See? Extra chapter, as promised, and on the same day 'cause I forgot yesterday's update~
Beyond Birthday, walking towards his execution, blindfolded, hands and knees bound. Was that Gevanni leading him to the noose hanging from the ceiling? Possibly. Sam stood watching, in the execution chamber. L was beside her as they watched. They'd won, and he'd be executed for all he'd done, just as most criminals were dying at the hands of Kira. But then, as the rope was placed around B's neck, he smiled.
And the trapdoor was released.
B dropped, and was hanged.
It was over.
Laughter rang in their ears from within the trapdoor, and Sam and L went to look down, finding Beyond no longer blindfolded, gazing up at nothing with red eyes and releasing choking, hysterical laughter. "You can't kill me!" he cried to the heavens, his unseeing eyes slightly unnerving. "I've died before, and I lived again. I'm immortal, you filthy human scum! I'm a god!" He burst into another long cackle. "I'll haunt you to your deaths, if you leave me, and I will reap your souls like the human shinigami I am!" And he laughed, and laughed, and laughed….
"Samantha," someone whispered in reality, and something shook her awake.
Her eyes shot open in surprise, having thought it was BB that had shaken her. "B?" she asked frantically, her eyes searching through the darkness.
"No, no," replied the figure before her, outlined by the city lights coming from the window. "It was just a nightmare. I'd rather you not think of me as B, thank you."
"L," she sighed in relief, her head hitting the pillow. Drowsiness returned. She looked over to L's usual chair… where L was still sitting in his signature position, sleeping. She looked back at the figure confusedly, her brain clouded with fatigue. "How the hell are you in two places at once?" she slurred, already falling back into slumber.
"Well, this is a dream too," he replied. "Does this seem at all like reality?"
Sam blinked slowly, trying not to let her eyes roll back into her head. "I dunno."
"Here," he said, holding out his hand. "It's almost morning. Let's go on an adventure before you wake up."
"Before I…?" She blinked again, shaking her head. "Okay then." She took his hand.
"See," he said, pulling her up to her feet, "if you wake me up, then I may die, because I'm not in myself anymore."
"That's horrible."
"Yes, and then this will be just another nightmare."
"And it'll all be Light's fault," she mumbled.
"Yes. Light is very annoying," L replied, leading her gently to the door.
"Mm-hmm," Sam agreed.
L opened the door and led her out, and Sam was bemused by the fact the hotel lights were off. "Shouldn't the lights be on?"
"Well, this is a dream. Anything can happen in dreams. I could turn into a fairy and it wouldn't be weird at all."
Sam blinked. "Yes it would."
He shrugged. "Well, yes, but it's still possible. I'm a weird person, and I am fairly sure that I exist." He began leading her down the stairs.
"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure you exist too…. L… I'm Sleep Drunk…. Sorry…. It's your fault…."
"My fault? I thought it was Light's."
"Oh, right," she said, and laughed tiredly. "Where are we going again?"
"On an adventure," he responded.
"Why?"
"Because we're explorers."
"Dora, Dora, Dora, the Explorah!" she sang, then groaned. "I hate Dora…."
"Me too, whoever she is."
"I know, right?" She let out a long, droning hum as they walked into the hall of the floor below her room. "I wanna pet your hairrr…."
"I'd rather you not."
"Nooo…," she whined, then pounced on him, nuzzling his hair. "Your hair is so niiice…."
"Well, thank you."
Sam frowned bemusedly, then got off and pet his hair again. L frowned at her in the dark. "Your hair… is fluffy," she said.
"…Yes."
"It's not supposed to be fluffy."
"I'm sorry."
"Your hair is supposed to be fluffy and soft and poofy. Who are you and what have you done with L?"
"Why, L is upstairs; I did nothing with him."
"Oh, okay." Sam paused. "Wait…." And it hit Sam like a slap to the face. "Shit."
B grinned, his teeth glinting the dark. "Did you wake up yet, Samantha?"
"I hate you," she said bluntly, then tried to run. She didn't make it, and Beyond slammed her against the wall. Her head spun at the impact, and she tried to blink the stars away. L, where the hell are you?! she thought urgently.
