It's a race against time when Near's past is revealed. A computer-hacking murderer sends video feed of Near's family's murder to stir him. When Near sets off on his own to take revenge, its up to his allies, from the Kira case, to find and stop him. Before its too late. (AU where L, Mello, & Matt are still alive.)

L was sitting in his usual position. He was behind a desk at Wammy's house, eating a cake showered with strawberries. Watari (yes, Watari!) was standing right next to him. Rodger walked in, since it was his office that L was occupying, and announced, "They have arrived, L."

L smiled and said, "Well then send them up."

Rodger nodded and exited the room.

Watari slowly looked over at L, and spoke, "You haven't made a decision. What do you intend to do?"

"I am not truly sure. I have an idea, I hope it works for the best."

Rodger re-entered the room a few moments later, following him was Matt, Near, and Mello.

"Sit down, boys." L motioned towards the seats in front of him.

The three listened, and slowly took their seats.

"I highly assume you all know why you where called here."

Matt, the only one who was smiling, spoke first. "Its time for the Successor talk!"

L nodded.

Mello looked nervous, especially when sitting next to the sickly optimistic Matt. Near remained emotion-less, but L thought he looked more apprehensive then usual.

L smirked, "I have not made any decision."

It took a few moments for the message to sink in.

"WHAT?" Mello, of course, was the first to break the silence.

L sighed and explained himself. He noticed Matt entertained facial expression, as if the situation was more funny then serious. Near had his emotionless mask on, but was blinking excessively.

"After a long time of critically thinking, the only logical choice was to allow the three of you to work together. You all brought Kira down your own ways, yet they all worked together in the end. Your methods of approaching a case can all benefit each other. "

Mello snapped back quickly, "L, with all do respect, you know I don't get along with Near, and on the other hand Matt is-"

"Mello, don't hurt my feelings!" Matt practically cried.

Near steadily added his voice, "I do not believe Mello is intentionally hurtful."

"Shut up, Near-!"

L cleared his throat, regaining control of the room.

"Watari, if you could pull up the files on my computer for us."

Watari nodded, and walked over to the laptop.

Rodger finally decided to speak, "I agree with L's idea! Working together is the best option for you three-"

"L… there is… Someone appears to be hacking into our system!" Watari gushed out. It wasn't even 30 seconds until Matt took the reigns. His technical abilities proved helpful in these moments.

"I can't… Whoever this person is is really good. He seems to have hacked us yesterday, and put this computer on some sort of timer!" Matt was typing very fast, but it wasn't doing any good.

Suddenly, the screen went black.

It then made some strange noises, and the screen came on. A video feed started, and the screen was occupied by a savage looking man. He had small eyes, and a wickedly disturbing smile. L recognized him right away.

"That's Ripper! A serial killer, that murdered many people a few years back."

Soon, the figure on the screen spoke.

"Hello everyone." The date on the screen was only one day ago. "This is probably a shock to you all, I'm sure the infamous L has never had a criminal such as myself hack into his system. I recorded this yesterday, because I finally found who I was looking for."

The man on the screen smiled, but Matt finally figured out how to freeze the feed. He whipped his head to look over at everyone.

"Rodger, pull up the files on this man."

He did.

"This man is sick!" Mello exclaimed, looking down at the papers.

This criminal's name was never known, and he was never caught for his crimes. The authorities and media nicknamed him Ripper, because his brutal killings held resemblances to Jack the Ripper himself.

"How did he know where we where? Who we are. That L is… L. What… What does he want?" Matt asked aloud.

"His identity won't be as difficult to figure out, compared to Kira. Matt, can you unfreeze the video?"

"I'm sure I can. Do you think he is going to kill again?" Matt shakily sighed.

"Perhaps. I'm very sure I know what he wants." It was Near who said this, and everyone looked at him like he had two heads.

"Near, how do you know this? You haven't looked over any files. Nor spoken a word since we received this information-" L was cut off by Mello.

"You haven't been contributing at all! You lazy little-!"

"Language, Mello!" Matt yelled.

L silenced the banter between Mello and Matt, while Watari asked Near, "Do you have something that you can tell us?"

Near looked up from his seat, and said, "This is the problem with Wammys…"

Rodger, who took this offensively, asked, "What do you mean? Near, you are not making any sense! You where just a child when he was at large."

Near's eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because I was a child doesn't mean I don't understand what was happening!" Near's voice was raised, breaking his emotion-less state for the first time in… forever.

L raised his voice only slightly. "Near, your actions are very unnatural. If you have information about this killer, then-"

Near's voice was cold and dead as he said, "The was the man who killed my entire family."