Light led the way to the warehouse's entrance, followed closely by the other four. As he drew nearer to the building, the corner of his mouth turned upward into a smirk, in spite of his best efforts to contain it. Stretching out one elegant hand to the door, Light abruptly shut all emotion from his face as he grasped the handle and slid it open. The sharp screech of metal scraping on metal tore through the air, and Light flinched at the ugly sound. There was so much in this world that was ugly.
Light flooded into the musty gloom of the warehouse, made damp by the day's prevailing weather. Peering inside, Light was able to discern several dark figures standing in the warehouse's center. He took one last look at the gray world around him, the vibrance of life muted by dreary rainclouds and the somber stillness of the surrounding industrial park. Taking a deep, controlled breath, his lungs swelled with air and elation at the anticipation of his victory. He turned back to face the doorway once more. "Well, here we go," he said softly, more to himself than to his companions. The click of their shoes echoed loudly as the entered the building, the only sound in an otherwise silent environment.
Light stopped within ten feet of the SPK members. Four of them were standing: three men and a blond woman. The fifth member was crouching on the floor in front of them, a boy of fourteen or fifteen. Light's eyes widened in surprise as he gazed upon the youth, who must have been Near; framed by long hair of white-gold, L's face peered back at him. But L's features were grotesquely distorted and artificial. Light's brow furrowed in sudden anger. "You should show some respect to my predecessor, Near," he snapped.
"My predecessor, fake L," countered the boy. His voice was crisp and arrogant; Light would not have expected anything less from someone so foolish as to challenge Kira's power.
Matsuda, standing behind Light with the others, took a step forward. "So then you really are Near?" Uncertainty had eroded some of his earlier enthusiasm.
"Yes." was all that Near said in return. He hadn't even turned his head to acknowledge Matsuda; despite the mask's obstruction, Light knew without doubt that the youth was staring directly into his eyes.
Light broke the contact and glanced back at the Task Force members standing behind him. They were all looking to him, waiting for him to say something further. Aizawa's expression held equal measures of suspicion and anxiety, and Light knew in that moment that he had been the one to collaborate with Near. Not that it mattered much. They were all his sheep to herd in whichever direction he pleased. Light lifted his eyes to Ryuk, whose spectral form loomed in the shadows behind them. Light turned back to face Near and his team. They were all sheep, and this time their shepherd would lead them to slaughter.
"Well Near, we're all here." Light crossed his arms. "Would you mind taking off that mask so that we can discuss the Kira case?"
"Not yet."
Light's hands clenched impulsively at the callous response. But it was Matsuda who spoke out. "What do you take us for Near? You ask us to come here in good faith, and then you won't so much as show your face? We're all putting our lives on the line here, you can at least do the same!"
This time Near did move his head. Looking behind Light, the boy was silent for a moment, and his hunched shoulders seemed to relax by less than a hair's width. Then, "Mister Matsuda, there is a very good chance that Kira has seen the faces of everyone in this room except for mine. It is possible that he has already written your names and the names of my team in the Death Note. Therefore, I want to wait an hour—no, make that half an hour—to make sure that he isn't controlling anyone before they die."
"Controlling anyone?" Matsuda's bravado vanished, and he quickly stepped back in line with the others.
A sigh of frustration escaped from Light's lips. "Very well," he conceded, glancing at his watch, "we'll wait." It was exactly five minutes past one 'o'clock.
The minutes slowly passed, the faint ticking of Light's watch echoing softly in his ears. No one within the warehouse spoke, and while the other members of the SPK and of the Task Force shifted their weight and peered around the warehouse, Light and Near stood rooted where they were, never once breaking eye contact. It was all that Light could do to restrain himself from glaring scornfully at the boy, from openly hating his white-collared shirt, his baggy jeans, and his unkempt sneakers. The resemblance to L was apparent, and Light wondered whether Near's posture and garments were intentional, for the purpose of unnerving him, or if his habits were genuine. Whatever the case, there could be no doubt, that this boy was no equal of L's. And that mask was a disgrace to his enemy's memory. But soon both would be dealt with.
The half hour slipped by, and Matsuda's impatience got the better of him. "Near, it's been half an hour already! Stop wasting our time!" Light suppressed a soft smile; Matsuda was playing his part perfectly. Not that he knew it, however.
Near reluctantly stood up, and began to draw what appeared to be finger puppets from his pocket, methodically placing them upon the fingers of his left hand. "Very well," he conceded, "I suppose that it's reasonable enough to assume that no one is being controlled at this point." He reached up with his right hand and slowly pulled off the mask, revealing his youthful face. His dark, brooding eyes locked with Light's, and it was in his expression that Light saw L most distinctly, albeit with more severity than his late enemy. So this was the boy who had caused him so much trouble. "Alright, now I want you all to listen to me very carefully." Near's tone was far more direct and commanding than it had been previously. "Very soon, that door over there will be slid open. A man is going to peer inside, and I want all of you to just pretend he's not even there."
