Slipping the now-empty tape recorder in the raven's direction, sweat began to roll down Raito's face.

And, although desperate and curious… L wasn't doing much better. Flicking open the device's door, he dropped the foreboding little cartridge inside, shutting it closed as one would shut a coffin door in on their loved on.

Finger touching on the 'play' key, the detective prepared for the husky tone to call in his direction.

-Click.-

"Good morning, L. Or would you prefer I call you Ryuuzaki? If you are listening to this, then you have already met Raito… and therefore probably know by now that this is no joke. He may wish to listen as well. Detective, you make your living hunting down and convicting dangerous criminals… but today, you will be the murderer. I will explain why... At any time he wants, Raito may pull the wire joining the two of you, ending your reign as Kira's challenger forever. Now, you may hear this and think that you are completely helpless… but you would be mistaken. The only utensil you have strong enough to cut the tether is hidden in the body of your sleeping coworker. X marks the spot, Ryuuzaki. And given that you get out in time, you have a choice… you may let your friend continue with his game, or—you can seal his door from the outside, and leave Kira in here to rot. Now listen closely, the both of you. Decide quickly, as you may notice you have been given timers. At exactly one o'clock, both exits to your chambers will be locked permanently, and neither of you will win—ever. Live or die, L. make your choice."

…

At first listen, he refused to believe it.

On the other end, Raito had listened intently. He grasped total understanding of what the other room must have looked like… Matsuda. That man had been dragged down too. It was a hideous web indeed. So, the detective's life was not completely in his hands.

Or was it?

In silence, Raito laughed wickedly at the situation. The kidnapper seemed to be driving in his favor. The man was a vigilante himself, after all… right? He beheld his prediction—L would never do it. He could never do it. That pampered, messy-headed bastard of a detective would never kill another human being to save himself. If he would, then he would never have had the insolence to challenge Kira. L didn't kill. The helpless idiot. And let alone a close coworker of his—if it had been a total stranger on the floor, a slight alarm may have been worthy… but overall, Raito had this predicament in the bag. His knee rejoiced with a happy little bounce.

A cold steel nail dove into his shin. The pain started to sear. He cringed in terror—envisioning his poor and mangled legs.

Never too easy, eh…

In the meantime, L remained stunned.

Frozen in his chair by what he had just been told, the man wriggled his toes it fear. In that tiny piece of his brain that still held on, still wished that this was all just a terrible sort of nightmare… he believed that it was not true.. that he wouldn't need to… with his own hands…

But in his heart, he knew it was all too real…

For a sick boost to his memory had just arisen out of the blue.

"Yagami-kun," he said. His voice bordered on shaking—the near emotionless shield that he had hid himself in was starting to dwindle away.

"I'm listening."

The detective took a sigh before continuing. "I think I know who's behind all of this."

Raito jerked. "What?"

"The case had caught my interest…" He went on, "Though at the time, I had other matters to attend to. That's not important, but about this man…"

Raito waited anxiously for him to elaborate.

"Last time I heard, they were calling him "the jigsaw killer."

The name stirred a thought in the auburn-haired man's memory, but aside from that, the person was quite unknown.

Story time.

"But apparently, technically he wasn't truly a killer. It's a little complicated… since, as far as I can recall, he would never kill anyone. More or less, he found ways for his victims to kill themselves. Although, it wasn't that simple. You see, in a sense, he was… like Kira, a little bit."

Like Kira, did he say?

"He wanted to change people for the better. His victims, they were people he would deem unworthy. Unworthy of being alive. People like drug addicts, suicidal people. But unlike a Kira-figure, he didn't kill them for their deeds. He tortured them, placed them through the most perilous of tests…"

Raito's eyebrows furrowed, chilly sweat dripped. "And that's exactly what he's doing to us."

"I suppose it is."

Now it fit together perfectly. The messages on the tapes had said it all. Time to 'play the game' now, eh? Stubbornly, he still insisted on why. In the message, this 'jigsaw killer' had spoken of Raito's murders, the ones of innocent people, in sacrifice for a greater good… the man felt it implied that this killer thought him to be arrogant.

How?

The bastard. How dare he! Raito began to fidget in his wires.

'…I, a proclaimed vigilante myself…'

The teeth continued to chew on him, not yet piercing the skin, but threatening. A serial murderer like Jigsaw should be able to understand. Why would he want to punish him? Kira was not 'unworthy' by any means at all; god no. L, he could understand, but…

Honestly. Kira.

As Raito ranted about in his head, one angry little aspect still remained a mystery.

However clever this person was… how had he learned so much about the two men, anyway?

The silly man on the ground was still fast asleep.

And L continued to stare… just stare at him, with his regular old wide, unphased eyes… but beginning to melt away on the inside.

To go and murder sleep…

A nightmare entered the detective's mind. He pictured himself doing it. The knife in his bony hands…

The blood…

He prayed he not think about it. But, what else was he to do? He was nearly crying internally. At the very moment, Raito was over there, behind him. His poor neck, his life… he could not just forfeit it like that. For Kira to kill him now, to hell with that fate! But Matsuda down there… it wasn't as if he was dead or anything. Oh dear lord… what if he actually woke up before L could do anything? The raven's stomach turned.

Oh, what was L to do…?

--

All the while as the two men sat flustered and angry, not too long a ways away… a girl treaded, in a much different—yet all too similar—situation.

The young woman stormed terrified through the different streets and alleyways. She kicked herself for getting so lost, and with such stern directions. Her mind was terribly clouded, all the fear, all the awful things that she had been made to do.

And on the way to see her.

All of a sudden, a brisk hand stopped her in her tracks.

She turned around. The other woman's eyes were blazing into Misa's with a sharp, smug resentment.

"So, you've come back," she cooed heartlessly, "Amane."

