A/N: Hey, remember that time when I had like five stories that I said I would update? Yeah, me either. No, but in all seriousness I will get to those. But this story has been on the forefront of my mind for the past week. So… I figured let's give this a shot. I've always been interested in these sorts of takes. So, I guess now it's my turn to give it a whirl and see how it turns out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters used in this story.

Chapter 1

"Mello, if you really want to shoot me then go ahead and do it."

Near's taunt echoed through the bleak, metal room. Everyone was frozen within their respective roles -Gevanni and Rester with their guns to Mello, Lidner on the sidelines unsure what to do, and an age-old battle raging in the air between the two successors.

Nears words pulled at Mello, just as they always had. It brought them both right back to their childhood arguments over the scores of exams which, by comparison to the present, meant nothing. Everything was on the line now. Pride. Revenge. Their very lives were at stake. But somehow even that seemed to take a backseat winning this final battle.

Mello's fingers tightened around the gun in his hand, his eyes narrowed as his memory dashed forward and transported him back to every instance in which Near had held his victory over him, whether consciously or unconsciously. His fingers clenched at the trigger; a voice in the back of his head telling him it would be so easy to just pull it and take Near out of his life forever. If Near was willing to taunt him with his life, then why shouldn't Mello be willing to take the challenge? Killing Near wasn't the victory he wanted, but maybe it could be victory enough. Maybe Near's death would grant him the ability to feel like a human being again.

"Stop!"

All of a sudden, everything became a flash as Halle ran forward, crushed under the pressure of a dynamic for which she had no idea of, in order to stop Mello from shooting her boss. The stagnant air which had previously suffocated the room was suddenly alight with energy and filled with the smell of gunpowder. The sudden outcry and a misfire then suddenly everything leapt into action; almost too fast for Mello to grasp, let alone react to.

With her outcry, somebody had shot.

Mello had no idea who, but that immediately became the least of his concerns. If his years with the mafia had taught him anything, it was that when shots get fired you don't ask questions; you don't even think. If you stop to think, you're dead. It taught him that all you can do at that point is pull the trigger and pray to God you don't get hit.

With a swift intake of air his adrenaline suddenly kicked in and his body moved without his minds permission; his blue eyes making split second gauges of the room before grabbing Halle, the closest person to him, and throwing her to the left, into Rester. The action was just enough to throw the operations leader off his aim. Mello watched as his own gun moved up and the trigger was pulled.

Bang!

Immediately the blood exploded from Lidner's head and she fell, but he didn't have the time to register what he'd just done, or watch how it was handled by Rester.

Another shot was fired, the bullet hitting and indenting itself into the wall behind Mello's head. His heart dropped out of his chest cavity, the feeling of mortality shooting through his veins. His eyes shot over to Gevanni, promptly calculating him to be the next acceptable target.

The blonde sucked in his breath as he turned his gun to Gevanni, his eyes immediately catching sight of the black-haired man pulling the trigger of his own gun.

The breath Mello had just sucked in suddenly caught in his throat. There was no sound. Azure eyes widened, pausing just long enough to register the jam in Gevanni's gun. Mello met his target's eyes, watching the man's once steady stare flood with the same fear Mello had just felt.

'Don't think.' He heard himself say.

Bang!

Another man down. Another threat to his life taken out. His eyes darted back to Rester, who had taken the briefest of seconds to gauge if there was any life left in Lidner. Mello's eyes met his new target's; the older man's blue eyes were filled with determination, unfazed by the course of actions happening before him. Rester was a well-trained second in command. Near definitely knew how to pick them…

The realization suddenly hit him and without giving it a second thought he jumped into action, moving to sprint forward and grab Near in an attempt to use him as bait to get himself out of this situation. However, he hadn't realized that the stress of his situation was beginning to make his body freeze as fear took over the adrenaline's place in his veins. Each millisecond that passed made his mind begin to settle on what exactly he was doing as well as the consequences of his actions.

The swelling thoughts caused him to trip, falling to the cold hard floor with a heavy thud. He found himself next to where Near had camped himself on the floor, but the floor placed him in a terrible position to grab the younger boy in order to execute his plan. Without missing a beat he turned back to Rester, who's gun was already being raised.

"Mello!" He heard his name shouted, and suddenly his entire reality stopped rushing with the adrenaline of the situation. It decelerated down till he could have swore everything was moving instead in slow motion.

His blue eyes looked over, registering the few inches placed between himself and Near. The younger shifted to look at him, grey eyes giving him a look which Mello couldn't readily read, before moving further to turn and look to his second in command.

The actions played out before Mello could control himself. His fight-or-flight senses completely taking over, and right then all he could do was fight for his life. For somewhere he knew that even if Near did try to call off Rester, he knew it probably wouldn't be enough to stop him from shooting Mello, even if simply out of spite for killing the other members of the SPK. Mello watched Near begin to turn in order to end the shoot out. His young, round face coming, for the briefest of seconds, practically in line with Mello's gun.

Bang!

Mello's eyes dilated, watching the world play out in its hindered speed. The gun exploded to life and immediately the bullet was sent off, the slide shooting back and ejecting the empty cartridge. The gun sent out the briefest seconds of fire at the muzzle as the gunpowder was set aflame and all he could do was watch the consequence of his action as the debris and fire burned at Near's face in the cross-fire.

Everything suddenly fell into a deathly silence, a cruel irony as all but the two successors lay dead on the floor. Mello couldn't even comprehend that he'd just killed the remaining three SPK agents as his world began playing in regular speed again. The fact of his murders became a mere sub-thought compared to what was unfolding before him.

His eyes stayed wide and transfixed on Near; the wind caught within his chest. The younger had reached for his face immediately after the impact, covering his eyes with one hand and partially with his snowy bangs. Near's arm suddenly shook, his mouth opened and heavy breaths exhaled from between the parted lips.

Blood began seeping out from between Near's tightly grasped fingers, staining the white locks of his bangs and in that moment Mello grimaced as he heard something he'd never in his life thought he'd ever hear, a sound which he immediately knew he never wanted to hear again.

The blood-curdling scream of pain Near let out, for the first time showing the true power behind the lungs he had in his chest.

A/N: Well… there you go. A very short start, though quite action-packed (for my style, anyway) but a seemingly good cut off place till the next chapter. Anyway, I don't want to bog this note down, so if you would let me know what you think so far, or what you're thinking, or really any comments you have they would be greatly appreciated.

Please review
-Forbiddensoul562