Kira Task-Force Headquarters Tokyo, Japan

L was in his room, deep in thought. He knew Light Yagami was Kira without a doubt, but had no way of convincing the Task Force, especially the chief, Light Yagami's father, of this truth, much less an actual court system. He could think of thousands of different ways to catch Light, but all of them would also result in L's death, something which L would rather avoid unless there truly was no other alternative. L rummaged through a bag of candies on his night-table and popped a candy into his mouth. Feeling depressed, he thought of his observations of both Light's behavior and Kira's announcements. Perhaps he could convince Light that what he was doing was wrong. L frowned. And perhaps Near would get a tan, Matt would develop a love for books, and Mello would voluntarily wear pink. This was a rare instance where his emotions may have gotten the better of him. L always had this naive hope in the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe, Light was redeemable, that he could become L's friend. "But no," L thought, "I will not let my emotions get in my way. I will win." He had to bring this case to a final close. Finally, he could think of no other alternative but to call in an old favor. L popped another candy into his mouth and pressed a small black button on a device on his desk and spoke into the microphone. "Watari, I need you to put me on the line with contact 27-39-G-BWBM." An elderly man's voice came in through the the other end. "Are you sure Ryuzaki? I thought you said you wanted to give this case more time?" Watari noticed an underlying sense of despair in his adopted son's voice that no one else would notice. "Do you want to talk about this first?" L sighed, taking another candy and eating it. "No, it's time to put an end to this once and for all."

Batcave and Wayne Manor Gotham City

Bruce Wayne, or as some knew him, Batman, walked over to the Bat-Computer to check on the new spy-drone he had secretly deployed around Gotham City to track his most dangerous foes. He sat down calmly about to put in the access codes until suddenly the screen turned all white with the exception of a large letter "L" in an antiquated gothic font in the middle. A voice came though the computer. "Greetings, Mr. Wayne. It is I, L. I have hacked into your computer to ask you to return that favor you owe me." The Dark Knight looked frustrated. "Alfred" he asked the elderly butler standing beside him. "I thought we changed the passwords since I last worked with L." Alfred shrugged "We did Master Wayne. L must've figured it out somehow." The voice from the computer responded. "Indeed I did, although simply changing it from the date of your parents' murder to the date of Jason Todd's death wasn't much of a leap." Bruce was shocked. His parents' death was public knowledge but he was unsure how his mysterious colleague found out about Jason Todd in the first place. "Anyways," the voice persisted, "you owe me a favor. You are probably aware I am heading the Kira investigation in Japan, I have found the culprit but am unable to prove his guilt to the other members of the Task Force. He is Light Yagami, son of Japanese NPA chief Soichiro Yagami, and is living on the Task-Force base with his accomplice, the second Kira Misa Amane. I cannot physically try to apprehend them myself because I have reason to believe Amane can learn my true name, which along with my face is required for either of them to kill me. Since you wear a mask and your identity is unknown to most of the world, I'm hoping you can take them out and remove their killing apparatus and we can turn them in to the authorities. I need you to be at this address in Japan tonight." The address of the Task-Force building appeared on the screen. "I've already inputted the address into your Bat-Plane, as well." The screen returned to normal. "Alfred," Bruce said, pulling his cowl over his face and walking over to the Bat-Plane. "Tell Nightwing to cover my nightly patrol over the city." Alfred sighed, knowing Kira was probably more dangerous than whatever psychopath his master would've otherwise faced tonight. Batman then stepped into the cock-pit of the Batplane and flew off.

