CHAPTER 23:
"ACT"

When Demetre received the call that Light had not made it to his destination—Light told him that he was leaving for a few hours with his driver, but didn't tell anyone where he was going—Demetre had just stopped off at a neighbourhood eatery to pick up some green tea and bite to eat. He was dressed casually, but smart. Despite his life as Light's right hand man for the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation, he still enjoyed something that Light could not: freedom.

Before Light left, Matsuda and Aizawa were dealt with. When they finally awoke on the floor in Light's office, they were each told they had fainted, respectfully, of separate issues—the Death Note ring reinforcing the lies.

Matsuda was told he fell ill after suffering a reaction to one of the snacks, possibly allergic, and Aizawa, collapsed due to low blood pressure issue. An on-call building's doctor had been on the scene at the time when they awoke.

Dr. Xena Lovecraft, a beautiful woman, and who was one of Light's conquered minions with his Death Note—who later became Light's personal physician, whom of which learned his secret behind the mask—confirmed Demetre's respected stories of each of the detective's issues, and both were treated accordingly.
With a doctor present, both had accepted the diagnosis, and left under their own power. Albeit dazed.

But one thing was done before Matsuda was awaken for which Light decided was prudent.

Matsuda's mouthguard was removed and a new command was issued to Matsuda using Demetre's ring. If it was anyone else, the mouthguard would not have been an issue. But for Matsuda—an ex-Kira Task Force member—it was important to remove it, so no evidence was left behind of their encounter.

Even Aizawa's evidence of Leopold Nétè's mouthguard was taken. There would be questions of its disappearance, but it was best to remove it from the picture or risk them discovering its secret.

Demetre had to admit, Morph had given him a lot more power than he had granted Light. The ring was much more discreet and powerful than a mouthguard.

But Light was Kira, and he was the head of the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation. His word was law. And Demetre would not go against his friend unless it was for a very good reason. But there was no need. Demetre believed wholeheartedly in Light's quest to bring order to the Human World as Kira.

The world was rotten and it needed to be cleansed of the evil that infested it. Demetre knew that God would understand and for his own actions in doing so.
He drove his car to the spot indicated by the phone call, a condo building in downtown Kanto. He confirmed his identity with Security—although he had been to the building before—and took the elevator to the top floor. Once he walked down a hall, he knocked on the door, and was surprised to be let in by Dr. Xena Lovecraft.

She had left Tsuku-Yoki Tower soon after aiding with the detectives hours ago.

And yet, it was no surprise that she was here now after he had been told on the phone what to expect.

"She's here?" he asked. Dr. Lovecraft nodded and lead the way to the main bedroom. "I can't believe it."

When he entered the bedroom, which was regally decorated—again, this had not been the first time he had visited this condo apartment; it was a secondary apartment Light kept for personal reasons—he found Aveeno Tant, another one of Light's conquered minions, standing next to the large bed in the room with a woman asleep under the sheets.

Morph was also present, but he only made himself visible and heard to Demetre.

Demetre didn't need to be told who the woman was, he had seen her before.

It was Kiyomi Takada, a woman who had once been instrumental to Light's/Kira's influence in Japan.

She had attended ToHo University and had been Light's girlfriend. She later went on to become a NHN newscast journalist, and the spokesperson to Kira. But she died in a truck fire after being kidnapped by one of Light's enemies. The kidnapper also dying in the same fire after suffering a major heart attack.
He was shocked to see her. Kiyomi Takada of all people, here.

He looked at Morph, and rose his brow, as if to project the question, without audibly asking: "Care to explain this?"

Morph shrugged. He said out loud: "Rips in the space-time continuum are known to occur when cosmic forces push at weak points, causing, in some instances, the deceased to return. But this is not an abnormality. It is by design."

"Really?"

"Really, what, sir?" Dr. Lovecraft inquired. She stood next to the bed. Lovecraft had a lovely bedside manner. Kiyomi Takada was in very good hands. Xena was a really beautiful woman.

Demetre backtracked, clearing his throat, realizing the mistake he made in responding to Morph audibly. "I mean, this is a really interesting development," he said. "I thought Kiyomi Takada was dead? Everyone thought she had died in an unfortunate vehicle accident that burst into flames; maybe not," he lied. He knew the truth.

"Kiyomi Takada's appearance here is by design," Morph then said. "I was told by my spy in Quindecom, before he was caught, that she was put to work in one of their low-level administrative departments. I had asked my spy, if and when he found any more Death Note users to send them back the Human World using a time device. Since she could neither be resurrected or enter the Void, using a Death Note, she agreed to come back. She has yet to regain consciousness from the ordeal of her return. It traumatizes some people—not all, but some."