Somewhere else, L woke up with a jolt, a horrible headache pounding in his head. He'd only been asleep for a minute...
Back to Sam, as a switchblade slipped out of B's pocket. The blade flipped out, the silver glinting in the light of the city shining through the window at the end of the hall. "Well, Samantha, everyone has a set destiny," he said, pressing his forearm against her neck, thus holding her to the wall. She released a choked gasp, her hands grasping at his arm. She kinda needed air. She tried kicking at him. It didn't work too well. "Each path is different, each destiny differs, and it is impossible to read. But every path ends at the same place: death. And I am always waiting at the end; I can read everyone's ending." He leaned closer and whispered, "Your end is now."
She tried to speak, failed, and tried again. "You—you're killing me—even though I'm not—technically—supposed to die? Bas—tard…."
"Sorry, Samantha, but you have the Bond with my greatest rival, and I assume you know I like to experiment. What would happen if a Bond was broken through death? How would it affect the survivor? I'll be honest; I'm curious. Besides…" - his voice seemed to lower - "...I have the gift to see these things," he said, speaking softly. "I have the right to choose how to use it. It's my inhuman power. I'm above humankind."
"So—you have a God complex, too? Meh! Why is no one coming to help me?! Can no one hear this?!"
"This floor is empty," he replied. "I booked all the rooms."
"Damn it…. How do you even do that?!"
"Now, don't worry, Samantha, I try to make things as painless as possible."
She wanted to say that she was already in pain, and therefore he was an idiot, but he had slipped a syringe out of his pocket, and Sam could only stare at it. She did, of course, hate needles with a passion. She also feared spiders and hospitals and guys with chainsaws and nuns, but that was beside the point.
"I'm terribly sorry for your loss," he said apologetically, his tone warm. Now, that was an act, obviously. The needle inched closer to her neck, and she cringed as none other than L slid underneath B and stood between the two, shoving Sam back into the wall with one hand and B away with the other.
"Whoo, go L!" Sam cheered weakly, her voice cracking as she slid to the ground.
L bent his legs and kicked upwards, aiming for B's face, but B caught his foot and held it there, whereon L slid back beneath B again, thus flipping him over. But B somersaulted backwards and jumped right back to his feet, which L anticipated and so he kicked at him again. B ducked and pounced forward like a cat, rising as he went and throwing a punch at the last moment. Here, L was taken off-guard and fell backwards, half-flipping over and bending his spine farther than was comfortable.
Sam put her hand to her head. Ow.
L rolled back over, but B was the one who pulled him to his feet, yanking him up by his shirt and thus driving his fist right into L's gut.
Sam gasped, grabbing her stomach. Oh, don't tell me this is the Bond doing this….
L grabbed B's wrist tight and backed up, and they circled each other like this until L was the one closest to Sam and B was farther, facing L and Sam. It was at this point B flung the knife at L, who dodged and let go of B's wrist. Sam let out a yelp as it stuck in the wall right next to her head. B made a running somersault forward, then jumped up behind L and began putting his arm around his neck to put him in a chokehold, but L grabbed his arm and flipped B over him, consequently leaving B to land on his back.
"Hm," B remarked, then somersaulted backwards to get to his feet, wheeling around to face L immediately afterward. His stance no longer suggested a fight; rather, it was relaxed and even casual. He looked at L closely, scrutinizing him. "L," he said.
L relaxed in his stance only slightly, still ready to attack. "B," he returned.
"This is epic," Sam remarked under her breath. "…And I'm fangirling…."
Sam was ignored. "It's nice," B commented. "I finally get to meet you face-to-face. I'm honored."
"Are you now?" L responded. "May I ask, then, why we were fighting just now?"
"Why, that's just who we are. Competing against one another, yes?"
"Yes," L agreed.
"I'll win," B added.
"We shall see. Neither of us can foretell the future."
"That's true, but we can always remember the past." He flashed L a grin. "This case as a whole brings back memories, doesn't it?" The smile disappeared as fast as it had appeared. "Tell me, L, do you remember meeting me, at any point in your life?"
