July 16th, 2044
Los Angeles, California
Knight walked into the news building with a backpack on his back. He was dressed in casual clothing and got rid of all traces that he might be a police officer from Japan. Underneath his t-shirt was a corset holding Iris's Death Note to his back. He checked his watch as the elevator he was in ascended.
It's been twelve hours since he dropped the Death Note off at this news station, the same news station that broadcast that phony bank robbery when he first got the Death Note. He put the Death Note in a large textbook before dropping it off inside a drawer where the main newscaster would sit and do his work.
Iris and Kuroki both said they saw no lifespan above the news caster's head and Knight concluded that the first step to his plan was a success. It was time to retrieve the Death Note.
Knight went back to the drawer where the textbook was dropped and put it in his backpack before walking off back to the elevator. As he was leaving, he showed his visitor's badge to security before leaving the building. He reunited with his wife outside and she helped him into the car.
Sitting in the driver's seat, she turned and asked her husband, "Did you get the notebook?"
Knight fished out the textbook. The notebook was cleverly hidden in the pages with paint covering up the words 'Death Note' as well as the black cover. "Right here."
"That's great news," Iris said. "So then, what's the next part of the plan? Control someone to send a message to the news station?"
"Yep," Knight smiled. "Just like the time my Mom used Sakura TV as puppets. I will admit that in the US, they don't exactly have a TV station exactly like Sakura TV but I'm sure I can figure something out."
"We could just do the same thing again," Iris suggested. "Have someone mail a letter to the news station-"
"News 101 is what it's called," he reminded. "New 101."
"News 101, give the employees working their instructions and then we force them to read a message from Kira to the world."
"And because we don't know where Cronus and Oedipus are, we're going to have to stalk the current owner of my Death Note."
"Is he innocent?"
"Doesn't matter. As long as Cronus and Oedipus die then the sacrifice of the innocent people will not be in vain."
"They hurt our boy," Iris hissed. "I want to see them all burn for doing that, no matter what."
Knight smiled. "I like that." He stroked her red hair. "You've come a long way from being a shy girl, Iris. I like it; you're not a Naruto Hinata anymore. But I will admit; I do miss some of your shy features."
Iris was about to turn away but she forced herself to look at her husband. "Well, those features are dead and gone, Knight."
"I wouldn't be so sure, my beautiful wife, my goddess."
Iris turned away, unsuccessfully hiding the redness that appeared on her face.
"Thank you," Knight said softly, "now let's send Cronus and Oedipus a message."
July 17th, 2044
News 101
"I don't care," Robert exclaimed to his staff, "I want stories and I want them now."
The five people in the conference room he called flinched and looked anywhere but at Robert. The employees nervously held up various pieces of paper in their hands, each detailing a different story about upcoming events. A girl in the group named Lila read off her paper.
"Uhm, one story we got is that a murderer broke into his ex-girlfriend's home and strangled her-"
"Not juicy enough," Robert exclaimed. "I don't give a fuck about murderers or murder victims; I want a story that will bring in more viewers, raise our audience scores, and we can't do that by reporting murders."
A man named Frank spoke up. "How about this: a group of Kira worshippers helped build a church to-"
"Fuck no!" Robert barked. "We mention nothing about Kira or anything related to him. The world loves him enough already and we're not going to give the public the praise that mass murderer doesn't deserve. I want stories that are optimistic and positive; we live in a goddamn crapsack world and we need to bring heart and joy back to the people. Now go back out there and get me a story that will make me cry tears of joy or so help me-"
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Robert groaned. "Come in."
A man with a mustache came walking into the room, holding a manilla folder under his right armpit. He immediately looked at Robert. "Are you Robert Dixon?"
"That'a be me." Robert leaned back in his chair. "This better be good."
"My name is Oliver Munx and I have something addressed for you." He threw the manilla folder on the conference table. "I was ordered to deliver this to you and my hands are tied as it is."
"Let me see that." Robert snatched the manilla folder from the table and opened it. Several papers fell into his lap and he quickly collected them. He looked them over carefully and squinted his eyes as he read off the first paper.
"Oh my god," he whispered under his breath. He looked up at Munx. "This better be a fucking joke."
"I'm afraid not," Munx said hesitantly.
Robert reread the first paper before letting out a loud laugh. "You expect me to believe something like this, buddy? What the hell is Kira doing sending me letters here in California?"
"What does it say?" Munx asked nervously.
"It says that if I don't read a message live to News 101, then Kira is going to kill off all my staff one by one. And as proof that Kira is real, he's going to drop dead someone right in front of me."
THUN-THUMP!
Munx clutched his chest and let out a rasping gasp for air. He fell onto the table, his head striking the wood before he falls on his side. The people in the conference jumped and panicked, each one backing away from the body.
"Call a doctor," Lila ordered.
