Dark shadows squeezed in the corners of the gray room, a single hanging lightbulb the only source of light the inhabitant of the prison had. The room quite spacious, but the only furniture that existed in the room was a single army cot that was set up against the sleek wall on the opposite side of the locked door, right up against where the chains were attached to it's surface. A dark haired man with pasty skin had his wrists currently attached to these chains, the length going out only a few feet from his bed.
The reason why he was chained to the wall? He attempted to attack his captor the last time his "host" visited him. It took approximately four guards to hold him down.
That was yesterday(he believed), but the prisoner didn't bother to try to get any sleep. He had always had issues with sleeping, but even if insomnia wasn't the problem he doubted that the uncomfortable mattress would allow him to get any shut-eye. So he sat crouched on the bed looking up at the camera tiredly, knowing full well that his kidnapper was watching.
Despite his resistance, he was weak with the lack of sugar in his system, not to mention the grief. The lack of sugar was his punishment for "being so unkind towards his protector's hospitality", and he was already feeling the effects from sugar loss. His grief was caused by the death-no-murder of his protector, his guardian, his foster father.
Watari.
He still remembered that day all too clearly, the day were his justice fell to the ground. Everything appeared in order, the taskforce was hard at work and L was in his room enjoying a meal while Watari stood by his side. The only people not present were Matsuda Touta, Misa Amane, and Light Yagami.
Light Yagami. He despised him with every fiber of his being.
L sat up, languishing in the huge room. He still recalled how normal it was that day, with nothing out of place and nothing to give him any warnings that something bad was about to happen. Then he heard the shouting. Despite being stories high from where the ground was, he heard the yells of people slamming against the doors, demanding to get in. Yet he felt no reason to panic...until he heard an explosion from the roof. Watari wasted no time in scooping up L and running for the Panic Room, but of course not before they deleted all the data they had. The detective was his only concern and responsibility after all, so the others would have to fend for themselves. Still, once L heard shouts of "Kira", it was only then he dialed Matsuda's phone number and ordered him to take the remaining Yagami family members to safety, excluding the father and Light Yagami. There was a possibility that Matsuda would be killed for this, and it might not help much since Kira has all their names and faces. Still...it was doubtful he would eliminate the two Yagami women. He was more closer to them than his father, and L was willing to bet that he wouldn't kill them too quickly because of this. As for Matsuda, he had shown signs that he partially agreed with Kira on some level, and there was no doubt in L's mind that Light caught onto that as well. Kira wouldn't want to murder a possible recruit, especially one that had been involved in an anti-Kira taskforce.
Oh god...he still remembered that horrifying hour way too clearly.
He heard the bombs going off against the Panic Room doors, and the warmth of Watari's arms wrapped around him as if he were a child. The elderly butler's gun was loaded and ready, though the detective doubted it would do much against a mob. He had miscalculated on how many people were willing to act in the name of Kira. During that time, he was a frightened child who knew that there was no chance of escape. His phone rang several times and all were from Light Yagami, but L refused to answer. After several minutes of chaos, a beep was heard from his phone. With shaking hands the insomniac dared to glance at his latest message, one from which was from none other than the person leading the attack.
"It's over, L. Come out and surrender."
"Rest assured L, they will not lay a hand on you." he lied, running his fingers through L's hair like he always did to comfort him. Usually when they were working on a case, his caretaker restrained himself from showing affection towards his charge to prevent the possibility of one being held hostage in exchange for the other. Being so open right now...the detective knew the end was coming. L leaned into the embrace and close his eyes in contentment from Watari's soothing fingers. The calmness the elder man showed could have easily fooled anyone else into believing that everything was going to be alright, but not L. This was his last stand, his deathbed. There was only a 1 percent possibility of someone from the outside stopping the attack...but that was next to impossible.
