Disclaimer: Death Note? Mine?! Kya ha ha… No… Ho ho ho… Nah, not that either. Hyuk hyuk… wait - that's taken… Henh henh henh… That'll do…

Events played out around him like scenes from a movie. Fade to black - in, out, in, out… It continued, he didn't know how long for. He didn't care. He simply longed for the final iris out - it would be like the old black and white movies at the end. No credits, nothing. Just the end. But it didn't come. Fate had commissioned a sequel. Like Frankenstein's monster, he had survived the inferno and found himself alone. Again. An abandoned experiment. A shameful mistake.

A monster.

There wasn't a part of him that didn't hurt. He had doused himself in flammable liquid and set himself alight - there was bound to be considerable damage - he just hadn't planned on being around long enough to find out exactly how much. Up to 85 percent of his body would be permanently scarred, he had heard someone say. A prison doctor, perhaps? Probably. He hadn't been paying much attention anyway. It sounded about right though. He was likely to look more like Freddie Kreuger than Frankenstein's monster.

Not that it mattered.

His plan had failed. L had beaten him. Again.

He had so wanted to win. To beat L. To make him feel second rate, inadequate. To show L what it felt like to be in someone else's shadow. He had wanted it so badly he was willing to die for it.

He had wanted to die for it. What else was there but failure?

That must have been how A felt. Poor, pathetic A. What did A even stand for, anyway? He had never found out. Maybe 'Alternative' or 'After-image' - something as equally degrading as 'Backup.'

A had never been so bold as to challenge his predecessor, to attempt to best him. He was too scared. Too weak. Poor, pathetic A.

But… A had escaped. B had not. He was still caught up in his own personal horror - and worse, in prison too. A had gained freedom. B had lost. Again. Fate had commissioned a sequel.

A sequel!

Ignoring the searing pain he felt all over his body, Beyond Birthday struggled to prop himself up in bed. A passing nurse faltered as she saw him, and alerted the doctor on duty.

"Steady there, son," the doctor called, rushing over to the bed with all manner of medical equipment. He and the nurse began fussing over B, checking his wounds and dressings.

B carefully arranged his face into the most sincere and grateful smile he could muster. It was agony, but still… it sure was nice for these people to put him up like this.

For now.

Author's note: Since reading Another Note, I have become endeared to B. He's far too fascinating to be ignored, hence this fic. I just hope I get him at least almost right…

I have had this chapter typed up for a while, but I've been far too nervous to post it. Unaccustomed as I am to writing anything with any semblance of a continuous plot or degree of depth, the very notion of trying to put together a multi-chaptered fic is pretty daunting… However, with needling from FFYP-det-Yagami and encouragement from With Bunny (both really good writers and generally nice people), I have finally been persuaded to get off my arse and post the damned thing. So, if you like it - thank them. If you hate it - blame them. XD

Apologies for the brevity of this chapter - the second instalment is unlikely to be much longer but… bear with me. Hopefully this was enough to set the scene, get into B's current mind frame and instil some kind of interest in the plot.

Read it? Enjoyed it? Yes? No? Whatever your opinion, I'd love to know what you think!