Yellow Taxi

Chapter 1: Death?

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.

A.N.: This is 'Malice' with a twist. Malice is episode 35 I think, so if you haven't seen that episode then you should stop. There will probably spoilers for the whole show, actually.

-Matt's POV-

I could be playing that new game…. I'm not though. Instead, I'm in a sweet cherry colored ride, lighting a cigarette and thinking over my part in this kidnapping. Well, Takada isn't exactly a kid, but anyway…. I turn into a parking lot where people are gathering around to take pictures of Kiyomi Takada. They aren't going to be doing that for much longer.

I make a quick, half U-turn, then raise my left arm, gun in hand, and shoot in the general direction of the crowd. Grayish smoke fills the area and I hear a couple of people shout before completing the U-turn and speeding out and onto the road.

Well, the easiest part is over, but now I still have to get far away before her bodyguards get a chance to follow me. I drive quickly, dodging other traffic and people who are on the road. So far I'm doing well on not killing anyone, but I know Mello wouldn't care if I did. I don't want to if I don't have to though. I do have a conscience.

As I quickly avert my eyes from the road for a moment to check my surroundings via the mirrors I notice that there are a lot of black, shiny cars behind me…driving mighty fast, too. Hmm, either these street racers are serious about their sport or, more likely, those are Takada's bodyguards.

I take a sharp right turn, hoping to throw them off as I race through this road and turn onto an avenue. The sky overhead is darker, I notice as I continue on this avenue. I take another sharp turn off the avenue and onto a street, hoping to lose them. Gosh, they are persistent. I take a right, and then another right, making it back to the avenue, where I then take a left.

I mentally smile as I see an intersection ahead of me, perfect for losing people, but dangerous. I drive straight, and then I make a sharp turn to the right, nearly skidding into a yellow taxi. Damn, that was close. My car continues riding sideways before straightening out again.

I get this feeling that something is wrong, but I can't decide what. My eyes widen involuntarily when I spot a handful of black cars up ahead. I knew what it is that had been bothering me now. They'd ambushed me. Damn!

I slam on the breaks, and the car spins a couple of time before stopping just in the spotlight of some of their headlights. The cars that had been following me stop too, making it a complete circle of black cars.

Those guys have been waiting for me…. How many guards does Takada have? I start thinking up a plan while resting my crossed arms on the steering wheel of my red ride, estimating how many of them there are and taking things into consideration. My chances of getting out of here are about sixteen percent.

They'd probably want to question me so they can figure out where my partner might be taking Takada. So I could just give up, let them take me in…it might be my only escape. I might be able to threaten to kill one of the bodyguards to get the others to back off. That would probably work…. It would be the only way.

I keep my voice light and friendly as I step out my car, "Hey! Hey! Since when were the Japanese allowed to have such big guns? And besides, you want to know where my accomplice has taken Takada, right?" I raise my black gloved hands in surrender before continuing,

"You can't possibly fire at…" I begin while slowly moving my hands so they'd rest on my head, but I don't get that far. Suddenly they all fire at me, some are missing, and some are nailing me on the spot, but it doesn't hurt, I only stumble in shock since I expect pain. I look like a bloody mess, but…I'm not getting hurt?

I notice that they are shooting my car too, and they are putting holes in that, so I must just be in so much pain that I'm numb. I then realize the ones shooting the car aren't shooting at me, so real bullets for the car. And the ones shooting at me aren't shooting at the car, so fake bullets only. Could this be the case? Are they faking my death?

I let myself fall back, if they'll let me live then I won't complain. My head bumps into the car behind me, but if I live then it'll be well worth hitting my head. I let my eyes close behind my goggles, and I hear one of them say, "What an idiot. It's not like you were going to tell us anything, anyway. And going against Kira is a crime punishable only by death."

Well, I'm officially dead, as far as anyone else as concerned, so I let my mouth open enough for the cigarette to drop. I heard once that being dead is probably peaceful, but this is nerve-racking. And what is the bloody looking stuff, anyway? To make matters worse, my nose is itchy because of some of my brown strands of hairs touching my face.

Would it be odd if a dead person reached up to scratch their nose?