W00t! I'm back again!
Mir: Took you long enough, slacker!
Me: Shut your face, Mir. I am NOT in the mood to put up with you. I have just been forced to watch ten unbelievably unruly children with next to no help from the other girl who was supposed to be assisting me, and it was everything I had not to eat them alive so SHUT. YOUR. FACE.
Mir: ...Nobody cares about your life. They just care about the fic.
Me: Right. Well then, to the readers, I am sorry this update is so late. This chapter's been done for like, a week now, but I haven't been near a computer with internet access. So anywho. Let's hear a big 'THANK YOU' for the following: otaku9, Kumixx, MissStrawberryTea, HarryPotterMangaGleek, Glitterthorn, and RandomAsRainbows! Love you guys! ^.~ As usual, review replies will be at the bottom, and since no one commented on Mir's first person viewpoint, we're gonna stick with that. However, as I've said, that will be for Mir and Mir alone... which hints that the story will be following the doings of more than just one group of characters. Three guesses who the next chapter's about! Right answers get imaginary Mello plushies lol. Now then, Mir! Disclaimer please!
Mir: destinykeyblade does not own Death Note. If she did, she'd pull an L and handcuff herself to Mello. Also, a very important note! The boss was supposed to be an OC, but since this story had no plot to begin with and the authoress is making it up as she goes, he had to be a canon so everything would make sense. As with the next chapter challenge above, three guesses who he is, and correct answers get a jar of jam! And now, without any further ado, let's get on with chapter three!
"MIRA-TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
The shriek and black and yellow blur were all the warning I had that I was about to be tackled. Normally, the bone-crushing embrace that threatened my life every time I came through the door of headquarters was easily avoidable: simply crouch down and trip the assailant, or step aside at the last second. This time, though, I had Keehl slung over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, which both slowed me down and prevented me from ducking. Thus, my attacker managed to get her arms around me, squeezing all the air out of my lungs.
"Mirati!" she squealed happily as she attempted to snap a few of my ribs. The cracking sensation in them was not improved when she started jumping up and down. "I'm so glad you're back! It's so boring around here without you!"
"Alice!" I rasped, slamming my left palm into her back. "Air!"
With a horrified gasp (as usual), the blonde woman released me, clapping her hands over mouth. "Aw, carp!" she exclaimed through her fingers. "I did it again! Sorry, sis."
Yes, you read that right. The blonde, psychopathic eighteen year-old was my sister. Alice was almost identical to me as far as our faces went; however, in all other areas, we were completely different. While I had the black hair from our mother, she had taken our father's natural bleach-blonde. Our eyes were just the opposite, me getting Daddy-dearest's gray eyes and Alice being blessed with Mom's icy blue. As for our shapes, Alice was tall, thin and willowy, with little to speak of in the way of a bust. Me... well, you remember. I was a bit shorter than Alice (almost a head shorter than Keehl, if that gives you a better idea), and had been blessed/cursed with more curves than a mountain road. Then there were our mental states - but I'd prefer not to get into that just yet. We made an odd pair, to be sure, but despite our differences -and her tendency to try to kill me- I had to love her.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving my free hand at her. "Just try to remember next time." She nodded vigorously, sending her mid-back length hair flying, and stepped out of my way, allowing me to trudge into our living quarters.
"So how'd it go?" Alice asked eagerly, walking quickly to put herself beside me. "Flawlessly, as planned?"
I shrugged my left shoulder. "Mostly. I had to use the badge to get home - cops suck."
Her eyes widened. "You got pulled over?" she asked loudly. "And you still got here?" When I nodded, she laughed and clapped her hands. "I KNEW there was a reason I looked up to you!" Her playful demeanor vanished as we approached our couch, replaced by intense curiosity. "I take it that's Keehl you're carrying?"
"Not anymore," I replied, dropping him onto the cushions. Conveniently for Alice, he fell facing up, and she immediately began her (ab)normal procedure.
"Ooooooh..." came the warning coo. Before I could do anything about it, she had her hands on him, playing with his hair, caressing his face... all routine Alice behavior when I kidnapped anyone of the opposite sex. If she'd left it at that, I probably would have let her fondle him, but I saw one naughty little hand drifting down toward his middle; as usual, she was going to yank his shirt up to see if he had abs worth looking at. Time to intervene.
I smacked Alice's hand just as her fingertips brushed against Keehl's shirt. With a yelp, she withdrew both hands, casting me a hurt and betrayed look. "What'd you do that for?" she whined, her eyes already back on Keehl. "I was-"
I cuffed the back of her head this time, and she dropped dramatically to the floor, rubbing at the spot. "Ooooooooooowww!" she complained. "Why, Mir?"
