A/N: Hey my fellow readers, I apologize for the tardiness. I've been caught up in doing multiple projects at once and it's a pain but I'll pull through. To address some recent reviews...
Guest: I know, Knight and Iris love their children. Here's something to take note of: Because Knight and Iris both grew up as orphans, they were completely in the dark about how to take care of Rain and ArchAngel and because Gilth and Masi never properly raised kids when they were alive, they couldn't help out a lot. And Knight's love for his children is genuine and not manipulation.
To answer your other question, NOW! I was busy updating the third installment of my Sado-Masochism story. For those of you who are fans of a darker Spider-Man, read Sado-Masochism, it's a series about a teenager named David Dante who gets bit by a spider and gains superpowers. He fights crime in the name of Spider-Man, kills criminals in the name of Spider-Man, and is in a relationship with a cat burglar named Black Cat in the name of Spider-Man. If you're interested in seeing my dark Spider-Man series, swing by and click on that Sado-Masochism button.
...Man, I sounded like a promoter for a commercial, LOL.
March 29th, 2044, 2:00 AM
Moscow, Russia
After Ice hung up on the phone, she turned to her husband with a small smile on her face. "Looks like our kids are safe and sound back in Murasaki's house."
Knight sighed like he's been holding a breath since the day he was born. "That's a relief."
With our children behind bars, they won't be able to act as Kira while we're away. I better send them a list of people to kill ASAP.
After his momentary relief was over, his rage for what Kuroki had done had returned twofold and he marched back into the room where he left her.
"Get dressed, we're leaving."
"Are the Russian police going to let us leave?" Kuroki asked.
"We'll make them make us leave."
"Forcing something to do something they don't want to do, the beauty of a killer notebook."
Knight gestured for Kuroki to follow. "Hurry up. I'm going to give these Ruskies a piece of my mind and all of us are getting out of here. After that, we're focusing full attention on finding the Ten Lost Children."
His hair and eyes turn dark red.
Rain and ArchAngel's plan to take out the five Lost Children in Japan did NOT go according to plan. If what they said is correct, they only managed to get four out of five people to go after them. It means that only four Lost Children are dead and there's one still active in Japan. This is not a total victory nor is it a total loss. On one hand, while the Ten Lost Children lost four of their guys, the good news is that the Ten Lost Children and the Kira 6 are now on even grounds now. AND we didn't even figure out who the fifth member of the group was, which is a major loss. We already knew that Sable was the fourth one in Japan and we're still in the dark about who the fifth person is.
He finds a fellow Russian officer and taps him on the shoulder. He pulled out his phone and opened up Google translate.
"What do we have to do to get out o here?" the phone asked.
The Russian spoke into the phone. "Follow the last two steps to the procedure."
"What procedure?"
"Japanese looing for Kira in Japan, need to undergo a procedure to make sure you're not Kira."
Thanks for making things easier for me you damn Russian. "What are the last two things we need to do?"
"Stay here, sunrise. Answer questions, then leave."
Knight grunted but held his composure. "If that's what it takes for us to leave then so be it."
4:00 AM
The following procedure was as easy done as it was easy said. The entire Japanese department from both Knight and Alpha-Beta's side had to answer a certain set of questions and these questions continued on for hours on end. The officers were mostly asking who they were and why they were in Japan, what they uncovered on Kira, and if they were going to be interfering with any operations in Russia.
Almost everybody had the same answer: They were Japanese officers of the National Police Agency. They were in Russia with the intent of capturing anti-Kira vigilantes headquartered in Russia. They answered that they would not interfere with any Russian operations while they were there, so long as the operations didn't involve Kira or anti-Kira vigilantes in any way. As for information on what they uncovered on Kira, they all made a silent and unanimous agreement to not disclose any of their findings.
After Kuroki had finished answering her questions, she was led back to the same room as before with the same officer ordering her to strip off her clothes so she could be changed backed into her police uniform.
Like before, Kuroki snatched the Death Note slip out of her bra and hid it from sight. Unfortunately, the strip search officer caught sight of something in her hand.
Kuroki slipped the Death Note paper into her mouth. She hid it under her tongue as she opened her palms. The officer seemed to buy it as she handed Kuroki her clothes back.