"What?" The four men behind Light gasped. "Who is the man?" demanded Matsuda.
"He is the one who is going to help us solve this entire case. He is the one who is going to reveal Kira's true identity." Near paused. "He's here," he whispered. And indeed, turning to look at the warehouse's entrance, the door having been slid open by not more than two inches, the countenance of a man could just barely be seen. His eyes alighted on each of them in turn, widening when they fell upon Light. And then, he was gone.
"What's he doing?" Matsuda's hand was straying to his gun, uncertain of exactly what to do.
Near closed his eyes. "He's writing our names down in his notebook." The Task Force members started in fear; drawing their pistols, they turned to face the door. "Don't move," Near commanded, and behind him the SPK members leveled their weapons at the Task Force.
"What do you mean, don't move?" Matsuda exclaimed. "You just want us to stand here and wait to die?"
"No one is going to die." Light felt the corners of his mouth twitch impulsively; Near seemed so sure of himself. The room fell into a tense silence broken only by the screams of "Delete! Delete!" sounding just outside the door. "Don't worry," Near continued, as if to reassure them. "The notebook that that man is using has been tampered with. The page that he is writing on is nothing but plain paper."
"Who is he?" Aizawa asked, still looking uncertain.
"He's Kira's proxy." Near held up one of his finger puppets; it closely resembled Mikami. "He's been the one writing in the death note these past few months, doing Kira's bidding." He now held up a second finger puppet, marked "L Kira". It wore a black mask across its eyes, much like a stereotypical bank robber. By now Mikami's shouts had ceased. "In roughly forty seconds, that man is going to look inside to see if we're dead or not. It will be at that point that we shall restrain him, and seize the notebook. He will have written all of our names down, except that of the person who is Kira. By seeing whose name was omitted, we will be able to prove that person's guilt."
"And you're sure that the notebook page that he wrote on is fake?" Light's stomach tightened with the effort of keeping his voice neutral.
Near's eyes narrowed in the slightest amount of suspicion, before answering, "Yes. Based on our observations, that man uses one page of the Death Note every day. As a consequence, we counted ahead to the page that he would use today, and replaced it and all subsequent pages of the Death Note with regular paper, so as to ensure that no one else would die."
Exhilaration alighted within Light's heart. Time halted as he felt the glory of his victory overtake him. It was just as he had predicted! He had known that Near would try to tamper with the notebook, and so he had ordered Mikami to create a forgery, in which he would write down names in public so as to give the impression that it was the real thing. In actuality, however, Mikami had sent several pages of the real notebook to Takada, who had been the actual executor of Kira's will, killing people with names and faces that Mikami provided her via his cell phone. Meanwhile, the real notebook had been hidden safely away until this very day. Laughter danced inside Light's head as he stared at the foolish boy in front of him. Near had played entirely into his hands; it had been so easy. It was unfortunate, really, that Near was so inferior to L. L would have considered the possibility of a fake notebook from the beginning, and tested it to be sure. But Near was too noble to try such a thing, and that had been his mistake.
All of these thoughts flashed through Light's head in an instant, and then, time resumed its regular pace. It wouldn't be long now. "You, out there," Light called lightly, directing his voice towards the door. "Have you finished writing down everyone's names?" Mikami could be heard to scramble closer to the door, and his affirmative response hissed through the thin opening between the door and the warehouse wall.
Now Near spoke up. "Why don't you come inside, then? You should have nothing to fear from us, since you've already written our names down."
Light could sense Mikami's hesitation. "It's alright," he assured his devout disciple. "Do as he says, we won't harm you." The permission of his god was all that Mikami needed. He immediately wrenched the door open, and stepped inside, clutching the small, black notebook. "How long has it been since you wrote down the last name?" Light asked as innocently as he could, although it was growing more difficult to hide his triumphant tone.
Mikami eagerly checked his watch. "About thirty seconds," he answered.
The Task Force members squirmed in anxiety, looking from Mikami, to Light, to Near. Light now glanced at his own watch. Five seconds remained. Four…three…two…one…"Well Near," he whispered, "it looks like I've won." Zero.
All was still. Everyone in the room except for Mikami, Light, and Near had instinctively ducked, as if somehow hoping that it would be sufficient to save them from their demise. In that instant Light and Near locked gazes, and he saw Near's eyes burn in triumph. And then, the moment passed. The second hand on Light's watch continued its circular path. Now twenty more seconds had passed; the time was now 1:41.