Though…at the least he would die with Watari. The investigator glanced up at his protector's wrinkled face, forcing out a small smile before returning his attention to the door. For most of his life, Watari had always been by his side and responding to his every whim and need. He was his closest companion, somewhat of a father towards him. The detective often pondered on the possibility that Watari would die trying to protect him, and the hypothetical question on what he would do if that would come to pass. Rationally, he knew he would be able to replace him. Yet his chest tightened at the thought of replacing the elderly man.
In the end, he never came to a conclusion on what he would do. It simply wasn't possible for Watari to be faced with that kind of danger. L was always careful, and his butler was a trained fighter. Watari simply wasn't a person that could be taken away from him.
Or so he thought.
The detective felt his ward's body stiffen and felt large hands roughly shove him away. He spun around and his dark eyes widened in terror and shock as the old man clutched at his chest wheezing. The clocks of time appeared to slow down as the detective watched him collapse to the floor, writhing in agony for a few moments before his body stilled. His guardian faced him with darkle eyes with his mouth still open as if he was still struggling to breathe, struggling to stay alive...
L's heart pounded in his chest as he engaged in a staring contest with the corpse, praying for some kind of miracle even though all the percentages in his head repeatedly screamed the number zero. A 0 percent chance that Watari was still alive. A 0 percent chance that he would escape. If not for the endless supply of explosions that rang outside the room, the detective would have heard his shallow, rapid breath.
He closed his eyes, willing the tears not to appear. Now was not the time for mourning, then again, what should he do?
The bells have have rung, the clock is ticking.
One minute. Then two. L was still alive and the yells and explosions still went off outside the Panic Room. He knelt in stunned silence as his brain attempted to wrap his brain around what was happening. He wasn't dead yet...Kira should have killed him by now unless…
Information. Of course Kira would think like that. For what, L conducted several possibilities in his mind, none that he liked. It could be possible that Kira would torture all sorts of information out of him, such as the whereabouts of certain criminals and if anyone else were to join the hunt for the serial killer. The detective sighed, closing his eyes as he made his decision.
It's time.
As L reached for the gun, the doors exploded knocking him backwards and onto the floor, yet he managed to grab the weapon in the process. Dozens of people rushed into the white room, though he was unable to recognize anyone due to all of them wearing red masks. A few noticed the weapon in the detective's hands and dived towards him, knocking the firearm out of his hand and pinning him to the ground. If it were just one, L could've easily knocked them off. With several however, such an action would be impossible.
Still, it didn't mean he could make it easy for them.
"Fuck!" one voice swore after being kicked sharply in the nose.
Another one of the criminals grabbed his head and roughly slammed it against the floor, knocking the wind out of the detective. He groaned as two of them pulled him up to his feet by his arms and led him out of the room. His head swayed as they dragged him down the halls and down the stairs, though he could barely make out anything with his blurred vision and splitting headache. He caught a few insults that were directed at him from the other intruders lining the hallways, none which were amusing in the slightest. The next thing he knew he forced on his knees to be presented to the one who betrayed him, who lied to him, who killed Watari. Not that he didn't realize sooner that he would do all this, but it still stung like a bad wound.
Light Yagami smiled coldly down upon him as L blinked the spots out of his eyes and turned his head to look at his surroundings. They were in the main room, the red glow of the computers the only thing brightening the room. Kira supporters blocked the exits to prevent any attempts at escaping. Not that there was any chance of that.
The detective thought he saw a strange bundle near one of the chairs. He squinted his eyes to see better, before his eyes widened with what he saw. They were surrounded by the dead bodies of the taskforce. Aizawa, Mogi...even Light's own father was dead. He couldn't believe this was happening, that things would've gotten this bad so fast.
"Why?"
The killer acted confused, the fabrication purposely horrible to mock the once great detective. "Why are you doing this, why did you betray us…?"
"Why did you murder the task force?!" L snapped. He knew the answer of course, but he wanted to pull it from Kira's own mouth.