Knight and Iris met up with Kuroki and Nakamura outside the front of the Russian police station along with the rest of their comrades.
The thirteen police officers greeted each other, happy to see that everyone was doing okay so far.
"Good work everyone," Knight praised. "Especially you, Kuroki, and Nakamura."
Nakamura shook his head. "We got captured, sir. We didn't do anything heroic in this operation."
"You held on tight and you survived. We applaud you for this."
Manyuda laughed in relief. "We're just glad everybody is doing okay."
Saiko laughed. "Of course, we're Japanese, we don't die unless there's an honor attached to it."
Tezuka held up his hand. "What about Alpha-Beta, Cache, and Jester? Where are those guys?"
Nakamura gestured to the police station. "They're still being questioned. Apparently, since this is their 'country of origin', they're undergoing a different set of procedures."
Murata cursed under his breath. "So we lost our translators."
"We don't need them," Knight insisted. "We have Google on our phones for the love of God people. And let's not forget, we still have an operation to do."
"Alpha-Beta was supposed to help us," Saiko said, "how are we supposed to get around in this country without Alpha-Beta."
Knight held his tongue until he thought of the right response. "We'll worry about that after we get some rest."
"Get some rest?" Iris asked.
Knight looked at his wife. "In case you forgot, it's almost four-thirty in the fucking morning. We haven't slept in twenty-two hours. If we all want to be on our A-game to finish this Ten Lost Children business, then we all need to rest. We all need to get sleep tonight."
"I can't sleep tonight," Nakamura said.
Knight looked at him. "And why not, Nakamura? Did you being kidnapped traumatize you to the point of not being able to sleep?"
"We can't afford to sleep. If we sleep then-"
"Then we'll have enough energy for the morning or afternoon. If we try to investigate in our groggy states then we'll get nowhere. We all need to sleep, we're humans, not grim reapers."
Gilth and Masi materialized behind Knight and laughed.
"Haha, I see what you did there," Gilth laughed.
"If only he knew," Masi added.
"Any objections to getting a good morning's rest?" Knight saw no hands raise. "That's what I thought."
"We can't go back to the motel," Saiko pointed out. "With the police locking that place down, we'll need somewhere else to stay tonight."
"I am not sleeping in this police station," Kuroki pointed out. "No fucking way."
Knight held a hand up, silencing the party. "We'll figure it out. Let's move out."
Murata held his hand up. "What about Alpha-Beta and Jester?"
Knight almost sneered. "Once they're safe and sound and done with these procedures, we'll contact them. Aside from that, let's find a resting place. Let's go people."
His hair and eyes turn dark red.
Gilth and Masi, watch over our notebooks for us.
March 30th, 2044, 12:00 AM
Undisclosed Location
Alpha-Beta let out a long sigh, which fogged up the window in front of her. The city looked so alive at this time of the hour, it reminded her of how much she missed living in Russia when she was a kid. She sighs once more, fogging up the glass yet again before she turns around and faces the party that gathered in her suite.
The suite was a simple room in a hotel of luxury with leather chairs set up around a coffee table with fruits and vegetables of varying kinds. Alpha-Beta knew what kind of lot she spent her time with so she replaced the food with plastic, expecting everyone else to bring their own snacks and junk food and whatnot.
The five people gathered around the table, with Cache and Jester sitting on one couch, Fish and Humble sitting on the other couch, and Alpha-Beta setting down two chairs with the arms removed in front of her and laying down as flat as a board on them.
She kicked her feet in the air before she spoke. "Before we begin, let us all take a moment of silence to honor our fallen friends." She slaps her hands together in a praying position. "Sadly, Sable, Eden, Dawn, and Ticket, have perished."
No one bothered praying for their fallen comrades.
"Sable was stabbed to death by a couple of delinquents, Eden was run over, and Ticket and Dawn died of their wounds from a car crash. We are now down four members and the Ten Lost Children are now the Six Lost Children."
"How the hell did this even happen?" Humble exclaimed at the top of his lungs. "How the hell did a quartet so smart get killed off so quickly? They had simple order: watch the Yagami children and keep track of any of Kira's ongoing activities in Japan."
"You're as dumb as a brick, Humble."
Humble stood up slowly, menacingly. "What did you say?"
"Put the pieces together, Humble, how could four of our guys have died so easily?"