Demetre gave a small grunt in acknowledgement.

Aveeno revealed she was the one who had called Shinto Izanagi when Takada had been found.

"When word got to one our contacts that a person of her description had been found in a woman's shelter taken there by a concerned citizen when she had been found wandering a back alley like someone who had been abused, disorientated, and only wearing something she would find out of a dumpster, according to information I was given, we checked it out. Mr. Izanagi just happened to ask me days earlier, that if anyone of her description was ever found, under any circumstances, that she be brought here, and he be contacted immediately."

"I had told Light of my plans to bring more Death Note users back to the Human World," Morph said. "He must have thought, by chance, Kiyomi Takada may be one of them, and issued this directive to his people?"

Good call, Demetre thought. Light never told me where he was going when he left Tsuku-Yoki Tower. Now I know where, here. "Hopefully, Takada will tell us where she's been all this time? Maybe she did survive the fire, but lost her memory when she hit her head trying to escape suffering long-term amnesia? It has been known to happen."

A huge lie.

He then called Light, but it went straight to voicemail.

Where the devil are you, Light?

x x x

Menace had used his abilities to instantly teleport the New Kira Task Force to Japan from England. Since all the action was taking place in Japan, it was best to establish a base of operations where they could keep surveillance on the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation, as was what L designated for himself and Nate to do.
Clavis and Castra were asked to find Morph and they had disappeared by their own methods to so do.

And Raye Penber was assigned to infiltrate Tsuku-Yoki Tower and perhaps use Quindecim's disguise technology to his advantage to get closer to Shinto Izanagi.
L had already been in contact with the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation to set up a meeting under the guise in being from Lucky Dragon Industries, who wished to do business with them, pretending to be its CEO. But he figured, his rouse had already been discovered and that was a no-go.

However, when they got to Japan, Nate, apparently, already had everything covered with a command centre.

It was called ACT, or the Action Command Transport, a mobile RV, and it had been in retrofit for the SPK to use against Kira if their battle ended up lasting years. Nate said that they would need a suitable command centre as he knew Kira would eventually compromise their current one. And Kira had. They had to move once, when Kira found them, and killed several members of the SPK. Those that failed to protect their identities on line were all killed.

As L stood in the middle of ACT, which was a large retrofitted luxury RV vehicle, with its own driver's cabin up front, he was in awe at its magnitude.

It had never been used, and when they arrived to where it had been stored, was still under a large tarp, because Nate had managed to foil Light Yagami's plans before it could be fully completed, put into storage. It cost a fortune, but from what L could see—it was well wroth it!

It was filled with the latest high-tech gadgetry. It had two sleeping quarters each with queen size beds, and a pull out sofa bed for added space, shower and toilet facilities, running hot and cold water, a large living area, which was mostly taken up with monitors and computer equipment now, a full kitchen, and had electric heat and air conditioning. And there were three dishes on the roof that connected to a private orbiting satellite.

"You really outdid yourself with this, Nate," L said, with a little exhilaration. "This will no doubt be a huge help in our upcoming battle with Kira and Morph."

L had a finger to his mouth in awe, then he posed that same finger over a computer keyboard under a wall monitor situated on a flip top counter table.

There were five in all. But he stopped himself from touching it for fear of breaking anything. An instruction manual was sitting next to the keyboard. It was the size of a Tom Clancy novel. All the monitors were currently off.

Nate smiled. "I'm glad it can finally come in handy," he said. "We can consider ACT our home base and Op Centre."

Nate then went over and opened up a breaker panel in a wall and flicked on a few switches—he seemed to know exactly what he was doing—and suddenly, every screen came to life: news channels filled three of the screens that lined the side wall—a universal controller was used for each of the televisions.

The other two screens were reserved for computing and search engines came on them up when booted up. Each had autonomous Artificial Intelligence, Nate explained. The keyboards aided in manual use, but speech was mainly used for their operation. Tell it what to do, and it did it. And each had the most sophisticated software and hardwire known to exist with the toughest anti-virus and hacking protocols custom-crafted for the ACT specifically.

L was very pleased and impressed with ACT. Then he smiled to himself when he saw a framed picture of Watari on a wall hanging next to the one of the main quarters. He gazed around and something clicked in his mind. He wasn't sure until now, but something had nagged him the moment he stepped into the RV. The interior configuration of the RV was familiar. Watari had given him a toy one year for Christmas that looked just like this. It was a tribute.

He gave a nod to Nate. "Thank you," he said softly.

And Nate returned his nod with a sheepish grin, as if he knew exactly why the thank-you was for.

"You humans are quite inventive," Menace said. He had his hands placed on his hips, looking everywhere. "If you only spent half your time helping your fellow man instead of building luxury items and weapons of mass destruction, your people would be much better off and would live longer, happier lives."

