Author's note: Hello guys, Mandalore the Maximum with chapter 4. Now last time we saw Lincoln Near tricked him into revealing his location using a computer game with cases and events from the original series and a digital avatar of the original L. In this chapter, we'll explore a previous point I introduced in chapter 1 and how it will affect Lincoln's moral code.

So, without further delay, enjoy.

Chapter 4: The New Girl

SPK headquarters; New York City, New York (September 17th 2016)

"Near" said Watari "They have arrived."

Near had just finished stacking a scale model of Royal Woods made completely out of LEGOs as his team entered the room.

"I am pleased to know you all arrived." Near stated while placing the last block at the top of the black roof of a two story white house.

"Near" said Gevanni "Is that my brother's house?"

"This, Gevanni is a scale model of Royal Woods, Michigan. I constructed it basing myself on satellite photos of the town." Near then took a LEGO bicycle and placed it on the roof.

"Why did you ask us to come?" Rester asked "All of us."

"Simple, Commander Rester." Near responded "Because the three of you helped me end Light Yagami's reign of terror. Now, gentlemen, if you would kindly pay attention, there is much we need to discuss. Watari."

Watari then walked into the room and presented each SPK member with a folder. They each opened them to find a large list of people who lived within the town. All of whom appeared to be high school students.

"Take the time to analyze the information you've been given." Near stated "I believe that among these people" Near twirled a lock of his hair in the index finger of his right hand "we will find our prime suspect." Gevanni began looking through the many files of all the suspects, he saw several that he had seen before in his many visits to the town, others he didn't recognize, but one in particular caught his attention. "Now, if we were to concentrate solely on the suburban region of the town, I am certain that we…"

"What is the meaning of this?" Gevanni shouted, cutting Near off "Why is my nephew a suspect?"

"Gevanni" Near said defensively "We cannot omit anyone from the investigation. Everyone in that town is a suspect, including your nephew."

Gevanni simply looked at Near; he never expected him to go this far, and yet, he had a valid point. Gevanni had read the reports and heard of Suichi Aizawa's suspicions towards Light Yagami and the behavior of Soichiro Yagami towards the idea of his son being Kira.

Gevanni was smarter than to let his emotions get in the way of the investigation; he then turned towards both Rester and Lidner and gave out a defeated sigh "Understood, sir." He finally said.

"Good" Near responded, twirling his hair in his index finger "Now as I was saying. I believe this new Kira either denied or is unaware of the deal to acquire the eyes of a Shinigami and thus is unable to figure out a person's name simply by looking at them. This gives us an advantage; I say we use it."

"What do you propose we do?" Lidner asked.

"I already thought of something" Near responded "I have a contact living in Detroit who can help us. He was part of the Philippine National Police and moved to America during the original Kira investigation. I could contact him to provide us with Intel on the region before going there ourselves. Once we've gathered enough Intel" Near then removed a block from one the white house which slowly fell apart "We will simply spring the trap."

"Brilliant" Gevanni thought "He's put a lot of thought into how he plans to catch Kira. I only hope this contact of his is reliable, we don't want a repeat of the incident with the FBI agents sent to Japan during the first investigation."

"All the pieces are in place" Near thought "I will see this through all the way. I just hope that Mello's old contact is willing to cooperate. He trusted Mello, but there is little guarantee that he will trust me. I have to try, he was of great help last time; we need him."

Detroit, Michigan

"I'm home" Ernesto shouted, soon after he noticed his wife and daughter in the living room watching a news report. The subject was, of course, Kira. Ernesto sighed as he sat down next to them.

"When is this gonna stop?" Ernesto's wife, Marisol, asked worried "When will this monster learn?"

"Calm down, mom" her daughter, Stella, replied calmly "This L guy is gonna catch him."

Ernesto rolled his eyes at his daughter's indifferent response. She had always been that way and hardly took anything seriously. It had been like this during the first investigation.

Ernesto remembered that, during this time, he worked undercover. His task was to infiltrate a mafia group who had just kidnapped the director of the Japanese Task Force at the time. There he met a man called Mello, who informed him that he was planning to catch Kria.

He hadn't heard from Mello since Kiyomi Takada, Kira's spokesperson, was found dead at a burnt down church. Shortly thereafter, the killings stopped.

Now history was repeating itself, Ernesto wondered if Mello would get involved again or at the very least his rival Near.

Suddenly, the house phone began to ring. "I'll get it" Stella said as she stood up and walked towards the phone. "Hello?" Ernesto continued to watch the news while his wife looked worried that this nightmare would never end. "Dad, it's for you." Ernesto then turned towards his daughter who handed him the phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

"This is Near" said a distorted voice "I take it you are Ernie Nardini."

"That was the name I took when I was undercover" Ernesto responded "Surely Mello has told you that…"

"Mello is dead." Ernesto's eyes widened at the sudden news. Now it made sense, he couldn't get in contact with Mello because Kira must have gotten to him. "But, yes. He did tell me about you. I am in need of your assistance. I have reason to believe Kira is hiding in the town of Royal Woods Michigan, I need your help to figure out who it is."