Humble thought back to the evidence that Alpha-Beta had provided him. His eyes went wide as something clicked.
"If what Rook found out was true, then Sable abducted the Yagami children, they fought back and killed him, they ran over Eden then set up Dawn and Ticket to crash."
"Uh-huh. And why would a quartet of smart guys do something so irrationally? Why do you think Sable abducted them in the first place? I never gave them any order to do that. Why did they attack the Yagami children on the bridge? Why did they get in a car chase with them?"
Humble growled as the answer came to him. "It's too much of a fucking coincidence."
Alpha-Beta clicked her tongue with a smile. "I knew you get it."
"Sable, Dawn, Ticket, and Eden are way too cautious to be doing something so reckless. And they went against following your direct orders. And not only that, but they all died fighting against the people they were supposed to be watching. Way too much of a coincidence. The only thing I can conclude is…"
"Kira found out that four of our members were trailing the Yagami family, and he set them up in that car chase to have them killed."
"It makes perfect sense. Kira's default killing method is a heart attack but if he wants one of his murders to go unnoticed, he'll use something else. Disease, accidental death, nothing is out of the cards."
Cache crossed his arms over his chest. "So, does that mean that Kira is still in Japan? Or the accomplice at least?"
Humble shook his head. "No, Alpha-Beta believes that Knight and Iris Yagami are the Kira suspects and they're both here in Russia."
"Maybe they passed their power on to someone in Japan," Fish suggested.
Humble pointed to him and nodded. "True, but…" He gasped as he realized something. "There are two Kiras."
Cache clapped sarcastically. "Great observation skills."
"Shut up, prick." He continued. "As I was saying, there are two Kiras and the first Kira that returned in October of 2030 is Kira 1. Kira 2 shows up sometime in April of 2031 during the Keiri incident and this Kira has the Shinigami eyes. Kira 1 and Kira 2 would remain active for several years and when Alpha-Beta suspects that Kip and Ice are the suspects, we bring them here to Russia. The killings in Japan still happen and given the pattern of the crimes…"
"Someone left behind is doing to killings as Kira," Jester finished.
"Exactly. At the very least, Kira 1 is here in Russia, and Kira 2 is in Japan."
"Not necessarily," Fish pointed out. "Do you remember the footage we took of Kuroki and Nakamura?"
Cache pointed at Fish. "That's right, when I was feigning injury, I was thrown in a cell with those guys and I swear in the corner of my eyes, I saw Kuroki reach into her shirt to pull something out."
Alpha-Beta leaned over and grabbed a remote off the table. "I'm glad somebody finally had the balls to point that out." She points the remote to a set of television screens on a dresser to her right. She turns them on and displays security footage of the Kuroki, Nakamura, and Cache in the cell.
She pauses as Kuroki reaches into her shirt and pulls something halfway out. "You see this here?" She looks over and sees some of the men blushing over the sight of Kuroki pulling something out of her bra.
"Eyes on what's she's pulling out of her bra, not on her tits, you perverts." She rolled her eyes. "If you notice, she's pulling a piece of paper out of her bra. Knowing what we know, this paper she's pulling out can only be one thing."
"A page taken from the Death Note," Humble concluded.
"Exactly. This means either one of two things. The first is, she is Yuri Kuroki is Kira 2 and Kip is Kira 1."
"That seems like a given fact," Fish said sarcastically.
"Except", she emphasized, "Yuri Kuroki did not come into the picture of Kip's life until long after the Keiri incident when the two Kiras met."
Humble reached into his jacket pocket and took out a white chocolate bar and took a bite. "In that case…"
"According to Sable, Ice and Kip regroup in Japan and helped with both the Keiri incident and KIA Killer incident."
Humble smiled. "So it's settled then." He held up four hands. "There are at least four Kiras."
"Four?" Jester asked.
"Think bout it. Ticket, Dawn, Eden, Sable, and Rook all stayed in Japan while the three Kiras came here to Russia. It's like I said before; a Kira with the Shinigami eyes must've stayed behind and killed our four friends. And let's also not forget the fact criminals are still dying in Japan and I can assure you that their times of deaths were not written ahead of time.'
"Who could this fourth Kira be?"
Humble chuckled and took another bite of his chocolate bar. "Would you like to answer this one, AB?"