"No," L responded immediately.
"Oh, what a shame," B replied. "I remember you just fine. It was as you returned to Wammy's for the last time before you left for good, but of course you wouldn't notice me…. That's fine, though. Look at the situation now! Who knew I'd grow up to be like this, huh?" And he laughed. Sam frowned uncomfortably. "Well," he said, now addressing Sam, "it seems our time is up; I'm terribly sorry we couldn't spend more time together." He gave her a bow, then ran, already at the stairs in a matter of moments.
"Aren't we going after him?" asked Sam. "He just tried to kill me. Again."
"Well, we can't," L replied. "I have yet to accuse him of his crimes."
"Right…." And suddenly, the lights came back on, causing Sam to shield her eyes and groan. "The light… it burns…."
"Psst…," someone hissed in my ear the next morning. "Aunt Natalie…."
I opened my eyes blearily, my senses not yet about me. "What am I doing in Natalie's…? Wait…." I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I am Natalie," I muttered to myself. My mind started to re-sort itself as reality began coming back to me. "Good morning, Anna," I greeted, then forced myself to sit up.
"Did you have any weird dreams?" she asked me. "I had a dream that me, you, Sierra, and Sam all went on an adventure, and Matsuda was an elf who helped us on our way. It was weird, because Light kept trying to kill us, and on the way we found Near beating Mello with a fish."
I blinked at her. "Well, that's interesting."
Sierra rolled over and looked at us with misty eyes. "I had a dream about dancing pickles," she told us.
I cocked my head to the side. "It's weird when I sleep," I commented. "Basically, my mind just merges with Light's." I shrugged. "I can't remember any dreams."
"So you'd have the same dreams, then?" asked Anna.
"Or can you not have dreams?" Sierra put in. "That'd suck…."
I shook my head. "We haven't had any dreams as of yet, but we're sure we'd end up sharing them if we were to have any." I frowned. "I used 'we' again. Meh." A sigh escaped my lips, and I stood, heading to the kitchen to grab a donut. Once my food had been snatched, I began to eat as I headed to the stairs to get some clothes for the day.
"We'll be down here, then!" Sierra called, still curled up in her blanket.
I gave a wave in response, and disappeared up the stairs. I headed to the closet immediately, but instead of picking clothes, I slipped into the secret passage and up to the attic, where I tore out some pages of the Note and handed the actual notebook to Ryuk. After this, I headed right back down the stairs.
"Oh," said Ryuk in surprise, "you actually listened to me last night?"
Actually, no. I'd already known what I needed to do, I thought idly, reemerging in the closet.
"You can talk to me, you know."
Maybe, but I don't have to, I pointed out thoughtfully, pulling out a shirt. I grabbed some pants and closed the door before looking at Ryuk with a single eyebrow raised. My hand waved at him as I signaled for him to leave.
"Oh, I'll… just go now. See ya." And he flipped his wings and flew up through the ceiling.
When I had changed and brushed my teeth and all those other necessities, I called a farewell to my nieces and headed out the door. The sky was dark with clouds, though there was an occasional ray of sunlight peeking through the grey mass. I ran my hand through my hair as I walked down the driveway, looking up at said sky. "Probably going to be a storm tonight," I commented to myself.
Yeah, I agree, Light responded.
Did you watch the weather this morning? If you did, it should say.
No, I generally don't.
True, but I'm sure Matsuda will know.
Will he? I thought he only watched the most popular of things.
That's also true, but he watches the news, too.
Oh, yes, he does, doesn't he? And if it's a particularly bad storm, then he'll know it first.
Yeah. Oh, I do love thunderstorms. You think it'll be a thunderstorm?
Well, by the look of the clouds, yes.
That's great!
Light and I often still made conversation through thought like this, but really, any question asked we already knew the answer to if the other knew it. We really only did it to make things seem more normal. Sometimes, though, we'd end up thinking too far ahead and the conversation would drop because there was simply no point to it any longer. That last step of the mind sync… it could be confusing….