"On it," Frank said before running off.
"Mr. Dixon?"
Robert stared down at Munx's fallen body with horror, sweat began pouring down his face profusely and he felt his own heart pounding in his chest. He nearly ruined the papers in his hands but he managed to save them from being destroyed completely and looked over the contents of the paper again.
"He's dead," one of the workers who checked his pulse said.
"This…" Robert gasped with a shaky breath, "this is real?"
July 18th, 2044
Downtown, Los Angeles
Cronus and Oedipus didn't exactly have much to go on, especially when they were up against a god. They were still trying to figure out a way to trap Kira but they kept asking themselves how a mortal traps a god if Kira really was a god. Then again, L did prove that Kira looks up names on the Internet and there have been cases of criminals whose names were misspelled or not arrested have not been killed by Kira.
They concluded that Kira must be human which means, Kira wasn't a god, just a human with the powers of a god.
When Cronus and Oedipus took this into consideration, they realized that neither of them wants to become god, and only want to stay human. They want to break fate or control their destiny, never becoming a god.
They could let their guards down, for now, they weren't Cronus and Oedipus anymore with their masks off, they were only Sakis and Makis.
"Now's your chance," Sakis told his brother. "To become a god."
The twins walked downtown wearing buttoned-up shirts. They had expensive watches on their wrists that could help keep track of the day. But the twins modified their watches so instead of keeping track of time, the watches are counting down. When people asked what the watches were counting down to, they shrugged and said 'doomsday'.
"It's your time to be a god," Sakis said as they stood outside a jewelry store.
Makis chuckled. "I don't care about becoming a god anymore. I wanted to become a god but after Kira came back, I decided to settle for a demigod."
"You've been reading too much Percy Jackson."
"It's weird," Makis declared, "Percy Jackson and Annabeth are cousins yet people ship them. It's a double standard; with humans, incest is taboo but when it comes to gods, they celebrate it."
Sakis laughed. "You have your ships, I have mine." He winced. "Isn't it weird how we're forty-three-year-old men who talk about shipping and flame wars?"
"Hey, we know the exact date we're going to die; we deserve to act and talk about whatever we want." Makis put his hand on the glass and looked down at a wedding ring. "Why did we never have kids? I've always wanted to be an uncle."
Sakis put his forehead on the glass. "I think the reason we never had kids is that we knew that we wouldn't live to see them turn forty. But… if we can somehow change our fate with Kira's powers, then I'm going to start my own family."
"I'm going to be Uncle Makis," he smiled. "I like that. All the money we made, we'll be rich and we'll never have to work in a standard workplace again."
Sakis put his hands in his pockets. "My girlfriend or wife or whoever I end up with, I'm going to protect them with Kira's power."
Sakis and Makis decide to go inside and do some indoor window shopping and stopped when they saw a television set up in the corner of the ceiling. The channel was switched to News 101, the news station that tends to avoid dark and grim stories in lieu of happy-go-lucky stories. The last story the twins remember seeing was about an elderly lady pulling a young man from a car wreck and giving CPR on the dog pulled out of the passenger seat.
"We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring to you a message sent to us by Kira himself," the newscaster spoke into the camera. The newscaster looked down at something in their hand and nervously sighed heavily before looking to someone off-screen. "Kira delivered this message to us for us to read and… he listed the names of several people who all died of heart attacks. Please understand: we are Kira's hostages." The newscaster put the piece of paper down and got out of the chair. "The person who is instructed to read the message from Kira is Robert Dixon, manager of News 101."
The newscaster disappeared and Robert Dixon sat down in the chair and faced the camera. Sweat leaking from his forehead, Robert gingerly picked up the newspaper and cleared his throat before he began reading.
"I am Kira," Robert began reading, "and as much as I would love to leave a message with my voice to the public, we don't always get what we want."
Sakis and Makis activate their super-eyes and they gasp when they see no lifespan above Robert Dixon's head.
"Robert Dixon," Makis started.
"And no lifespan," Sakis finished.
The twins looked at each other. Makis spoke first.
"Well, isn't this convenient, Saki?"
Sakis smiled. "Yeah, Reign, Ark, and Jewel come to America, they have no lifespan and when they escape, someone else just conveniently shows up with no lifespan."
"Isn't it also conveniently how this never happened to us in the 37 years we had our super-eyes and only after those three monster children showed up did our status quo get interrupted, practically permanently."
Makis looked up at the screen and narrowed his eyes. "But one thing doesn't make sense: why did Robert Dixon's lifespan just suddenly disappear? I've seen his profile photo and I saw his lifespan. For him to suddenly just suffer a lifespan loss makes no sense." He stroked his chin. "There's only one thing I can conclude."
Saki looked eagerly at his brother. "What's that?"