"In some ways, we have de-evolved into warrior beasts with a god-like arrogance," L replied. "But there are some groups who do well by humanity. But I agree with you, we can do better." L smiled, looking around. "I feel like kid at Christmas, Nate. When I was battling Kira, a single computer was all I had before our de facto headquarters was built in Kanto. As it stands, this warehouse you purchased to house ACT in Tokyo can benefit us greatly. We don't even have to move this thing for it to monitor the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation or Shinto Izanagi's on-goings."

Nate agreed. "The best action plan is to never go out half-cocked," he said. "Always be prepared. It was just too bad ACT was never ready when I was battling Light Yagami. But he under-estimated me."

"Bigger isn't always better. A smart person can MacGyver anything to their advantage. All it takes is knowledge. With knowledge comes power. And with friends, comes leverage. And you outsmarted Light Yagami with his own leverage, using his own allies against him. Hopefully, we can do that again. Now, let's see what this thing can do."

Just then, L's phone rang. He answered it, picking it up from his jeans pocket like he would an antique fragile relic just recently discovered. He put the flip phone to this ear gently. He had caller ID, so he knew who was calling. "Hello Raye, how goes the surveillance of Mr. Shinto Izanagi"

The last thing L was aware of was Raye Penber had infiltrated Tsuku-Yoki Tower, Menace had helped him get in.

Raye Penber relayed some information.

L stood stunned. "What do you mean he's been kidnapped? By whom? Wait, I'll put you on speaker phone." He did. "Raye, please say again what you just told me. Near and Menace are listening in."

"Shinto Izanagi was kidnapped by some maniac on a motorcycle, unknown identity. This is the first moment I could get to call you. I followed them to a large abandoned building…" —and he gave them the address. Raye then went into detail about the appearance of the rider, his clothes, and the style of the bike. His former profession as a detective gave him a distinct advantage in gathering details on the fly.

"Keep us apprized, Raye. And thank you." L ended the call. "Well, things have taken a twist. It would appear that a third party is also interested in our target."

Nate's eyes narrowed with curiosity. "A third party?" Then they widened with a sudden thought. He then reached into his pants pocket for his own phone and dialled a number, immediately putting it on speaker phone. It rang three times before the other end picked up.

"Hey, hey! Near, what's up, bro? How is the reconstruction efforts for Wammy House? Last time we talked—"

"Matt, what the hell did you do? Did you kidnap Shinto Izanagi?"

There was a pause. "Um, yeah! Holy crap! How the hell did you know? No wonder you were the best to take over for L. God, I really miss the guy. I can honestly admit, he was the smartest gamer I know."

Matt? L mouthed to Nate, with a small smirk due to the compliment. L stayed quiet, he didn't want Matt to know about him yet. Nate nodded.

L looked at Menace.

The Imp shrugged his shoulders. "Morph's doing? A rip in the space-time continuum could be bringing people back at random now are connected to Light Yagami and the previous Kira Case somehow," he said. "I told you, he needs to be stopped, or he could cause massive cosmic damage. The moment he brought Light Yagami back, he may have caused any number of things to occur within both space and time. Only Morph will know how to fix things!"

Menace's voice could only be heard by Nate and L because that's what Menace allowed.

Nate then said, "Matt, tell us everything that you've done. Spare no details! Where is Shinto Izanagi?"

L noticed Nate had not called Shinto Light. While they only had a theory, there was no proof one was the other.

Matt filled them in on everything, even his own reason for kidnapping Shinto Izanagi. Money for Wammy House

When the call ended, Nate said, "He kidnapped Izanagi on his own. This was not authorized. I didn't tell you about Matt because we were forming our strategy, L. He called me out of he blue. Even I was shocked he was alive. If Menace is right in what he just said, who knows who else has materialized who is connected to Light Yagami?"

"I'm not mad, Nate," L said. "Shocked that Matt is alive, but not mad. And he spoke of others with him." L shook his head with a snort and a smirk. "I always wondered where Amber Dayz ended up after she left Wammy House. I'm glad to hear she is okay. She chose the alias Chastity? With her personal issues?" He laughed short.

"I'm actually glad we have more allies out there, the more the merrier," he continued. "Now, text Matt back, and have him keep Shinto Izanagi there. I would like to have a conversion with the CEO of Tsuku-Yoki Corporation, and if I'm right, we may not even need ACT…Sorry, Nate."

L then said, "I wonder if you can get in contact with a few old friends of mine, if they're still around? And if it's not too shocking for them, we could apprehend Light Yagami a lot sooner than I thought."

And L told Nate who to call.

To be continued...