In Defence Of Pure Evil

Forster M. Reed has finished his ice cream, except for what's dripped down on Terence.

Terence's ice cream drips slowly over his knees.

Forster M. Reed looks down at Terence, who is looking quite sticky.

Oh my, says Forster M. Reed. Where are my manners? I apologise ma'am, for dripping ice cream on your baby. Allow me to wipe him.

NO! says Em. Don't wipe him! And he's not my baby.

Forster M. Reed peers more closely at Terence.

He looks familiar. Lordy doo! Infant Jesus! The apocalypse! It's begun early!

He drops to his knees, forgetting about the ice cream.

Now he is on a level with Terence.

So what happens next? asks Terence.

That's your call, says Forster M. Reed. Isn't it?

You said the underworld would come open, says Terence.

I guess it has, says Forster M. Reed.

But it's not September, says Oscar (Parrot-Boy).

True, says Forster M. Reed. Perhaps this is merely a warning.

What OF? asks Terence.

The imminence, says Forster M. Reed. Some dark energy has been released. Contain it, or it goes wild. Something emerges from hell and is let loose on mankind! But YOU! Why have you returned as a baby?

He's my blood brother, says Oscar. I'm nearly nine. I would help you, except for one thing.

Forster M. Reed sits back on his haunches.

Em doesn't like it at all. He looks kind of predatory in that position.

But still, she waits to hear what her smart son will say.

You're an IDIOT! says Oscar.

Names won't hurt me! says Forster M. Reed. I know what I know.

I don't get it, says Terence. Am I the goody or the baddy?

Oh LORD! cries Forster M. Reed. You are the good! Ever and always!

So he can't be an idiot, says Terence.

Think about it, says Oscar.

Terence remembers all the bad things he has done.

Well, at least one or two of them.

He wavers.

Forster M. Reed gets his second wind.

Stephen Hawking! he cries. Even Stephen Hawking warns us not to meddle with the God Particle!

Oscar likes Stephen Hawking. He was in a movie. In the movie, he looked like himself in real life.
He was best in the whole wide world at physics. And he talked like a robot. Which was cool.

He wouldn't, says Oscar.

He did! He said the God Particle could destroy the universe leaving time and space collapsed! says Forster M. Reed.

And you believe that nonsense, says Vello.

Ha! Don't mess with Vello when he sticks his oar in.

Forster M. Reed is vanquished ( temporarily). He retreats to the rest rooms with his packet of wipes, to clean up his knees.