Light yawned and leaned on one of the chairs, smirking. "Well, you were taking so long to get here, that I decided to ask them if they would join my side. It's unfortunate that you were too stubborn to get out of that little room. Perhaps you might have changed their minds and saved some lives, huh?"
Red hot anger burst suddenly from him as he lunged toward the mass-murderer. He was an inch away from him when the followers got over their surprise at his sudden energy and pulled the detective back. Light smiled at L's attempt to strangle him; this was to be expected of course.
"Oh, don't worry. Those fools had a chance to say their last words. It's been a good day, and I've been feeling awfully...nice lately."
The psychopath's smile quickly formed into a wide grin as he stared down at his captive. "Would you like to know what they said, L?"
L said nothing, so Light leaned forward with a sadistic sneer on his face.
"They cursed you! They called you a coward! They blamed you for the cause of their deaths!" he mocked. "I was really surprised to be honest! I knew none of the taskforce trusted you, but this is hilarious!"
L was shaking so hard, and for the first time he understood a criminal's desire to kill. To destroy. To end someone.
"What about Watari? I wasn't aware you were so threatened by an elderly man."
"You and I both know he's more than just a regular old manservant. Besides, the old man was in the way. He would've further poisoned your mind, L. You have so much potential that I had to save what remained of your mind before he could destroy the chance of you ever being reformed."
His vision blurred, and the detective winced in pain. Light stared down at him in surprise before reaching out towards the side of his head.
"You're bleeding."
As soon as he mentioned it, L realized that he did feel something wet on his cranium. He ducked from Light's hands, anger still shining in his dark eyes. Light frowned but pulled his hand back, leaning back against one of the black chairs and brooding silently over the detective's injury. The reason why, L was unsure of.
"You're wrong."
"Hm?" Light glanced up.
"He didn't poison me. He served only to tend to my needs and to obey my orders. Those ideals are mine, and mine alone!" he hissed.
The brunet smiled coldly and knelt down in front of him, leaning close and gently wiping the tears off of the insomniac's pale face. Hah. He wasn't even aware that he was crying. It shamed him to show such emotion towards the enemy.
"Cut the crap, L. Like you would understand the pain when I had to kill my father." he sighed, glancing over at Sochiro's corpse momentarily with regret. He then turned back with a gleam in his amber eyes and a huge smile on his face. "But don't worry L. They didn't die for nothing. Soon I'll create a new world that is free from the guilty and where the innocent can live peacefully! Their sacrifice is the first step in achieving this utopia! And I will be the GOD of it all!"
L trembled, wanting to retort so badly to him. Instead the detective lowered his head, all the sorrow returning to him. Any other person would have lost hope at this point, but L had the intelligence and calculations to know that there were others capable of stopping this madman. But not him. He had failed in his mission.
"Say what you will Kira, but you're just a murderer in the end. You execute the innocent as well as the guilty just so you can get your way." L spoke before letting out a pained chuckle. "But what do I know? Just kill me and be done with it."
"Such a shame too, I was hoping I could have been the one to bring Kira to justice."
Light frowned at his reply and studied the broken man before him, releasing his hold on him. L could feel his handlers tightening their grip due to anger at his response. Finally the brunet stood up and took a step back when he came to a decision.
"Maybe I was a bit too hasty when I executed those three..." Light murmured, glancing over at the corpses.
Those three. The three that included members of the taskforce. But not Watari. He didn't feel any regret for killing Watari. Though why should he?
Light grinned as he stared down at the world-famous investigator. "Don't worry L. I won't execute you like the others, like I was originally planning. Instead, I'll offer you redemption and give you the chance to see my New World in all its glory!"
L stared in shock at his words, pleasing Light as he gazed down to see his reaction.
"Relax L and be honored! You're one of the few criminals that will get the chance to live to see my New World rise! Of course some people will be upset that you're still alive, but as long as I reign you'll have my protection. You can be my pet. It's the perfect fit for you, at my feet."
The detective couldn't believe his ears. No, this couldn't be happening. This was supposed to end one of two ways!