"Why thank you, good sir," she smiled. Alpha-Beta turned to the rest. "Rain, Archer, and Angel Yagami are the fourth Kira."
"What?" the three men in the room gasped.
"We give Dawn Ticket, Sable, and Eden the simple task of keeping a sharp eye on the kids, and conveniently, everyone watching the three kids is dead. This proves not only do one, or all kids possess a Death Note but at least one of them has the Shinigami eyes."
"It seems we got our work cut out for us," Humble inputted. He took another bite of his chocolate. "If what the rules to the notebook say is true, then there are at least six Death Notes in the human world."
"What rule said that?" Cache asked. "Are you sure that's something you didn't make up just to sound smart?"
Humble growled at Cache. "Shut up." He looked at Alpha-Beta. "When I was reviewing the rules I had memorized, one of them was that only six Death Notes can be in the human world at any time and a seventh Death Note can't be used until one of the six Death Notes is disposed of, either by burning it or if one of the Shinigami came to collect the books."
Jester looked at Humble suspiciously. "How exactly do you know about the Death Notes? Out of the ten of us alive, you had the most knowledge of the Death Note. Where did you find out about the Death Note?"
"How many times do I have to keep telling you? My parents! They both worked on the Kira case years ago. Dad died the year I was born and Mom died the day that Kira returned in October of 2030."
"What were their job professions exactly?"
He smirked. "Trade your life for the Shinigami eyes, look at my real name and you'll know."
"I don't trust you," Cache pointed out. "Out of all of us, you're the only one who wasn't an orphan at Wammy's House."
"But I was still kind enough to work with you, was I not, Cache?"
The man nodded. "I guess."
Alpha-Beta pushes herself off the chair-bed and walks over to a dresser with a briefcase set down. She unzipped the suitcase and reached inside to pull three items out.
"While Kip, Ice, and Kuroki were inside the faux-police station, guess what our anti-Kira protesters stole when they raided their motel room. This suitcase and guess what was in the suitcase."
"Gift certificates to Baskin-Robbins?" Fish snarked somewhat jokingly.
"Better."
She pulled out three Death Notes.
The men in the room looked at Alpha-Beta with shocked eyes. "Holy fuck!"
"How did you do it?" Fish was the first to ask.
Alpha-Beta waved the notebooks around before tucking them between her chest and forearms. "Simple, really. The plan was for us to kidnap a Kira accomplice and show footage of the accomplice and original owner being attacked simultaneously, which would force the Kiras to use their notebooks or at the very least, a page taken from the notebooks."
She picked up the remote from earlier and pointed it at the screens. Footage from the tree camera of Knight using his watch compartment played.
"Once we got all the Kiras into the fake police building, we had our anti-Kira protesters dressed as cops raid everything in the motel. Additionally, at the fake police station, we forced Kip, Ice, and Kuroki to give up our personal belongings before we replaced them with identical-looking items."
Humble caught onto something. "Meaning…"
"Kip's watch with the secret compartment was replaced with an identical-looking watch. He was at the police station for a few hours so I had time to figure out how the compartment worked and did the same thing with the fake watch. After I did that, I put a paper taken from a regular notebook in the fake handle and gave it back to Kip." Her smile faltered slightly. "Unfortunately, Ice managed to slip her locket through security and Kuroki managed to keep her paper slip with her at all times."
"What's wrong with Ice's locket?"
"It could have a Death Note page inside, why else would she try and hide it as she went into the police department.
"But they don't have the Death Note, which is a huge win for us," Jester said. "Now do we burn the Death Notes?"
Alpha-Beta shook her head. "That's not the plan, clowny."
"What is the plan?"
Alpha-Beta grabbed the first Death Note with a black cover and opened up the rulebook. She recited a rule.
'Only six Death Notes are allowed to exist at a time in the human world. In the event that there are more than six Death Notes in the human world, only the first six Death Notes that have been delivered to humans will have effect. The seventh Death Note will not become active until one of the other six Death Notes is destroyed or a Shinigami takes one of them back to the Shinigami realm.'
"Kip and Ice Yagami have a notebook, Kuroki the second accomplice has a notebook, and one or all of the Yagami children have a notebook. I think it's safe to assume that there are a total of six Death Notes in the human world."
