Chapter 6:

"Allies Of The Cause"

Beyond Birthday tossed in his sleep, he was having a nightmare.

It was a dream of a memory than he had never told anyone: the moment when he had made a deal with a devil in the form of a god of death. The god of death was dying, as if gods of death could die. But this one was—and it had a final request of BB—to take its eyes.

He jolted up in bed and breathed heavy, drenched in sweat. It was four a.m.

He remembered the dream vividly. And he was aghast at how it had suddenly come back to him with so much clarity that he actually thought it was happening right now.

He put a hand to his face and felt the burnt scars on his right side. They were from a time he had almost died in a fire. A fire he had set. It had been a suicide attempt that failed. And some female detective saved him. He forgot her name, a lapsed memory for the moment, but if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be alive today, smothering him her with a jacket.

He looked around. He sat up and yanked the covers off. He was naked, but it was too dark to see himself clearly. The moon was shining through a set of French doors, but three-quarters overcast. He refused to turn the light on, he didn't want to see himself—60% of waxy, burnt skin.

He slept in a four-posted, queen-sized bed with tied red curtains, in a regal room, on beach front property. There was a slight breeze and the calming smell of the ocean, the French windows ajar. He was in Negril, Jamaica, in a beach house. After he had blown up the Kira Task Force headquarters, he discarded a fake disguise and quickly got out of Japan. That was weeks ago.

He chuckled. He used to laugh to himself a lot—years ago. He also enjoyed mimicking his mentor L. But no longer. After he had been sent to prison, he changed both his mentally and his physical appearance. He was almost unrecognizable now.

He rotated in bed and thought back to his dream. It was unforgettable. That day, when he was very young, his life had changed. After he made that deal, from that moment after, he could see the lifespans of everyone in the world, and knew when they were going to die.

The Shinigami had given him its eyes and he kept that secret for a long time. He felt like he had been born with them, having them for as long as he could remember. But then he became bored. He wanted to see how they could be used. He then adopted the nickname the "World's Greatest Criminal", and relished every minute of it.

Years later, sometime after he left Wammy House, he decided to play a game with L, taunting him, to stop him before he killed his victims, in Los Angeles, California. L eventually won.

BB was going to be L's successor, but he decided that would be too banal. He wanted something more. That didn't mean he didn't enjoy being a detective. His more recent role as Detective Lt. Baley Bathorelow of the Australian Federal Police was fun. He got close enough to strike a near fatal blow to Light Yagami.

He blew up Light Yagami's apartment, the Kira Task Force's headquarters. It was revenge against Light Yagami for his role in L's death and BB's redemption for not killing L himself. But killing the killer of his rival by proxy, however, was not as satisfying as killing L.

When he learned Light Yagami had survived, BB wasn't surprised. BB knew Yagami's Shinigami had somehow helped him, not wishing his "toy" to die and its entertainment to end. Shinigami were watchers and observed how their handlers used the Death Note to entertain them. Helping them was against the rules of the Death Note, or so it was said.

BB vowed they would meet again and Light Yagami would die. The birthday card he sent, that Yagami hoped had read before the explosion, was his calling card.

As it was a private beach, BB opened the French doors and strolled outside, his feet sunk into the sprawling white sands, and he took a swim in the warm, turquoise waters. The weather was very comfortable, hovering just above 83 degrees F. He flipped around like an otter in the water and then just floated and look up at the sky. He could stay here forever and retire. And the water helped ease the throbbing of the fibres of the taut epidermis of his burnt skin when dry.

Hours later, he was still in the water, as dawn broke.

A ringing sound was heard. But he didn't get up. His companion at the beach house would answer it. And seconds later, the ringing stopped.

His serenity was not to last, as his companion, dressed in a very revealing, red, two-piece swim-suit, with brown shoulder-length hair came walking down to the water's edge with a housecoat in one hand. She was a gorgeous woman who allied herself with his values, and who had helped him to escape from two maximum security prisons, and a child of Wammy House.

BB sighed, knowing of the importance for Raven arrival. Standing up, he walked out of the water and put on the housecoat. She informed him vie a series of hand gestures what the phone call was about and that the guests he was expecting would soon be here.

"Thank you, my dear," he said. "I don't know what I would without you."

Raven was partially mute, surviving her throat slashed by a mugger years back. She had a prominent mark, but used cover-up make-up when she committed "The Samurai" killings. She saved her voice for important things, because it hurt every time she spoke.

BB had studied all forms of sign language, but Raven still had her full hearing. She didn't speak much, but her actions spoke volumes. She was his personal assassin, a femme fatale, his servant, a wonderful cook, and sometimes, his lover.

She ventured back to the beach house. BB knew the rendezvous time would give him approximately fifteen minutes. The call, a sign, was to announce they were that far out. His guess were allies of the cause against Kira.