Misa glared. Undoubtably, if it weren't for this person, she wouldn't be in this mess. "Yes, yes I have!" She snarled. "

The dark-haired girl seemed unamused. "I thought you would," she taunted, "but… you're a tad too early."

Misa's pulse went wild with anger. "What?"

The gloominess of the alley put a hazy damper on her frustration. The cold concrete, the dark ground… but it was not the hostility of the setting that was driving her up the wall.

--

This… this was not her bed.

Misa arose. It was dim, so very dim. The last thing she could remember was prancing along the sidewalk, hopping about to go see her beloved Raito-kun. But after that, it was blackness… just blackness. And now, she was here.

As she slowly climbed into consciousness, the girl's palm scratched uneasily against a cold floor. It was dark, she was instantly afraid. She bolted to her knees, head flipping around like that of a terrified rat. Sweat crept down her neck.

She gasped. "Hello?" Her voice shook uncontrollably.

Nobody answered.

Cautiously she walked, walked forward until she reached what felt unmistakably like a wall. Feeling her way along it, it felt smooth and hard, made of stone or the like. Eventually, her hand came across a door.

Both curious and frightened, she groped the handle and pulled.

It stuck.

"He-hello?" She tried one again. "Hello? Anyone! Anyone!"

Shaking and downhearted, the girl began to pace. As she made strides across the blackened space, she took a great shock as she nearly fell over something obstructive and hard that was in her way.

Anxiously her hands made way all over it. Eyes adjusting to the darkness, she saw that indeed, it was a box.

It was a television.

Misa stared at the thing, wondering even more about were she was. Or how on earth she had gotten there. Fear crept into her heart as the girl thought about all the horrible stalkers, rapists and other people out there. For whatever was going on…

MisaMisa had definitely been kidnapped. She shivered.

Without warning, a brilliant flash of light blazed throughout the room, illuminating most of everything. Misa's heart jumped. No, it was not a light being flicked… the little TV in front of her had turned on. All by itself.

Kneeling in front of it with a leer, the girl watched as an image appeared on the screen.

Staring back at her from beyond the glass, was a ghostly white face, what appeared to be a sort of puppet. Crimson swirls adorned its offensive face, along with red and black eyes that pierced and almost appeared to follow her.

What really began to chill her, though, was when it started to speak.

"Hello, Misa," It called. The puppeteer's voice was deep and frightening, somewhat of a whispering drone that brought a hunch into her spine. "You have been a very good girl to your beloved Raito, haven't you? So well that you may even give your own life for the greater good. But would you give his? I'll tell you what I mean. Listen to me, miss Amane. Nobody knows of this, not even L. But I have been studying the case of Kira for some time now, and my friend has been watching you very closely. From what I hear, you are a very special girl, no lie. You play an important role in this "new world" of his, do you not? Well, it could be devastating to Raito's plans if anything were to happen to you. So, since you are ever so devoted to this idea, I have composed a little game for you. Distrust what I say, and the consequences will be dire. There is a deadly poison running through your veins, Amane. The only existing antidote has been entrusted to my apprentice, whom you will find easily, as she is in the building with you as you listen to this. But she has been instructed not to hand it to you until the game is completed. Listen to her, and you will understand the rules. Let the game begin."

Shortly after the screen turned itself back off and Misa was left to wallow stunned, there was a click in the darkness and the creaking sound of a door opening. Turning around, the girl saw the light and in it, the shadow stood in a bored slump.

She stared. "You… you?"

"Time to play."

--

"I did it, didn't I?" She wailed. "Now just let me go!"

"It's not over!" The other breathed. "It's the rules."

"You don't even know what you're doing!" Misa yelled. "If Raito-kun could only find you, then he… he'd…"

"Kill me," the woman finished for her, with a little bit of a smirk. "Too bad," she grinned, "I guess we found him first."

Misa glared. How did he manage to find Kira first? He was like L! Just with more of a backbone to follow up his cunning. The mysterious man who was apparently pulling the strings here—he was amazing. So cold and manipulative. She remembered doing the deeds herself… that ugly mask she had worn throughout it all, the cloak… and not a single darned hand from the apprentice girl. She recalled her aching heart as she crept up behind them in the night, holding breath in paranoia, the chloroform in hand… it was not as bad when she had aimed to trap the detective, even Matsuda wasn't totally overwhelming. But when she crept up on her Raito…

She had even had to watch as that evil woman tied them up, those horrendous wires encircling her love's body. All bits and pieces of the twisted 'game'... All under the promise that, according to her, 'if he's really worth loving, he will be just fine.'

The blonde sighed at her, tired out and knowing in her heart that there was nothing she could do. Misa had the eyes, of course, it was not out of the question to locate her death note and write the witch's name in bold, black letters. She'd be doing Kira's work if a woman like that were destroyed. But if she did that, then the key to her life would be lost… and she would never let down her Raito-kun like that... Although…

She threw her head back in exasperation, looking to the sky and beholding the approaching glow of the afternoon light.

--

Back in the basement, the fearful brunette man sprang back to his senses. He had been daydreaming.

The unforgiving atmosphere called to him again. Heart rushing, he eased his shoulders around, itching and fearing to see what time it was.

With an icy jolt he read:

Twelve thirty-five.

A tingle ignited in his skin, especially that grasped by the knives. And so the tension was building up. If what this "jigsaw killer" said was true, then…

In not too long, it would be the time to panic.

--

Sorries 'bout that!! Another long wait. Still a little sad... :( You may have to expect another wait, as the end is drawing near and I'm still unsure of how it will go. Those of you who've seen the third Saw movie (I didn't like it very much but that's beside the point) know about Amanda and her little twists... But I'll leave you in suspense on that, muahaha.

To be continued.