The screen stayed focus on the strange image, and the investigation team waited with baited breath for the message to continue. A few moments later a deep, mechanical voice boomed from the set.
"The world has been plunged into chaos over the emergence of an entity named "Kira". He presents himself as righteous and just, bringing peace into an otherwise chaotic world. However we here at the order have been investigating Kira closely and have revealed him to be a serial murder, nothing more, nothing less. Many innocent victims have fallen at the hands of Kira."
L raised an eyebrow as he placed his thumb to his lips. His body was rather tense, mental energy running up and down his spine.
"If what they say is true then maybe I haven't done a thorough enough investigation. Kira has only targeted criminals thus far, save for the fiasco at Sakura TV. Because he can kill his victims from afar he's always seemed semi-omnipotent, at the very least far more powerful than a normal human. But then again he would be a person after all…" thought L as he focused on the broadcast. The mechanical voice continued with its message.
"This is a picture of Tasuki Iwamoto, an alleged rapist and murderer. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Japanese government, and later executed by Kira. We have investigated this case further, and Iwamoto was later proven innocent after a false witness and improper evidence handling were brought to light." A hush went over the investigation team, as everyone except Matsuda was taking in the implications.
"Do you see? Kira killed an innocent man in the name of justice. He is no omniscient harbinger of justice! Instead he is a loathsome, vile murderer who must be found and destroyed. How many other innocent men and women have been preyed upon by Kira? If you do not believe us visit our web site and check the evidence for yourself. We vow on this day, Kira, that we will track you down and destroy you. We also have a message to the one known as L. Do not stand in our way, though our goals might be the same we find your lack of results incompetent and will take matters into our own hands. Heed our warning and do not interfere. That is all."
The image stayed on the screen for a few more moments, and immediately flipped back to Sakura TV. The anchors finally realized they were back on the air, and tried to soothe the public over the strange occurrence. Light and L immediately sent their minds to work.
"Obsidian Order? This has got to be some kind of practical joke," whined Matsuda as he slumped back into the sofa exasperated.
"Do you think threatening Kira is a joke, Matsuda-san?" dryly retorted L.
Matsuda fumbled to try and reply but as usual was stymied in his own inability to logically reason. L let out a small sigh and returned to the matter at hand.
"What do you think Ryuuzaki?" Light lifted his head and stared straight into L's eye. Light had the most piercing gaze of anyone L had ever known. It seemed to send feelers into ones mind, grabbing for any piece of information it could find that could prove to be of any advantage.
"Well of course I think we need to investigate the Orders allegations before we proceed any further."
"But they gave us a website that would outline their evidence…" responded Aizawa.
"We still have to check with our own eyes. There is no room for assumption here. The ramifications are too great," quipped Light as he stood up and began to pace the room.
"Light-kun is of course, correct. Besides, if what the Order says is true then we have to wonder how Kira is going to act. Given the personality profile I've compiled of him I can only imagine the ethical conflict he must be having at the moment."
"Ethical conflict? Kira is a murderer, he doesn't have ethics!" boomed Soichirou. The man really could overpower a room when his emotions took hold.
"On the contrary, Kira believes himself to be pure good and the criminals he punishes pure evil. Anyone who thinks in such monolithically black and white terms would crumble at the thought that they weren't truly righteous. At any rate, I have never heard anything about this Obsidian Order, but possibly researching information on ancient cults will prove useful. I hope everyone in the investigation team realizes that with a new player in the game comes new dangers," elucidated L as he grabbed a box of green tea pocky off the table and began to wolf them down one by one.
"Yes we will have to be even more cautious from now on won't we? Kira was only one person but now we are possibly dealing with a group of people." L turned around to the investigation team and scanned their faces one by one.
"I think the precautions we've taken against Kira so far are good enough to keep the "Obsidian Order" off of our trail, but we can never be too careful. From now on we will be moving headquarters every three days. I also advise each of you to be extra observant of those around you." The investigative team nodded in agreement except for Light, who seemed to be lost in his own little world. L hunched down and looked straight into Light's face, his buggy eyes meeting Light's.
"A penny for Light-kun's thoughts?"
"It is curious they have decided to leave L out of the investigation. Either they're overconfident and don't realize the difficulty of catching a psychic killer, or have a serious grudge against L. Catching Kira may not be their only goal then. If they were truly altruistic about catching Kira, then it would make sense to combine forces rather than act on their own."
"Of course Light-kun, which logically leads us to conclude..."
"Despite the fact they do not want L to intercede in their hunt against Kira, by simply saying so, they admit to wanting to catch L."
"I'm … sorry son I don't follow?" Soichirou often had a hard time following L and Light once they started to reason. It was difficult for him to realize that his son was much smarter than he was.
"Well Dad, there is no way L can stay out of the investigation and simply let the Order handle everything by themselves right? What investigator you know would just quit a case like this at the whim of someone he doesn't know?" replied Light turning around and meeting his fathers gaze.
"Right…of course," said Soichirou
"Well, then they must know L will continue and eventually their paths will cross. That will be there chance to get L. The other explanation would be…" Light turned to L, allowing the world famous detective to add his two cents.
"…that they want to challenge L to a battle of wits with Kira as the prize. Kira must have something the Order wants and they are willing to throw down the gauntlet and race for it against L. Letting him know must give them some sort of advantage otherwise they wouldn't have said anything at all. How interesting…"
"Let's get a list going on the innocent victims Kira killed and try to do a little investigation of our own. I think it would be a bit dangerous to do it under the auspices of the Japanese police. Who knows where the Order has operatives."
"Sound reasoning, Light-kun. I'll ask L if he can procure some ID as CIA agents and we'll get underway immediately." The investigative team nodded and got up to leave. L followed Light through his periphery vision, scanning the young man for even a slight hint that the recent events had some effect. When everyone had left L went back to his comfy sofa and looked out the window at the cityscape of Tokyo. Watari appeared from the back room and stood by L's side. He laid another package of green tea pocky on the table next to L. Lifting the box and tearing open the package, the young detective licked the semi sweet coating and enjoyed the crunch of each stick.
"Watari, I hope it won't be too much trouble to work a little magic with some CIA ID's. We're going to do a lot of leg work for this one, and it makes me nervous. Too much exposure."
"I'll handle everything. I think you just need to concentrate on your next step. A lot has happened within the last few hours and you need to maintain your focus."
L looked up at Watari and was never in his life more thankful for him. Looking back out the window, L's introverted nature showed through and his mind sunk back into a world of thought.
"Undoubtedly the Order is no friend, but there is no way to ascertain how powerful this new enemy is. They clearly have someone who is very technical, as they were able to override the broadcast at Sakura TV, which must take equipment and sophisticated training. Well if they want to draw me out then so be it, I don't mind a head on battle. But I'm not going to do this by their terms at all. Which still leaves me with Kira. I can only imagine what he must be going through now…"
L felt, for just a fleeting moment, that the investigation was going to take a turn for the worst.