Light glanced around him. The members of the Task Force and of the SPK had regained their composure; they were now staring at themselves, awed that they were still alive. Then, quite suddenly, Near spoke. "Now, seize him!" he shouted, gesturing to Mikami. Mikami tried to escape back out the warehouse door, but he was too slow; two of the SPK members grabbed his arms and held him in place. "And now, the notebook, if you please." A third SPK member, the woman, strode over to Mikami, wrenched the notebook from his hands, and brought it to Near. "Thank you." Near looked back at Light. "You're probably wondering why we aren't all dead at the moment." Light said nothing. Near frowned. "The truth is, Light Yagami, that two notebooks were tampered with. Originally, we had only replaced the pages in the notebook that we had seen Mikami carrying around. No doubt you anticipated this, and attempted to foil us by instructing Mikami to use a fake notebook. Your trump card was to have Mikami hide the real notebook in a secure location, which he was to retrieve to use today. I'll admit, your plan would have succeeded, had it not been for Mello."
"Mello?" Light repeated, surprised.
"Yes," affirmed Near. "By kidnapping Takada, Mello forced your hand. You killed her, didn't you? What you didn't know, however, was that Mikami also tried to kill her." Light's eyes widened at this, and he glared at Mikami. So Mikami had retrieved the Death Note to write down Mikami's name. The imbecile; Light had given him strict instructions not to make any unnecessary movements until today.
"God," Mikami implored, "you told me that you couldn't move freely. Takada was a liability to our plan, I had to get rid of her!"
"Yes," continued Near. "Mikami tried to kill her." He glanced at the fourth SPK member, who was still standing behind him.
The man now spoke up. "It was my duty to follow Mikami and to track his movements. I noticed that he visits the bank on the 25th of every month. So I was surprised to observe that, on the 26th, the day of Takada's kidnapping, he visited the bank again. This did not fit with his otherwise perfectly methodical behavior, and so afterwards I broke into his safe deposit box, where I found the notebook."
"That notebook, the real notebook, is here." Near reached inside his shirt, and pulled out what clearly was the genuine Death Note. He flipped through it, searching for a specific page, and once he had located it, he held it up for all to see. "There," he announced, and at the top of the page, Light was able to distinctly make out Takada's name. Lowering the notebook, Near resumed his explanation. "Based on this discovery, we were able to take the real notebook and replace it with an exact copy, the one that Mikami brought with him today. By writing in it, he hasn't killed anyone, but he has exposed Kira's true identity."
Light checked his watch; it was 1:43. Behind him, Aizawa took a step forward. "Near, while that fake notebook will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt who Kira is," he spoke, "we already know who the guilty party is." He strode forward and put a hand on Light's shoulder. "Light," Aizawa muttered gravely, "it's over. You told Near that it looked like you had won—how much more of a confession do we need? Also, that man, Mikami, just called you 'god'. Even without the notebook, it's obvious that you are Kira."
To what must have been Aizawa's surprise, Light ignored him, looking to Near instead. "So since you have the real notebook," he said softly, "does that mean that you've been able to see Ryuk this entire time?"
"You mean the shinigami standing behind you? Yes, I can see him." Near lifted his head to gaze at Ryuk. "Hello shinigami, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Light glanced back to see Ryuk wave in greeting. "Hey, nice to meet ya." The shinigami's scratchy voice resonated throughout the damp warehouse.
Light once more consulted his watch: it was 1:44, with thirty seconds left in the minute. His mouth turned up into a coy smile. "So Near, now that you've caught me, why don't you put things to rest once and for all? Show us the fake notebook, and the names written in it."
Near's stern gaze wavered for a fraction of a second, before quickly dropping down to the fake notebook that he was holding. Opening it to the page that he sought, the boy was still for a moment. And then, "Would you care to explain?"
Light's smile grew wider, until finally he burst out in laughter as Near held up the notebook to reveal a blank page. Everyone around him gasped in shock. "Wh-Where are our names?" Aizawa demanded.
