Chapter 10:
"L's Rightful Successor"
"It's you!' Ryuk finally said. "I knew it was you soon as I saw that name above your head."
Light turned and looked at Ryuk. "You knew it was BB and you didn't tell me? This could have been avoided, Ryuk. BB wouldn't have made a commotion in public, now he may kill me."
"Don't blame the Shinigami," BB said. "All of them enjoy the surprises we humans provide. That's why they come to the Human World to be entertained. And if you're wondering how I can see him, not to brag, but that piece of the Death Note I took out of your watch the first time we met has nothing to do with it. I have the Shinigami Eyes. It's a long story, and I won't get into it right now. You don't need to know. Suffice it to say, they helped tremendously in avoiding L as long as I did in Lost Angeles, which I'm sure you're aware of. He chased me all around the city with a cute FBI agent in tow—Naomi Misora."
Light's eyes widened with the mention of her name.
"I wonder what ever happened to her? I've tried looking her up, but her dossier has her as MIA. No one seems to know where she is. Naomi Misora just appeared into abyss."
"Oh, Light knows," Ryuk said chuckling.
"Shut up, Ryuk!"
BB eyed Light. "It doesn't take a genius l to figure out what happened," he said. "Kira got to her. Her husband was killed while investigating you on L's orders. L had you pegged from almost the very start. That's why he's so good. And his instincts are never wrong. Unlike basic human crimes, he came across a mystery he couldn't solve, like a Lock-Room Mystery. He might exposed you, if you didn't kill him first. I know all about the Death Note and its capabilities."
Light's face darkened. "Tell me what you want? It's cold up here. I'm not wearing much under this hospital grown. I know how women feel now when they wear skirts."
BB laughed. If Light had to characterize it, it had a Shinigami quality. It was almost Machiavellian. BB put a hand to his mouth and cleared his throat, suddenly stopping. "Forgive me, when I find something exceedingly funny I can sometimes laugh like a lunatic."
"You said it, not me," Light replied.
BB eyed him. "The correct grammatical response is: 'You said it, not I," he corrected. "I thought you were educated? Higher than your betters. It would appear you've spent to much time with your task force peers and picked up some bad habits. You recited the Welcome Speech during the Opening Ceremonies with L at To-Ho University. You were very well spoken."
Light eyed him with vitriol. "How do you know this?"
"I was slated to be L's successor, after all," BB stated. "Do you think I wear these disguises for my health?" He reached up with his free hand and ripped off the well moulded disguise he wore to reveal a face half ravaged with burn scars on the right side. It gave his skin a waxy, almost rubbery appearance. "I used to dress up like my mentor, I admired him to the point of mimicry, but then a little accident afterwards forced me to rethink my entire world. Never play with fire."
"Are you here to finish me off? Third time is the charm? You missed me twice: once with that bomb in my apartment and the other time in my new apartment when you shot through the window. Lucky for me, I just happen to be wearing a kevlar vest at the time."
BB smirked. "Yes, well—practise does make perfect," he said. "But you must be mistaken. I take credit for the explosive device I slipped underneath your computer desk, but as for the other, it looks like you may have made yet another enemy who dislikes you as much as I do."
Light's brow folded in. "You didn't try to kill me by firing through my apartment window?" Light was bewildered by the revelation.
BB shook his head. "Someone else did that," he said, then seemed to look inward, reflectively. "Maybe if your Shinigami was the talkative sort, he could reveal the culprit," BB added, "but I highly doubt that." Ryuk agreed with him. "So, you have a dilemma before you."
Light clenched his fists at his sides. "I've had enough! I'm not going to play around with you anymore! Tell me what you want with me!"
BB smirked crookedly. "The direct approach, good," he said. "Let's make a deal and maybe I'll let you live, Yagami. Your presence is an abhorrent abomination to the human race, but everyone needs concessions. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes. An ancient concept whereas two opposing forces conjoin to defeat a more dangerous foe."
"I understand the notion," Light replied annoyed. "But right now, you're the one pointing a gun at me. And the only other 'enemy' are those people that oppose what Kira is attempting to forge: a brand new world free of evil. Your kind of evil is unwelcome in my new world, BB."
"Has anyone ever told you how foolish you sound?" BB said indignantly. "You can't rule with fear, it has never worked. The longest reigning empires have all fallen to opposing coups after respect had been lost. You may have the attention of the world, but you don't have their love. Even loyalists will bore of you and reject you, it's the way of people, even with repeated demonstrations. You'll need something far greater than a Kira's power."
"I've entered into debates like this before, so I'll reframe from stepping into another one with an ignorant simpleton like you," Light said hotly. "The world needs to change and Kira is that—"
BB fired a shot at Light's feet. Light fell back and landed on his rear. Fearful, Light looked with wide-eye shock as his enemy approached, his gun aimed at Light's head. "You're an idiot, Yagami. But right now I need you, so shut up! I need your Shinigami," BB said, looking at Ryuk, "and I need him to hunt someone down for me. With its abilities, I'll find him quicker."
Light blinked, and shifted a little away from BB. "Why do you need Ryuk? I thought you wanted to kill me for L's death? Incidentally, I didn't directly kill him. It was—"
BB raised his hand with the gun and Light put his hands in front of his face to protect from a vicious blow, but it never came. BB stopped himself at the last moment.
BB's jaw grew tight. "It doesn't matter, it was done under the banner of Kira. You owe me, because I wanted to kill L for what he did to me! I'm calling in my marker."
"W-what do you want?"
BB lowered the gun and took two steps back. He took a moment and let out a heavy breath. He calmed himself. "I need Ryuk to find someone. Every child that resided in one of Wammy's orphanages were subjected to beastly testing by a perverted, twisted bastard. And Quillish Wammy, the old man, knew nothing about it, as he travelled the world with L solving seemingly unsolvable crimes, as the horrors we suffered happened right under his nose."
Light almost didn't want to know as he looked at BB's face. But before he could even ask, BB suddenly became enraged as if recalled bad memories, clutching his head. He pointed the gun back at Light. