Despair for Those who have Become Boastful
Light Yagami meets a man who kills criminals, but despises Kira. Crossover with DC Comics.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, not DC Comics or Death Note, it belongs to Tsugumi Ohba.
Light Yagami was standing on the rooftop of the Kira Taskforce Headquarters. Everything was happening just as planned, and soon he would be the god of the new world where only good people would live.
He was distracted by a noise behind him. Light turned quickly to see a figure standing in the shadows. The man had a gun, and he was preparing to reach for the piece of the Death Note hidden in his watch, when the figure stepped forward.
Light was fuming, the figure wore a mask, even if he was able to learn his real name, he couldn't kill him because he didn't know what he looked like.
"You have a lot of nerve threatening me with a gun," Light said warily.
"Oh, shut it smart pants, it's not like I'm going to shoot you," the man said sarcastically. "I'm actually curious, since I've been hearing all this fuss about Kira and all, I thought maybe you might want help catching him."
"Why would the Japanese Task Force want help from some foreigner? We're very close to catching Kira. What's it to you?"
"Oh, I just wanna meet the guy, I'm curious about him, that's all."
"So you sympathize with his sense of justice," Light said. Maybe he could use this man as an ally, maybe have him learn L's true identity.
"The guy's nothing special, he kills criminals sure, but lots of people do that. Heck, I do that on a regular basis."
"Then join me, you could help me find him—"
"Save it, I'm not an idealistic moron with his head shoved up his butt," Red Hood snapped. "You think your charismatic charm works on everybody, but I'm not buying it. I see through your little act Light Yagami."
"So you know that…I am Kira," Light said. He wished he could see this man's face, so he could kill him, finding out his name wouldn't be too hard, he just had to play his cards right."
"Listen, whoever you are, it's clear that you believe in justice, I am justice, and together we could make this world a whole lot better. You can trust me, so who are you?"
"Call me Red Hood, and no, I don't buy your whole, "You can trust me so tell me your name" act, I already know how you kill people."
"You don't know anything."
What kind of a person calls himself Red Hood? He must be some kind of vigilante. He'd never heard of anyone by that name in Japan, he sounded like an American but spoke fluent Japanese.
"So, Light, or shall I say Kira, why do you kill?" the Red Hood asked. "Is it to save the world, or, as I most likely suspect, to become a god of some sort."
"I will become god of the new world. And everyone, all the good people will be afraid of doing evil," Light said, his eyes narrowed. "And I'll stop anyone who gets in my way!"
To his astonishment and fury, the Red Hood began to laugh.
"Like you've actually done good? You hide behind your Death Note and your Shinigami, while me," Red Hood gestured to himself. "I actually go out and get my hands dirty. I don't have to rely on the news or some internet website to get my information. I actually put my life on the line when I kill scum. You're just an arrogant little brat who let delusions of godhood go to his head."
"You know nothing about me! I'll kill you!" Light raged.
"Oh, that's quite impossible, you don't know my name, and you've never seen my face. My identity is not in any database on this planet and my DNA and fingerprints are nowhere to be found. All your sources of precious information when it comes to me amount to nothing."
"Then how did you figure out that I was Kira?" Light demanded. "L is the world's greatest detective!"
"Ah, L!" Red Hood laughed again. "Sorry to break it to you, Light but the title of World's Greatest Detective belongs to someone else, not L. I'd say he's second best, to say the least. Me, I'm pretty smart so I figured out. It was quite easy; you're a lot like me, smart, headstrong, arrogant, but unlike you. I have no delusions of godhood and I will live much longer than you, you'll be dead in a few years."
"Why's that? I intend to live a long time and be god of this world," Light was furious. This man could just insult him. "And just how do you know about Death Notes?"
"I've studied all kinds of things, traveled the world. You can learn about anything if you look hard enough. Ironically, I found a Death Note on some guy who was trying to kill me with it. I told the Shinigami to keep it. The way you do things is cheap; I prefer to get my hands dirty saving people."
"I do save lives!" Light seethed. "How many people have not become criminals because of what I've done? They live in fear of Kira."
"You should be happy I disabled the cameras up here, you would have given yourself away to them," the Red Hood, Jason Todd was grinning beneath his mask. Light was so easy to insult, it was funny.
"There are no cameras up here," Light said, "I know that for a fact."
"So you actually are smart. You only kill criminals after they've been caught by the police, and people aren't really afraid of you. They just learned not to get caught."
"I'll prove you wrong, when I become god, I will eliminate you!"
"For what, bruising your ego?" Jason smirked. "You're a silly child who thinks he can do whatever he wants. But don't worry about your secret, it's safe with me. And it's not like you can kill me. I died once and I'm not about to do it again."
"When you die you go to the Shinigami Realm, there is no Heaven or Hell."
"You're one to talk, you haven't died."
Red Hood gave Light one last look. "I'll be watching you, to see how this game between you and L turns out. I'll be the one laughing at the end though, 'cause I'll be right and you'll dead."
"This is all just a game, and I intend to win," Light snarled at the Red Hood. This man was a big pain, no wonder he had "died" before, but not like he actually believed it.
"Life's a game, and you're going to lose while I watch from the sidelines and enjoy the show." Red Hood jumped off the building, Light tried to lean over to spot him but the Red Hood was gone.
"Why didn't you write his name in the Death Note, Ryuk?" Light asked the Shinigami. "He utterly humiliated me. Even found out my secret before L, and he still hasn't figured it out."
"Oh, come on now Light, it wouldn't be any fun if I did whatever you wanted me to. Besides, I like that guy, and he did keep the Death Note."
"He lied to me?"
"Of course he did, I suppose he kept it because he didn't want me to see his lifespan. That guy's rather clever. And in truth, he did die."
"How do you know?" Light asked.
"I wrote his name down and how he died. Was contemplating letting him live, but hey, I needed his lifespan."
"So you know who he is, but you won't tell me."
"Nope, besides, you've got more important things to worry about than that guy."
"How did he come back?" Light asked, curious. Maybe there was a way he could cheat death.
"Don't know, don't care," Ryuk shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, I can see his lifespan now; he must have burned the Notebook."
"You're right, I'm going to kill L, and a soon as my plans go my way, I'll find that guy and kill him."
Years Later…
Jason Todd was thumbing through the Gotham Times, looking at the day's events. Joker was killing people again, but there was no way he could go after him with Dick Grayson, now Batman around, he was nowhere ready to deal with him and that brat Damian Still, he had escaped prison without much effort. He noticed a small blurb on the front page:
Light Yagami, a member of Japan's Force's Intelligence Department dies of a heart attack during the Kira investigation.
He looked at the date, January 28th, 2010. "See Light, told you I'd live longer than you." Jason laughed, "It looks like I won my wager after all. Despair to the boastful. How poetic, you must have died crying like a little girl. At least when I died in that warehouse, I died trying to save people. You were just an arrogant little brat. Too bad Light, you didn't take the game seriously enough."