"Kira's power can be transferred between various people. I was doing research and during the first or second year of Kira's reign back in 2006 or 2007, the second Kira mentioned sharing his power with those he feels are worthy."
Sakis looked around. "Let's get out of here, we shouldn't be talking in this store. Let's hurry up out of here."
The twins walk out of the jewelry store and head down an alleyway and stand behind a dumpster.
"Kira's power passes between people," Makis continued. "There was one Kira that needed a name and face to kill and a second Kira that only needed a face to kill."
"Could these three kids be Kira?" Sakis asked.
Makis shook his head. "No, at the very least, they would be successors. Assuming that having no lifespan equates to them having Kira's powers, then they gained their powers after Kira's reign."
Sakis considered his brother's words. "Yeah, Kira went MIA in 2013 and returned in 2030. And Kira's been reigning since 2030 and it's 2044, those kids were obviously younger than fourteen."
Makis narrowed his eyes. "Reign Yagami, Ark Yagami, and Jewel Yagami, what kind of parents name their kids that?"
Sakis narrowed his eyes. Kira is Japanese, and Reign, Ark, and Jewel have been kidnapped from Japan. The three children are missing their lifespans. Our comrades slaughtered each other years or decades before their predestined lifespan. Only those with their faces exposed died and everyone who wore a mask survived. All of a sudden, Robert Dixon, manager of News 101, who used to have a lifespan, has their lifespan vanish and he is reading a message because Kira forced him to.
Makis looked at his brother. "I can see the gears turning in your head, brother. You're thinking what I'm thinking."
"Yes," Sakis hissed. "Those with an absent lifespan do have Kira's powers. Which means… Kira passed his power to the three children and then they passed their power to Robert Dixon. I wouldn't be surprised if Robert Dixon happened to be Kira and he's forcing himself to read his own message so no one would know he's Kira. But that's a stretch because his lifespan has been visible for fourteen years."
Sakis felt his heart pump as more and more thoughts began flooding into his mind. "That means, with Robert Dixon's absent lifespan…"
"Kira has passed his power to him." Makis laughed. "If we can capture Robert Dixon, we can dissect and figure out how Kira kills people."
"Yes," Sakis said eagerly. "Let's do this, let's fucking do this." As Sakis was high on adrenaline from his successful deduction, another idea suddenly hit him that made him freeze up. "Wait a minute, why did Kira pass his power to Robert Dixon, a worthless nobody who manages an optimistic news station?"
Makis looked at his brother before looking down at the ground. He patiently drummed his finger against his temple as he tried to come to some sort of conclusion. "I'm more concerned about why the Yagami children have Kira's power."
"Thank god there's two of us," Sakis laughed, "if we want to get to the bottom of this, we must divide our resources. I will arrange for Dixon to be captured. I'm going to need someone like Cerberus to help me out."
Makis nodded. "Yeah, Cerberus is the size of a truck; he's perfect for kidnapping." He points to his chest. "As for me, I will do a little digging into the Yagami children's lives. I'll need my translator and occasion thief, Hermes to help me dig up information."
"Sounds like a plan." Sakis held his hand out. "Godspeed, twin brother."
Makis shook his brother's hand. "Let's obtain the power of a god."
With Knight
Hotel Room
"And just like that, our message to the world of Los Angeles has been sent out." Knight grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.
After Rain and ArchAngel finished their homework, they watched as Robert Dixon finished reading off their message from Kira.
Kuroki sat down on the bed and took a sip of coffee she brewed. "Our message to the world has been sent out. And I could not see Dixon's lifespan."
"That's the plan," Iris said after coming into the room. "Once Cronus and Oedipus see that Dixon has no lifespan, they'll be compelled to attack. They'll most likely kidnap him and when they dae, we follow em and kill em."
Rain looked at Iris. "Ooh, look at that; your British accent is slipping up." She turned to her brothers. "As half-breeds, we gotta focus on honing our mother's British accent."
Knight chuckled. "I'm sure your mother would be proud. And while we're at it and waiting for Cronus and Oedipus to make a move, you guys should take the time to practice your English."
"There are two types of English," Rain said, "US and UK."
"Let's learn both," Angel said.
Knight looked over to the Shinigami standing in the corner. "Gilth, Masi, are things getting interesting for you?"
"They are." Gilth shoved a handful of chips in his mouth.
"We both are." Masi licked her strawberry sundae in her hands.
Knight looked to Kuroki. "Kuroki, I want you to keep an eye on our dear friend, Mr. Dixon."
"Roger that." Kuroki narrowed her eyes. "Is Dixon innocent?"
Knight looked at her with a sneer. "What difference does it make?" He cocked his head and considered her question. "But to answer your question, he's done some shady things behind his back. Forcing people to work themselves literally to death to get him a good story, one person in his care even committed suicide because they couldn't handle working with him. The cops let him go because he technically didn't break any laws."