"Why?" he choked.
Light continued to smile at him but didn't answer, the silence frightening the detective and causing him to form theories. L's throat tightened and he began struggling against his handler's grip. He didn't want to live without Watari. Without his guardian L felt as vulnerable as a baby. He needed Watari.
No, he needed to calm down. He can't break down in from of Kira, he needed to stay strong. If he didn't, the detective would never live it down. Deep breaths….yes, just like that. L sighed and he allowed his body to slacken and to stop resisting the two supporters that were holding him.
"I don't want your redemption…" he murmured. Strange...have all the nights he went without sleep finally caught up to him? "I want…"
His vision blurred. The next thing he knew, he was laying on his back with Light and a few Kira supporters looking down at him. The serial killer's brown eyes soared with worry as he opened his mouth to speak, but L couldn't hear the words that came out. Everything was in disarray, nothing was clear. His view was getting dimmer by the second. In the end, Light was the last thing he saw before blacking out.
The bells have rung, but they didn't ring for him.
"…"
"…"
This still was incomprehensible. L shouldn't be in this predicament. He was the World's Three Greatest Detectives, he shouldn't have been captured by a college student...unless they were a mastermind like him.
Dammit.
When the detective came to, he was in a windowless cell. A bandage was wrapped around his head, which he immediately removed in disgust. He didn't want any help from Kira nor did he need it. There he stayed in isolation for the longest time in his life, his only company being the guards who slipped food into the room and the occasional beating(which hurt a lot, but insulting the guards his only source of entertainment, thus he got beat often). Despite his loathing towards regular food, he still ate and drank enough to stay alive, but that was it. He had no desire to do anything else, not after his humiliation.
"Hey," one guard muttered. "Fucker. You have a visitor, so get ready, buddy."
L regarded him, but made no sign of moving. Thankfully, the guard didn't seem interested in letting him have it at that moment, so the dark haired man didn't have to worry about any new injuries. Even with his blank expression, his heart rate increased slightly as he timidly waited for his visitor's appearance.
The door screeched open and L stared at the floor as Light's steel-toed boots paced into the cell. Light straightened his slick blue tux, which was more suited for a birthday dinner than meeting with a prisoner.
"L Lawliet," the evil man purred,
The detective felt all the color escape his face as he clenched on the cloth of his jeans. The serial killer smiled with glee at his former "playmate's" reaction. Ah yes, that powerless expression, the fright in his eyes. It was all completely...delicious. However, L refused to stay in his stunned state for long, for the fear on his face had vanished as quickly as it had came.
"How long have I been here?" L muttered.
"Only two weeks. It's strange to see you so… helpless," Light chuckled.
L didn't miss the chuckle that came with his words. All his fear of this man was forgotten as the detective's temper rose. Before he knew it, he had tackled Light to the floor and raised his fist up to punch him.
He never got the chance. In that moment guards rushed into the room and leaped at the prisoner. L gasped in pain when his head met the ground and his vision blurred as Light barked some orders. The detective was promptly picked up by his arms and dragged over to the cot, and he felt cool metal cuffs snap over his wrists. Light regarded him coolly as he stood, as if he hadn't been just attacked by his own prisoner.
"You don't appreciate me, L. And that's fine, but if you keep acting like I'm horrible for saving the world, I'm going to restrict your food."
L didn't know who held the title of "shortest conversation" in the World Records, but he was positive that they came pretty damn close to gaining that title, if they had not already beaten it. Light's visit had been a great while ago, but the detective wasn't sure of the time. What he did know was that it would be a long time till he could get out of this hell.
It wasn't the end though. As long as his successors were out there and as long as Wammy House stood standing, there was at most a 48 percent chance that Kira would be defeated, 70 percent if they got the upper hand in this struggle. He would not submit to Kira as long as his successors fought.
No, he will simply make Kira's life more difficult as a sign of his rebellion.