"You're not allowed to feel him," I said dispassionately. Feeling suddenly drained of energy, I pushed Keehl's feet out of the way and plopped down onto the couch myself, letting my head fall backwards. "The boss said this one's got to be in perfect condition, which he won't be if I let you grope-"
"GROPE?" she shrieked in outrage.
"Fine, Alice-ify him," I continued in a monotone. "Just keep your paws off the goods, sister." Heh. Most people aren't actually talking to their sister when they say that. She was annoying sometimes, but Alice was more often a source of entertainment. An image of her in a jester's hat popped into my mind, and I snickered tiredly.
"Care to tell me what you find so funny, Mirati?"
The masculine voice jolted me back into awareness, sending adrenaline surging through my veins and ridding me of my momentary fatigue. I leapt to my feet. Beside me, Alice did the same.
"Boss!" she said in a respectful tone, offering a little bow to the hooded man in the doorway. Then she jabbed a finger in Keehl's direction. "She got him!"
"And? Were there any... complications?"
I shook my head. "No, s-sir..." I faltered. Not true. "Well, I, ah... I did get pulled over on the way here, and, uh... in order to get back, I had to-"
"YOU USED IT?" came the furious bellow.
I cringed. "Yessir!" My reply came out as a squeak, and I slapped myeslf mentally. The top operative is NOT supposed to squeak under pressure! ...And with that comment, perhaps I should take a minute to explain all this to you.
Alice and I are part of a criminal syndicate out for world domination. Yeah, I know - so cliché. Still, that's the deal. Moving on. The organization is having trouble accomplishing its goal, and all because of one little obstacle - Kira. Whoever he is, he's already done what the boss wants to do, or close enough to it that it counts. Therefore, the boss has a new plan: find out who Kira is, kill him, and then declare himself as the new ruler. This road, however, revealed yet more obstacles, one of which is the SPK. Near reigns supreme over that organization, and must eventually be dealt with for the plan to succeed. For now, though, we're pretending to work with him to stop Kira.
That brings me to why I kidnapped Mr. Mafia over there. Seems he's giving Near some trouble, and as I think I already mentioned, Near wants him out of his way - but unharmed. Now, I don't claim to know where the boss gets his information (because I personally listened in on all the conversations he had with Near, and I KNOW the kid never mentioned his real name or his past) but somehow, he knew that Nate River and Mihael Keehl had known one another from an institution known as The Wammy's House. They were in line to become the next L, the famous detective, when the original passed away, but of course, there can only be one. Near took that position, and Blondie took off to the underground to join the Mafia. Since then, he's been using his resources to mess with Near, hacking into his systems, attacking some of his people... you know, that sort of thing. Finally, the sheep decided he'd had enough - which is when we stepped in, passing ourselves off as an anti-Kira group that just wants him taken down. Near accepted our help, and bada-bing, bada-boom, Keehl is our prisoner. Of course, a few problems were foreseen, and thus to aid me in my capture, I was given a very convincing FBI ID. It was only to be used in the most dire of circumstances...
"MIRATI, YOU ARE AN IDIOT!"
To heck with trying to act calm!
I recoiled visibly from the boss's roar, tripping over a petrified Alice and knocking us both to the floor in a heap. Our faceless leader advanced on us - what? Oh, faceless? Well, yeah. No one in the group has seen the boss's face. EVER. He wears a big hoodie and refuses to show himself, and honestly? He's scarier that way, because you can't look at his face when you're talking to him, and your imagination goes wild when he starts yelling, giving you visions of some horrible monster underneath that black hood. The rest of the members follow him because of the fear - that, and they want a cut of the world to rule. Alice and I...
I pushed Alice behind me and tried to look menacing. Not the easiest thing to do when you're backed into a corner with your fifteen year-old sister, you yourself are only seventeen, and the two of you are up against a group of five thugs in a dark alley. I didn't have any kind of weapons, and while I'd always thought I was pretty strong, I knew I didn't have a chance against these gangsters. If they hadn't felt like toying with us first, we'd already have been stripped and - I stopped thinking like that. Alice was shaking like a building in an earthquake, and I knew if started doing the same thing, we wouldn't have any chance. It wasn't like we had much of one anyway, but still, I might be able to take a couple of them and give Alice a chance to run...
"I get blackie first, boys," the leader of the thugs said, looking at me with a disgusting leer. I couldn't stop myself from gulping. The man took a step forward - and fell to the ground, a knife in his back.