Light, Matsuda, and a guy that looked vaguely familiar were talking at our place by the coffee maker, talking about something or other. (They were talking about Mello, if you wish to know.) "Good morning, Natsumi!" Matsuda greeted brightly, then said to the vaguely recognizable man, "That's the supposedly psychic one."
I chuckled. "So I'm psychic, now?" I asked. "Whose future am I telling?"
"Who am I?" the man asked, pointing to himself.
I stared at him for a moment, cocking my head to the side. "Black hair that's swept forward, black glasses… I think I remember you."
"Remember? We never met…."
"And that's the point," Matsuda said with a nod.
"Didn't your name start with a Y? You were a recent addition to the task force, and were in Matsuda's and Aizawa's and the others' group just a few years from now…. You'd gotten promoted." Yes, I remembered now, he was from the one-shot epilogue of the manga. "And you and Matsuda were good friends, going out drinking together occasionally." I looked at Matsuda. "And boy, Matsuda, you sure are a troublemaker when you're drunk."
The man laughed nervously as Matsuda yelped a, "H-hey!"
Light chuckled. "Well, we need to go to the meeting in Aizawa's office, remember, Matsuda?"
"Oh, right!" Matsuda responded.
"By the way," said the young man with the glasses, "my name's Yamamoto. Nice meeting you.'
"Nice meeting you too," I smiled and Light, Matsuda and I headed to Aizawa's office.
"I'll be looking forward to that promotion in a few years!" Yamamoto called after us, and I laughed.
Into Aizawa's office we went; we just had to wait for Mogi. Mello was sitting idly in his chair, silent as ever, on the screen. It was kinda scary if you think about it. I mean, really, this was Mello: the guy who blew up a base while he was still in it, the guy who held a gun to Anna's forehead, the guy with horrible anger management problems. Why was he just sitting there? You'd think he'd be at least pacing irately, but… nothing.
Mogi soon came in the door, and the meeting commenced. "Alright," said Aizawa, "we've ended the Mello case."
"Now what?" asked Ide. "There aren't all that many criminal cases now."
"Maybe we can join the Kira case now!" Matsuda exclaimed hopefully.
"I don't think that can work, Matsuda," Light responded.
"Why not?"
"Well," I said, "just think about it. We worked on the Kira case for five or six years, and Kira ended up being right under our noses."
"Near likely thinks of us as insufficient," Light put in. "He wants only to work with the SPK, that's all. He doesn't trust us to do this, and to be frank he thinks I'm Kira yet again, so of course he isn't going to trust us."
"It is true that in an indirect way, Near needed Mello," I added. "So, it might be that he needs help, but I don't think he'll be coming to us."
Light nodded. "More likely, he'll find some discreet way to break Mello out."
"We'll up the security, then," Aizawa said decidedly.
"Even though Mello doesn't look like he wants to do anything right now…," Matsuda pointed out.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he's just thinking," Ide replied.
"Still," Matsuda answered. "But wait, why can't we just investigate Kira on our own? We can do that, can't we?"
"We could," Aizawa conceded, "but I just don't feel it's right for us to do that."
"Why not?"
Aizawa opened his mouth to speak, but it was Mello, of all people, who cut him off. It scared the crap out of Matsuda. After all, Mello had been utterly silent for days. But here and now, he stood abruptly, grabbed his chair, and threw it at the wall. "Damn it!" he snapped.
All eyes were on his screen at that, as he began to pace irately. (Oh, so now he paces.) Aizawa coughed, then pressed the connection button, leaned over, and spoke into the microphone. "Something wrong, Mello?"
"Yes!" he barked, wheeling to glare at the camera. "Can you not see that I am in a fucking cell right now?!"
"You seemed okay with it before," Matsuda mumbled.
Mello proceeded to pace again. "What was that place?" He muttered to himself. "God damn it; it made me remember…."
Fun Fact: The nightmare Sam had at the beginning of this chapter... I think I got the idea for it after watching the music video for "Blood On My Hands" by The Used. :3
...I love The Used.
Review? For...pacing?