Kira Task Force HQ

The Bat-Plane flew in in stealth mode. Not even the most sophisticated radar detection system in the world could detect it as it flew towards Light's room in the Kira Task-Force HQ building. Inside, Light Yagami himself was with Misa Amane. "Oh, Light," Misa said "I wish every man in the world could be as wonderful and just like you." Light laughed lightly and said lowly "If you keep cooperating with me soon they will." Light in truth didn't really love Misa at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. He actually found her extremely irritating, but she was completely and utterly loyal to him, and had her own uses. He had only agreed to have dinner with her because he knew L was going to try to send some masked vigilante on him, and he would need her Shinigami Eyes to see the name of the man and have him killed. Light laughed internally. L probably thought this move was clever, but if a mask leaves enough of the face exposed, like how most of the ones so-called "superheroes" wore did, the Shinigami Eyes would still work. He'd conducted multiple tests with Misa in the weeks leading up to this, and he was sure he could dispatch L's ally with ease. He smiled his Kira smile. Suddenly a figure in black crashed through the window, shattering the glass. "Light Yagami and Misa Amane I know you're Kira and the Second-Kira!" The guardian of Gotham growled. "And I'm here to bring you to justice!" "The only justice here is me!" Light exclaimed. "Misa, focus on the exposed part of his face like we practiced! We can easily get this false idol's name and dispose of him before he threatens me, the true God of this world!" Misa concentrated hard and noticed the name and life-span and carefully copied the name "Bruce Wayne" into her Death Note. Light checked his watch and waited for the 40 seconds to pass and the Caped Crusader to drop dead from a heart attack. 40 seconds passed and nothing. Could Misa have copied the name wrong? He looked at her Death Note and saw "Bruce Wayne" written there. He tried frantically coping it into his own Death Note. Before he even got past writing the 'B', Batman grew impatient and dashed towards Light. Light panicked and tried to punch Batman. Batman had to hand it to Light. For a civilian, he didn't have a half-bad punch. Unfortunately for Light, it wasn't good enough. Batman calmly caught Light's arm and twisted it, causing Light to shriek in pain. He followed through with a brutal elbow to the jaw. Light toppled over, unconscious before he hit the floor. Misa gasped. It was over so quickly! Batman pulled a communicator from his belt. "L I have knocked out Yagami and now am apprehending Amane. You may come in now, I have found their methods of killing. It seems to involve a magical notebook that can kill after 40 seconds of writing a person's name." He picked up the Death Note Light dropped. Laughter was heard as soon as he picked it up. Batman looked around until he found the source: a vaguely humanoid figure with wings. Completely unfazed, the Dark Knight simply shrugged. He had seen much stranger things in his cases, especially those involving the Justice League, and the death-god didn't seem harmful. Indeed, Batman deduced he simply didn't care enough to do anything, and therefore wasn't any sort of threat. The door creaked open and L walked in with the members of the task-force behind him pointing their guns. Misa, looking distraught, tried to pick up her Death Note and write L's name in it. She was quick, but Batman was quicker. Moving faster than most people thought possible, he threw a Batarang at her hands, making her drop the book. L took out a tape recorder. "I had the whole room bugged and have the recording of your and Light's attempts of resistance and confession of being Kira and the second-Kira, so there's no faking innocent now. I thank you for your help Batman." L turned toward Light, a smug smirk spread across his face. "And to you, Kira, justice has prevailed. I win."

As the officers went in to handcuff Misa and the slowly awakening Light, Soichiro carefully put the Death Notes in plastic evidence bags. Batman took a step back and thought for a second, seeing the sense of Justice and mistrust of the world in Light's eyes. He reflected that if not for Alfred being there to raise him, he too might've taken become another Kira. Amane too seemed reminded him of one of his most persistent foes, another woman who became enthralled by a psychopath that used her affection to further his own twisted ends. But the foremost question on his mind is how L knew this plan would work and that Batman wouldn't be killed himself. He knew L probably knew about Misa's ability to see through the mask before thinking of the plan, and so he had to ask. "L?" the masked man asked. "Can I speak to you in private for a second?" L looked up and, taking a cookie out of his pocket and taking a bite out of it, said "Sure, of course. It's not every day I get to converse with someone in my IQ range." He stopped and looked at Light. "Well, someone in my IQ range who isn't trying to kill me that is." The two detectives walked into L's apartment. "How did you know sending me was going to work? I'm sure you knew the second-Kira could get around my mask already." L took another bite from his cookie "Well, because I know something about you, Mr. Wayne, something really deep about your very soul. Simply knowing you're Bruce Wayne doesn't show off my detective skills, a particularly clever and determined child can come to that conclusion themselves. I know that while you were born Bruce Wayne, your true name is Batman. I know that's what you truly consider yourself to be, that Bruce Wayne died that day and the creature born from his ashes, the Batman, simply uses him as a mask. I also knew Light would never come to this conclusion and would never think to simply write "Batman" in the Death Note." Batman was taken aback once again, stunned by L's intuitive and deductive abilities. L had barely interacted with him. How could he make such a profound insight about his character and be so confident in it he let the whole case depend on it? "And more importantly," thought Batman as he walked back to the Batplane to return to Gotham, "how was L so right?"

Epilogue-4 months later A cafe in London, England

Alfred Pennyworth was enjoying a rare day off to meet with an old friend. He sipped on his tea and waited for him to arrive. Quillish "Watari" Wammy walked into the cafe and greeted his old friend. "Hello, Alfred. It's been far too long, has it not?" "Indeed it has, Quillish" Alfred replied. They talked of old times and new, but mostly they talked about raising L and Bruce. "Didn't you consider placing Bruce under my care at Wammy's House at one point, Alfred?" Watari asked. "Yes, I strongly considered it and sometimes even now I wonder if he would've turned out healthier if I did, but in the end I couldn't give him up. I think of Bruce as a son, you see." "Don't worry, Alfred. I sometimes wonder if you're have done a better jobs with the children I've raised, especially Beyond and A. You seem to be a good father, and I understand Dick Grayson came out to be a respectable young man." Alfred sighed. "Yes, indeed, he did, but overall I'd say L doesn't carry the same sort of pain Bruce does." "No, Alfred he's simply better at hiding it," replied Watari. "He was never angry and resentful, like Mello or Beyond, or how Bruce or Jason were with always seemed distant and cold, as if he couldn't even admit to himself he had emotions." "Well there's one thing I think we both agree on and that is we both raised great men and if we're lucky our efforts may not be in vain and they may one day be happy ones," said Alfred, raising his cup of tea in a toast. Watari returned the gesture. "That we do agree on, Alfred, that we do. One day, perhaps, our wayward sons will be able to rest..."