The others didn't know of BB's previous encounters with Kira. And he wanted to keep them secret, for now. If they knew, then that would spoil his future endeavours. They would want a piece of the action. Light Yagami was BB's to kill.

They also had no clue what powers Kira had and it would come as a shock them if they did. A supernatural notebook with the ability to kill a person by way of a heart attack. Who would have thunk such a thing would even exist? Still, he himself was a creature beyond reckoning.

BB dressed with style and poise, all black to match his personality, but not so much as to stifle in the heat. The beach house had air conditioning, but to waste a beautiful day was criminal.

When his guests arrived by car, he knew who was driving, how it skidded to a stop in the driveway. They were escorted around to the rear of the house by Raven.

BB stood with his back turned, facing the Caribbean waters, devouring the last remains of a strawberry shortcake, Raven had brought him. His traditional morning wake-up treat.

When he was finished, he brushed crumbs off his hands, and wiped his mouth with a napkin, as he turned to greet the pair. He smiled broadly, almost abnormally. With the right side of his face burned with scars, he almost looked two-faced.

"Whoa! Good to see you, man!" one of the guests said excitedly. He was a younger man with brown hair, who dressed eccentrically, almost like he was ready for a boxcar derby contest, wearing a pair of eye goggles. Mail Jeevas was a weird guy. "When we got your message, we were like—dude! He's—alive? He didn't die in prisoner as reported?"

BB smiled, almost abashed from Matt's enthusiasm. "Good to see you too, Matt," calling him by his adopted name in this age of Kira.

BB looked to the other, a shorter man, but older than Matt, with blonde hair and long bangs. He enjoyed wearing black leather and flashy clothes. "Those clothes much be hot, Mihael." His full name was Mihael Keehl, but he often went by the name Mello. "You much be cooking."

"Shut it, Rue!" Mello said, frowning. Then: "I'm not happy. We thought you were dead, killed by Kira with a mysterious heart attack. Then we find out you faked your death. When you called out of the blue, I was angry with you. I almost decided not to come."

BB licked a finger, tasting an ounce of strawberry he missed. "And why were you angry with me, Mihael? Is it because I decided not to follow in L's footsteps?"

"You become a criminal instead!" Mello spat out angrily.

Matt approached Mello. "Chill, man," he said. "The guy had his reasons. Just like you did. But now we're not restricted in our pursuit of Kira, like Near is. You're free to do what you want. We all want to get Kira for what he did to L. The world still believes L is alive, but with Watari's death—those at Wammy House know the truth. Now, with BB back, we can get the bastard."

Mello clenched his fists and snorted irate. "Yeah, you're right," he relented. Mello met BB's eyes. "You've changed, BB, a lot. I wouldn't have recognize you if I didn't know it was you."

BB felt the right side of his face. "I left some reminders. Life is precious. Suicide is never an answer to your troubles," he said in reflection. "But I did have a some plastic surgery to fix some imperfections under my eyes, had some orthopedic work done to straight out some musculoskeletal issues—it's amazing who you can find online that knows their stuff for a low cost—bulked up a little, gave myself a new hair style (I won't copy L anymore), altered a few other personality traits through a form of cognitive conditioning, and voilà!"

"It's a good improvement," Mello said. "There's only one L."

BB frowned. He didn't like comment.

BB then said, "Would you like some breakfast? I'm sure the long trip here has made you famished, airline food is an abomination to the culinary pliant." He turned to Matt, and said, "I'm sorry, but smoking near the beach house is forbidden, Matt. You reek of tobacco." Matt frowned, being a smoker. "Mello, I'm sure Raven can whip up some chocolate pancakes for you. I know how you love your cocoa beans."

Mello swallowed, hungrily. "Sure, whatever," he said noncommittally. BB knew Mello's tastes and his friend would never turn away anything with chocolate. For Mello, eating chocolate was obsessive. But he kept a thin frame despite it.

BB gave Raven a nod to begin breakfast preparations.

BB observed Matt watching Raven's backside.

"Hey, Rue…she's cute," Matt said.

"Touch her and you die, Matt," BB said straightly.

Matt gulped, turning back, immediately ending his interest in Raven.

"So, are you going to show us around," Mello said gruffly, "or what?"

"Say please, Mihael," BB said stringently. "You've never been one for manners."

Mello glared at BB, but ultimately relented. He sighed heavily. "Fine. I would like a tour of your new beach house." The words came out with some difficulty. Then, as BB waited: "Please, Rue."

BB smiled. "That's better," he said. "You'll learn to become a fine gentleman yet, Mihael."

Mello rolled his eyes. BB then extended a hand and gestured Mello and Matt onward.

To be continued...