Alice screamed behind me as a dark-clad figure dropped out of nowhere into the midst of the gangsters and began to attack them. The men lunged for the figure, but he was far too quick for them to catch. He easily dodged their wild tackles, side-stepping one, then ducking down to avoid another. Then, in one fluid motion, he rose out of his crouch and swept a blade across the neck of a man standing behind him. Instantly he fell onto one of his comrades. Just as quickly, the assailant had a knife on the ground, which embedded itself into the living man's stomach as he fell on it. The final two thugs rushed him at once, hoping to distract him. They failed, and one took a flying knife to the eye, while the other found the piece of steel in his throat. And just like that, it was over. It had only taken a minute, tops, for this stranger to kill five men, and he had not a scratch on him.
"Girls should not be out alone at night in this city," the stranger said. His voice was casual, as though he were commenting on the weather. He turned in our direction, and though I couldn't see his face due to his large black hoodie, I could feel him eyeing us. "Hm. Street children. Well... if you would like a safe place to stay, and a way to earn your living, follow me." With that, he started walking away. Still terrified from the ordeal and not wanting to be near the corpses, Alice and I scurried after him.
That was the beginning of it all. The boss brought us back to headquarters, saving us from both men like those he'd killed for us and a life on the streets. Remember that drug-running brother I mentioned? After he got caught, the government had taken his house, which was where we'd been staying. They kicked us out, and, well, you see the end result.
Of course, we weren't just allowed to stay with the boss for nothing. We had to be useful to him somehow, and that, my friends, is how I ended up an expert kidnapper. Turns out, I have a talent for stealing things - specifically things that are alive. As for Alice? Call her Copycat. My little sister always had a knack for impersonating people, but with the boss's training, that became a useful skill. Show Alice a photo, and by way of make-up, ridiculously convincing masks, and hair dye, she will physically become that person. Give her a short audio clip of the person's speech, and the transformation is complete, because she can imitate it perfectly.
But all that's a bit off subject, isn't it? As I was saying. The boss started toward us, fury radiating from his dark form. "Mirati," he hissed menacingly. "Alice. You are my best, this I do not deny. However, I expect better of the BOTH of you if you intend to remain in this living world. No. More. Mistakes." He leaned down to us, putting his face inches from mine, yet I still could see nothing of it. "Do I make myself clear?" he asked in a low tone.
"Yes you do!" Alice squeaked, squeezing her eyes shut. "Crystal!"
He nodded in satisfaction. "Mirati?" he said then. It sounded more like a growl.
"Yes, sir," I answered, pleased when I managed to keep the tremble out of my voice. "Perfectly clear."
Instantly he straightened, the air of anger vanishing. "Very good," he said, as though nothing had happened. "Now then, River has given us more instructions for Keehl. We are to hold him here until someone comes to collect him. He is to be well taken care of. Mirati, as you are the one who abducted him, I leave you in charge of this. Alice may help you, of course."
Right about then, I think my heart stopped. "WE HAVE TO KEEP HIM?" I shrieked. ...Yes, I know it's unintelligent to yell at the boss! You think there's a way I couldn't know? You tell me now, honestly - if you got told that you had to watch over a Mafioso, wouldn't you scream too?
Fortunately, he was used to outbursts from me, and knew that they weren't subordination; just the result of panic. "Yes," he replied calmly. "You have to keep him. Someone from the SPK should be here around the middle of next month to get him-"
"NEXT MONTH?"
"Yes. Now, if you're quite finished yelling, I suggest you handcuff Keehl. He should be coming around in a bit, and as I'm certain you're aware, he is dangerous." The boss returned to the doorway he'd entered through. "Keehl will be in our custody for approximately five weeks. I will check in with you from time to time. Beyond that," -here he chuckled, though for what reason, I don't know- "the three of you will be on your own. Good day, ladies."
With that, he stepped out the door, leaving Alice and me still on the floor, both of us gaping like fish. In sync, we turned to one another and exchanged a horrified look.
"Sis?" Alice asked, her voice quavering.
"Yeah, Al?"
"...We're dead, aren't we?"
I tossed a glance at Keehl. "Yeah. Pretty much."
Ta-da! Now, the replies.
Kumixx - Well, you see what kind of trouble her looks get her into in the flashback. So yeah, pretty much.
Glitterthorn - You have just become my new favorite person! Arigatou gozaimasu! ^^ Yeah, I know what you mean, Misa usually has that role covered XD Thanks so much for your positive review!
RandomAsRainbows - Well, I'd answer your question, but that's already been done, so I'll just thank you for reviewing. Arigatou! ^^
Thanks to all for reading! Reviews are always welcome, too!