"I no longer serve with the police." Ernesto responded "I left that life after losing contact with Mello."

"I am aware of that, and I won't hold it against you if you disagree to aid in the investigation. Still, I will send you an email just in case you change your mind. If you chose to help us, send me an email and I will contact you as soon as possible. I look forward to speaking with you again."

As soon as Near hung up, Ernesto turned towards his family. This was something he didn't want to put them through for a second time. Part of the reason Stella was so nonchalant was because of his line of work.

"What should I do?" he asked himself "I want Kira stopped, but I can't do this to my family a second time. I need to think this through."

Royal Woods, Michigan (September 22nd 2016)

It had been a weak since Near's challenge, and Lincoln was preparing for their inevitable confrontation. At this moment, Lincoln was rethinking his strategy. Near had tricked him into revealing his location by playing an online game. This was a revelation to Lincoln; he could not afford to be careless again.

"I need to rethink my approach." Lincoln thought to himself "Near is clearly plotting to lure me into a trap. I can't be so careless again, I need to beat him. For Lori's sake."

For Lori's sake. He kept telling himself that. He was convinced that he was doing this for his sister. But at the same time, he began to question his actions. Something he hadn't done until Near entered the picture. Each time, his family (aside from Lisa) would often give negative comments about Kira. He wondered how they would react if they discovered that Kira had been living under their roof this whole time.

Lincoln shook his head "No, I'm doing this for them. So that they won't have to live in fear anymore. I'm not like Light Yagami, I don't wish to become a God, and I won't make the same mistake he made."

Lincoln then turned towards his wrist watch and realized something. "I should get ready for school." Lincoln looked out of his bedroom door and noticed his sisters were all lined up for the bathroom. "I only wish we didn't have to do this every morning." He then grabbed his comb, shaving cream and razor and walked towards the line.

Several minutes later everyone was standing at the door when suddenly, Lincoln's phone started ringing. "Hello?" he said as he picked it up "Oh, hi Clyde. What's up?"

"Hey, Lincoln" Clyde said on the other end "Did you hear, a new girl just entered School. I hear she's cute. I think you should ask her out."

Lincoln rolled his eyes "I already told you, Clyde. I'm not interested in a relationship right now. Besides, how can I ask her out? I don't even know her." Lincoln suddenly heard squeals from behind him, he turned to see his sisters all jumping up and down with smiles on their faces, he groaned inwardly. "Oh, great" he thought to himself.

"Lincoln, this is great." Lori stated as she hugged his leg.

"Yeah, Bro." Luna stated "That way you can finally have a girlfriend, like we all wanted."

"Girls, we talked about this." Lincoln said sternly "I'm not interested in a relationship right now."

"Then when will you be interested?" Lucy asked. Lincoln's eye began to twitch; Lucy noticed this and lowered her gaze towards the ground "Oh, right. Sorry"

Lincoln sighed as he looked at his sisters "Listen, girls." He said softly "I get that you want me to have a girlfriend, but I'm just not interested right now. You know I haven't had a stable relationship since…Ronnie Anne and I broke up."

The sisters all looked towards the ground, still remembering the event as if it were only yesterday.

It happened while Lincoln was still in middle school, he and Ronnie Anne had been dating for several months, and then one day it abruptly ended.

"Look, Lincoln" Ronnie Anne stated "It's not that I don't like you anymore. You're a great guy, but I don't think this is going to work."

"Lincoln, that was 5 years ago" Lucy stated "Get over it."

Lincoln simply sighed and turned towards the door. "We'd better go" he said "We don't wanna be late for school."

Soon after, Lincoln boarded the bus that would lead him to school. Suddenly, he noticed an empty seat next to a girl he had never seen before. She had short black hair, tanned skin and wore a white sweater with a red star and a long black skirt.

"I couldn't hurt to keep her company" he thought as he walked towards the empty seat. "Do you mind if I sit here?" The girl looked up at the white haired teen.

"Sure" she said as Lincoln sat next to her.

"So, you're new to Royal Woods?"

"Yeah, it's lonely being the new kid in town."

"Well, maybe you just haven't met the right people yet."

The girl looked over at Lincoln and began to blush a little, Lincoln noticed this and began to swear a little.

"You're quite the ladies' man, aren't you?" Cepi chuckled, Lincoln shot him a glare. "I was only joking, geez."

"Oh, where are my manners." Lincoln said, turning towards the girl "My name is Lincoln, Lincoln Loud." He extended his hand towards her "what's yours?"

The girl grabbed his hand and began to shake it "I'm Stella, Stella Nardini."

"Yeah, right." Lincoln heard Cepi say in a half-whisper.

However, as the bus drove off, Lincoln noticed a man with tanned skin, short black hair and a short mustache wearing a trench coat and Stetson hat standing at the Bus stop.

"Alright, Near" he thought as he got into his car "This better be worth it."

Author's note: So, what did you guys think of that chapter? What do you think is gonna happen next? This is just the first part of a story arc which will culminate with Lincoln and Near meeting for the very first time.

As always, Read and Review, and stay tuned for the next chapter.