"People should be nicer to their employees," Angel said.
"People should be better employees," Archer said.
Knight rolled his eyes. "Kuroki, keep tabs on him at all times."
Kuroki nodded. "Roger that."
Several Hours Later
As ordered, Kuroki had kept tabs on Dixon for the rest of the day. As per instructions by Kira, Dixon was told to wait in the studio for three hours after relaying his message to the world. After that, he is to leave the studio and go home but everyone else would have to stay and work the rest of the day away.
Kuroki had rented a car using an alias provided to her by the Japanese police force and she kept intense tabs on Dixon as he walked out a side door of the news station building and lightly jogged to his car.
Kuroki narrowed her eyes and watched him get into his car, using her Shinigami eyes to confirm if he was still the owner of the Death Note. The lack of a visible lifespan said that he was.
Dixon's floating name disappeared when she could no longer see his face. To be fair, the parking lot on the side of the building was dimly lit and Kuroki was parked about two cars away from Dixon's personal vehicle so she was left in the dark when he turned his back to her.
In Dixon's car, a fishing wire wrapped tightly around Dixon's throat and yanked back. "You're dead, Dixon," a deep voice growled.
Dixon struggled but soon gave up when the person tugged harder on the fishing line. "If you keep struggling, I'll strangle you to death. Do you understand?"
Dixon opened his eyes, which felt like they were going to pop out of his skull, and looked in the rearview mirror. He ignored the fact that his face was red like it had gotten a sunburn and focused on the fact that a man wearing a skull mask was strangling him from the backseat.
"Do what I say, Dixon, and you just might survive," Cerberus ordered. "Put the keys into the ignition and drive."
Dixon complied and took out his keys and shoved them in the ignition.
"Nobody uses keys anymore," Cerberus said, "everything's a button-starting car now. You need to stay up to date with everything that's going on, Mr. Dixon." He tugged on the fishing line before loosening his grip so Dixon could breathe. "Okay then, now that that's out of the way, start driving. Oh and if you try anything stupid, I'll yank on this rope so hard, you're head will come flying off your body."
And Dixon didn't doubt the man; the man holding him captured was the size of a tank for god's sake. Dixon shifted gears and began driving out of the alleyway.
Kuroki turned on her car and followed them. Unfortunately, because it was nighttime and the law demanded it, she turned on her headlights as she tailed them. She always made sure to stay no more than twenty feet behind Dixon's car and made sure to blend in with other cars but aside from that, she trailed them like an obsessed little brother following their big brother.
Luck almost fell out of Kuroki's side when she was unable to beat a yellow light turning red and was forced to wait about forty-five seconds for the light to turn green. Even then, there was a car in front of her, and Dixon's car was ahead of her by forty-five seconds. If the worse came to pass, then she can easily track the phone she planted in Dixon's car in case she lost track of him.
She wondered why she couldn't just wait at Dixon's house until she remembered that her assignment was to tail Dixon to watch to see if Cronus and Oedipus made a move. This could happen any day now and there was no guarantee on Knight's part that Oedipus and Cronus saw the video and decided to react. Then again, the psychological profile Rain and Iris helped build certainly proved that Cronus and Oedipus are opportunists and if they see another person with an absent lifespan, then they're going to take it.
Kuroki finally caught up to Dixon as he turned into a neighbor. Kuroki followed him and slowed down a tad bit so she was at least a block away. This time, especially since not a lot of cars were out in the neighborhood this time of night, she would track the phone left behind in the car.
She took out her personal phone and tracked the rental phone in Dixon's car. She tracked his car to his personal address and she knew it was her personal address after looking into his background. She pulled up to the curb and put the car in park. She adjusted her rearview mirror, and Dixon's car pulled into the driveway two houses down from her.
"Time for stakeout duty," Kuroki told herself. She reaches into the glove compartment and takes out a packed dinner she brought with her and watches Dixon's car in the rearview mirror.
So far, Dixon made no attempt to get out of his car and stayed parked in the driveway with his headlights on and the engine still running. Kuroki checked the clock on the dashboard and it read 8:35. She checked again a few minutes later and it said 8:47.
Kuroki narrowed her eyes and looked back at Dixon's car. "Now what's taking you so long to get out of your car, fella? Are you trying to waste your gas so you have an excuse to go to the gas station and get discounts?"
A figure popped up in front of her driver's window. Kuroki turned and a gloved fist smashed through and struck her in the temple. She falls onto the console, slightly dazed, before drawing her gun, only for a needle to plunge into her neck and a second later, she is put under.
Cronus backed away and looked over to Dixon's car. "Hey Cerberus, help me out here, man." He looked down at Kuroki's unconscious form as he lay limp against the dashboard. "Well well well, it is such an honor to meet you… Yuri Kuroki."