CHAPTER 43:
"Special Operative 'S'"
Light Yagami fell to his knees in utter defeat. He looked up at Ryuk, and the Shinigami gave him a curious look but with a devilish grin. Ryuk could attack everyone and he could make his escape, but Ryuk wasn't doing that.
"Hey Light, question," the Shinigami asked. "What's next? You're going to jail now, huh? But I certainly don't want to come with you, how boring. No telling when you'll die. So?"
"So, what?"
"Just say those four little words you said before when you were imprisoned in L's cell and I'll be on my way. Your memories will remain with you of the Death Note, now embedded in your psyche since after being resurrected from Quindecim, but I won't have to be chained to you. You know, the same thing you said when you didn't want L to find out you were Kira, something about getting rid of your useless pride."
Light thought back to that time, he remembered it vividly. He also felt sick to his stomach, too, because L wouldn't let him shower for days, even weeks, keeping him handcuffed behind his back, and wearing the same clothes. He lost a lot of weight. He even went on a hunger strike to make L release him, but it didn't work.
He kept getting asked the same questions: "Who is Kira?" "Are you Kira?" "How does Kira kill people?" and he kept telling L, because he had lost his memories of the Death Note, "I don't know!"
L, or Ryuzaki, as he went by back then, even went so far as to ask him: "Did you, or have you, ever participated in animal rituals, and/or proclaimed an oath to Lucifer? Broaching some form of covenant with the undead?"
When he thought back, after he got his memories back, after killing the Third Kira, Higuchi Kyosuke, he revisited the covenant question, and in a way, he had broached one with Ryuk—for god-like powers.
When he released Ryuk after a week being confined in L's cell, he did speak a release-code to Ryuk, and the words came back him now. "Get rid of it." As in to get rid of his useless pride. But he refused to say it now. If he was going to jail, then Ryuk would have suffer for his role in all this mess with him.
But all was not lost. There was still the Alpha Guard that was in the upper drawer of his fingerprint protected desk. No one but he could access it. No, that wasn't true. Demmy thought he was being discreet, but he secretly added his fingerprints to the scanner, so he could access the drawer. The same went for his computer. He wasn't stupid. However, he knew Demmy had only done that as a safeguard just in case something happened.
Like now. And yet, with everything locked up—what evidence does L really have to prosecute me? Nothing! This ring? It looks nothing more than a gold ring wore by a rich CEO of a large business. Something of power and distinction, nothing supernatural in origin.
It was too bad Matsuda or Aizawa wasn't there, then he could use it on them like Matt. But they were probably too far away, the ring needed close proximity to work.
But L, and Near, had full authority to hold him for any length of time. Or, send him away without legality, his rights waived, for being Kira. And since he was officially dead, they didn't need to go through any court to put him away.
The situation was hopeless. He swore under his breath. He had lost again. But Demmy would come for him. L could take him anywhere, but his friend would find him. Demmy and Takada would not abandon him.
He got to his feet and extended his hands out, putting them together. "I'm yours, L. I surrender," he said. "I don't want to be shot again. You have no idea how much that hurts."
"I could only imagine, Light," L said.
L just curiously happened to have a pair of handcuffs in his back jeans pocket and he snapped them around Light's wrists. Then he removed the ring from around his finger. L looked at it and found the inscription on the inside. It was written in Latin, but Light knew L could read it.
"In Death God's We Trust…" L said, "…how cute."
L turned, looked at Clavis, who had retrieved his katana. Then L tossed the ring towards him, and Clavis swiped the sword through the air, cutting it in two. It immediately disintegrated, and the ring turned to dust particles, blowing away in an invisible breeze, disappearing in a ghostly manner.
Light sighed. The ring disappearing was symbolic of his freedom. He was glad he decided to give his gift, the other ring, to Takada as they made their way here, or he not have the opportunity. He proposed to her in the car and told her if anything happened to him to escape. And he told her that he had a secret place that not even Demetre knew about. She agreed, and now he was glad he had done what he did and made those arrangements.
But no doubt, L would eventually go after Demmy for his role in all this. He hoped his friend would survive it.
"From dust to dust," L said. "It was a weaponized Death Note, but now its influence will be no more. It's victims free of its influence, and that includes Matsuda and Aizawa who are in the RV, by the way. When poor Matt wakes up, he's going to have the worse headache in the world. But it had to be done."
Castra shrugged. "Some men need a good walloping," she said. "Call that payback for his male misogyny earlier."
"Done," L agreed.
Light gasped shock. "Wait, what? Do you mean Matsuda and Aizawa are here, too?"
"Yes, when Morph attacked our new command centre, ACT—the Action Command Transport, now used by The New Kira Task Force—he did a lot of damage, and knocked everyone off their feet, unconscious, with injuries. You already encountered Jasper Yuta…whom we should look at; he looked like he had a nasty head wound…" Castra said she would do that, and left. "Matt here, Near, and Raye Penber, including Clavis and Castra from Quindecim. They—we—are all members of The New Kira Task Force. All dedicated to finding you and to stop the rebirth of Kira—Kira 2.0."
"Well, you may have me right now, but it's only temporary, L."
