Kunzite, I threw a spear through Mamoru and nearly killed him.

Chief Midori: They're lying. Mamoru got hurt in an explosion. I was there.

Zoi: And I wasn't. You were at my sixteenth birthday party in Seattle while I was home in bed all day? As Hen Tie's greatest detective, doesn't that strike you as a bit odd?

Chief Midori: Huh...

Zoi: It's these two demons. They are Metalia children from the future. And they messing up the fabric of reality. Even if they weren't evil, they would need to be stopped. But they are evil, and they want to murder Metalia, so Kunzite thinks that if I'm the one who kills them, it would go a long way toward getting her to accept me as a son in law. It's just that...

[Zoi looks down at his cereal]

Chief Midori: It's just that you don't think you could bring yourself to murder someone in cold blood. Not even a demon.

Zoi: No, that's not it at all. [lowers voice] The problem is I secretly hate Metalia and I want her to die.

Chief Midori: Oh?

Zoi: Don't repeat any of this to Kunzite, Dad, but the world would be a better place with her dead! She's an evil goddess! The IMMORTAL embodiment of hatred! And I'm married to her favorite son!

Chief Midori: Yes, I can see how this would be a problem.

Zoi: I've seen how she treats her youma and it upsets me. Kunzite doesn't mind because to him youma aren't people-and even if they were, he wouldn't care. But I like youma, Dad! Youma are fun! And surprisingly sweetnatured given that they are servants of the dark!

Chief Midori: Yes, they are, aren't they?

Zoi: Dad, these two demons are powerful! And evil! And their little time traveling adventures are probably slowly unraveling the universe! But they are also probably the only two creatures who can stop Metalia for good! What if I kill them, and then she decides to do something really bad to YOU? Or Mom? Or Kunzite? And I have to put up with it for the rest of eternity, and wallow in the knowledge that I destroyed the only chance we had to stop her?

[Zoi pushes his bowl away]

Zoi: I don't mind killing them...I just kinda wanna wait...you know...

Chief Midori: Are you asking for my fatherly advice? Or are you just using me as a sounding board?

Zoi: I want advice, Dad.

Chief Midori: Well, I'm your Dad, and you're my little boy, so I think you know what I'm going to say.

[Zoi looks at his dad]

Chief Midori: [clears his throat] As your father, I strictly forbid you from demon hunting. Let the other Shitennou handle this. Go find somewhere safe, and hide there until all this blows over.

Zoi: [smiles and hugs him] Thanks Dad. You're the best!