Light glanced at his watch; three seconds left. "I told you Near," he proclaimed, his eyes glinting with scarlet, "it looks like I've won." The second hand moved onto the twelve: it was exactly 1:45. Immediately, all of the Task Force and SPK members keeled over, clutching their chests in pain. The two men holding Mikami drew away from him, stumbling from their sudden cardiac arrest. Near was similarly affected, falling to his knees, his hands tightly gripping his chest. But even as he was dying, he kept his eyes locked with Light's. Light smirked at the pathetic sight in front of him. He continued speaking. "Near, despite your best efforts, you still were no match for Kira's power." Around them the other members had ceased moving, their bodies now lying limply and lifelessly upon the warehouse's floor. Only Near remained, and it appeared that he was still alive only through sheer force of will. Putting his hands in his pockets, Light continued to grin at the sight of the fallen boy in front of him. "It was never my intention to use the actual notebook to kill you," he explained calmly. "Everything up until this point was simply misdirection. Mikami wrote all of your names on a page that he had torn from the Death Note, and kept hidden inside a secret compartment in his watch. Additionally, I instructed him to use the Death Note page to manipulate you into revealing your plan in the moments leading up to your death. I see now that it was a wise precaution; I must congratulate you, Near, I never dreamed it possible that you would see past the decoy notebook. But thanks to my safeguard, you have delivered the Death Note safely back into my hands." At last, Near slumped to the floor, his long hair falling into his face as it lay upon the cold floor. As the last traces of consciousness slowly trickled out of him, Light knelt beside his head and whispered softly, "Near, when you see L, tell him that Kira sends his regards." And with that, the light faded entirely from Near's eyes. Light stared at the dead boy for a moment, before picking up the fallen notebooks, both the real and the fake, and standing up to face Mikami.
Light's disciple was beside himself with happiness. "God!" He exclaimed. "We did it! We've won!"
Light's eyes narrowed. "Yes, so we have. Mikami, you brought the kerosene barrels that I requested, right?"
Mikami nodded. "Yes god, they're outside."
"Good." Light glanced down at his watch. Five seconds until 1:46.
Mikami's joyous expression wavered. "God?" he asked.
"Mikami," Light said softly, not looking up from his watch. "You have been a true disciple of Kira, as Takada was. And in reward, I am granting you the same death."
"God!" Mikami's eyes grew wide with fear. "Please, no!" But it was too late. The second hand struck the twelve, and it was 1:46. Mikami's alarm ceased abruptly, and his face grew solemn. Not appearing to notice Light anymore, he slowly turned and walked towards the warehouse's exit. After retrieving the second genuine Death Note from Aizawa's corpse, Light followed him out.
There were indeed two steel drums of kerosene standing outside the warehouse, beside Mikami's car. As Mikami began moving them into the warehouse, Light made his way to the car that he had arrived in. Opening the front door and slipping into the driver's seat, he fished the keys out of his pocket and turned on the ignition. As he put the car into first gear, he heard the distinct roar of flames as the interior of the warehouse ignited in fire. Light slowly drove away from the building, confident in the instructions that he had written on the page of the Death Note hidden inside his watch; they were the same for Mikami as what he had written for Takada: suicide by fire. The fire would consume anything that Mikami had written on, including the page of the Death Note that he had used to kill Near. It would also burn down the building in which it was started, incinerating any corpses within.
As Light pulled onto the highway, he noticed that Ryuk had followed him into the car, and was now lounging in the back seat. Light smirked. "Was that entertaining enough for you, Ryuk?" The shinigami cackled at this remark. Light's smirk grew wider still. It was finally finished. Everyone else who knew about the Death Note was dead, and after he returned home and burned the fake notebook, he would use the genuine two that remained to continue Kira's reign. Light chuckled softly. There was nothing that remained in his path; he was at last the unopposed god of this world. And soon, very soon, he would transform human society, and his perfect world would finally come to light.
Author's Note: Death Note is probably one of the more intriguing anime series that I've watched. I think that it (and presumably, the manga from which it was adapted) is absolutely fascinating up until L's death. And then the episodes after that just weren't quite as interesting, although they were still good. I have a few problems with Death Note's ending, partially because by the end of it I was rooting for Light. And really, the whole point of this one shot is to demonstrate that if Light had been as smart as he was supposed to be, there really should have been no plausible way that he could lose to Near. But I also will acknowledge that Light's ultimate defeat and subsequent death probably made for a stronger ending than if he had just killed everyone and won. That being said, however, I do take issue with the manner in which Light was defeated. Whereas the entire premise of the series is that it's a big game of cat and mouse between Light and L/Near(/Mello, sort of), the way in which Light was defeated struck me as being very uncreative and rather disappointing. Essentially it took on a dynamic of "I know that you're going to do this, so I'm going to do this", "Well I know that you know what I'm going to do, so I'm going to counter that with this", "Well I know that you know that I know that you're going to do, so I'm going to do this", and so on. In contrast to the earlier parts of the series, there was no original and intelligent maneuvering, and that bothered me immensely. Hence this one shot. In any case, I've wanted to write this for a while, so please review and let me know what you think!