Humble nodded. "Sable said that the American agent who investigated Kira fourteen years ago named Break had a Death Note of his own. And the Keiri incident involved at least two Death Note owners. And ever since then, most incidents involving Kip did not have a Death Note Owner. If Kip and Ice managed to secure six Death Notes after the Keiri incident, it explains why there haven't been any more Death Note battles."
Alpha-Beta licked her lips and smiled at the blonde man. "Right. And since we managed to secure half the death Notes, the last three are in Japan. It looks like the fate of this battle falls on Rook and Rook alone."
"Think we should warn him that the kids might have the Shinigami eyes?"
Alpha-Beta hesitated. "There's a part of me that wants to say yes… but at the same time…' she hesitated to answer. Instead of saying what she was thinking, she bit her lower lip and said, "I don't know. The only thing I can say for sure is I'm glad Rook is on our team."
Jester nodded. "I pity the poor fool who falls into Rook's crosshairs." He tapped his fist against the couch he was sitting on. "Since we're not going to burn the Death Note, I have to ask: what are we going to do with the Death Notes?"
Alpha-Beta shrugged. 'There can only be six notebooks in the human world. If there are six notebooks, it prevents other people from potentially having Kira's power but if one person, or group, possesses all six notebooks, they are able to prevent other Death notes from coming to the human world. In other words, we hold onto all six Death notes, we permanently prevent more Kiras from coming back from the grave."
Jester nodded, the plan clicking in his mind. "So we're not going to kill Kip, but we're going force him to give up ownership.'
"Bingo," Alpha-Beta said in heavily accented English. "Killing him would be a mercy. He should watch as the Kira godship crumbles before him. It's a fate worse than death."
"How do you plan on forcing him to give up ownership?" Fish asked. "Tell his Mom on him?"
Fish and Cache laughed while Alpha-Beta looked serious.
"We'll let Rook be the one to force Kip to give up ownership."
Humble shivered. "Ooh, I just got the chills. Anyone else just get the chills?"
Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by two Shinigami hiding in the air vents.
The Motel, 6:00 AM
After the rest of the police task force got a long and good morning's rest, they went back to the motel to gather their things and relocate. They were shocked to discover that not only had the native police cleaned this place up, there was nothing in any of their motel rooms.
Each officer went to check the motel room they stayed in and they found nothing, zero, zippo.
"What the fuck?!" Tezuka yelled after regrouping with his compatriots in the main motel room. "Where the fuck is all of our stuff?"
"It looks like it was confiscated," Saiko answered. "The monitors, our bags, our equipment, the police stole every ounce of it."
"They even stole our personal items," Kuroki pointed out to the empty corner in the room. "What the fuck is going on here?! Why did those bastards steal our stuff?"
Knight growled under his breath and closed his eyes to take a breath. He opened them after finding something to say.
"Everybody, stop having a cow. Can't you see that we don't need to be told twice about the police confiscating everything, including our personal belongings?"
"They have no right to do that," Manyuda said. "We followed protocol, procedure, everything, why didn't they give us back our personal belongings."
Knight's eyes drifted to the empty corner in the room, the corner where Knight and Iris kept their luggage, where their Death Notes were hidden.
He looked over at his wife, a silent conversation going on between them. They both subtly nodded before returning to their gaze on Kuroki.
"Give me a few seconds to come up with a plan," Knight ordered. "In the meantime, look around and scavenge whatever you can. Our mission to bring the Ten Lost Children to justice remains and we're not going to let a few missing items and equipment stop us. Get to it."
The officers obeyed their superior and began scavenging the motel rooms for anything they could find, something the police overlooked.
Knight looked at Iris and Kuroki and nodded to the balcony.
Once the three of them were outside, they closed the door tightly behind them before looking at each other.
"The luggage is gone," Kuroki said, "the suitcases with the Death Notes inside."
Knight laughed.
Iris and Kuroki looked at Knight with shock.
He laughed again, more like chuckled again. He kept his volume low and soft but the feeling of pride in his laugh was still there.
"Knight," Iris asked. She put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Knight looked at Iris with crazy wide eyes. "The Death Notes are missing."
"Yeah."
"Gilth and Masi are missing."
"Yes."
His smile widened. "Exactly as planned."