"Spoken like a true megalomaniac, threatening revenge." L then gestured with a finger. "Ah, but I have one final surprise for you, Light. And one I know that'll really shock you. I know you're going to get a real kick out of this. We managed to bring back one other person from Quindecim. You can relax, it's not Misa Amane. I actually requested him, because of his skill set, and previous expertise. And he's been instrumental in helping us out."
L gestured to the RV, and just then, with the sound of debris crushing underfoot, the mysterious sharpshooter came out of the shadows. He found and picked up the rifle he used to shoot Demetre Draycott, and quickly checked it over.
Light's eyes went wider than L had ever see anyone's ever go.
"Oh, my, god! D-dad?" Light shuttered. "You're alive? But that explosion, Mello killed you?"
Soichiro Yagami approached his son, he wore all dark clothing. And unlike the last time Light had seen his father, his hair now was a deep brown, not subjected to grey indicative of stress. He wore the same brand of heavy upper rimmed glasses with the lens exposed below.
Light knew with his father's training in weapons and fire arms as a police offer that his father knew how to fire a rifle. In fact, when he, Demmy, and his father took those annual summer survival trips to the family cottage when Light was younger, he taught him and Demmy how to shoot game for food, and his father was an expert shot.
"I did die, son," his father said. "But I also wrote in a Death Note remember? So, I sent to Quindecim. But because I couldn't pass on, I was given the task of Head of Security for the realm. Ironic, like in life, I was a keeper of the peace in death. I regret shooting Demetre, but it had to be done. I never took him to be like you, he was such a nice kid. You two have been friends since childhood, but you've always found ways to manipulate people."
"He helped me of his own free will, Dad. Demmy is my friend. And he would never betray me, not like you did."
Soichiro gave Light an admonishing stare. Light cast his eyes aside, abashed. His words shameful. He was Kira, but he had always feared his father. He was the kind of man who could stare directly into a person's soul and give that person a heart attack with the anxiety it caused.
Light remembered once when he and Demetre were just kids and they were playing ball in their old house, they were about seven years old, and they accidentally hit the table where Light's grandmother's ashes were being displayed, knocking it over. The vase smashed. His father was furious. He had told them many times not to play ball in the house. Demetre was sent home, said his parents would be called, and Light was grounded for a month, with no electronics. Oddly enough, that was when he began to read more, and delved into his studies. So, while he was being punished, he developed a new sense of self. That was a valuable and changing point in his life.
Like now. And I had a reason for doing what I did.
"Dad, I can explain. Please, let me explain. You need to hear my side of the story."
"Enough!" Soichiro Yagami said loudly. "I know everything, Light. I even know about your mother and Sayu visiting you at Tsuku-Yoki Towers. I was spying on you with a highly sophisticated telescope that could see through your tinted windows. You designed those windows so no one could see in, but technology has changed. And I saw you with your mother and Sayu. You put your hands on my sweet daughter, you murderous son-of-bitch!"
"Mr. Yagami, please settle down," L interjected. "Light, meet my secret weapon in the war on Kira. He was given the name 'S', so if anyone heard me speaking to him or about him, no one would know to whom I was speaking with."
"You don't understand, none of you understood what I was trying to do! This world is rotten and those who are making it rotten deserve to die. I became Kira to help this world. But, I admit, I did lose my way for a time. My ambition for a better world where only good people lived fell by the wayside when I kept getting attacked by the very people I thought wanted what I wanted, even my owner father and colleagues. I had to counter-attack."
"BASTARD!" came Matsuda's voice.
He and Aizawa suddenly came out from behind the RV. Castra had obviously helped them, and told them what was happening. Jasper and Penber with Near in tow then joined them, their wounds attended to.
Penber went to check Matt. "He's okay, but he'll be out for a while," Raye said.
"Don't you dare, Matsuda!" Light said, pointing at him. "You even agreed with Kira's philosophy at one point. So, don't you dare suddenly get all high and mighty. And you also shot me! Don't think I haven't forgotten about that."
"I'll shoot you again, and again, and again, if I have to," Matsuda retorted.
"Why doesn't anyone understand what I'm trying to do? Crime dropped by nearly seventy-percent when Kira ruled the world. Criminals ran in fear, hid in the shadows, and the world was finally becoming safe for normal people, who just wanted to live their lives in peace. I will not apologize for that. I did what I felt was right. Kira's vision is everlasting. And you can't stop the Grand Agenda, L. The seeds have been planted, the die caste."
"And the cliches overused," L said back facetiously.
Light clenched his teeth. "Don't mock me, L."
His father had tears falling down his cheeks. "I'm so ashamed of you, son. This pains me to say, but I wish you had never been born. You are a devil!"
"Fuck you, Dad! Fuck you all! I am KIRA!"
All of a sudden, Soichiro Yagami raised the rifle he picked up—L put up his hands in an attempt to stop his actions, but it did no good—and fired several shots at his son.
Light felt each shot enter his body, the red hot lead piercing his skin, shredding his muscle tissue, entering his organs, and he was thrown back by the impact. He hit the ground hard and then spit up blood.
L ran over to him, and Light saw the detective standing over him.
"Mr. Yagami, that won't work. You son is basically immortal now."
"I know, I heard. But it felt good. I can finally be done with him. Ryuzaki, lock him up and throw away the key."
L nodded slowly. "I intend to," he said, "and locked away. Forever."
To be continued...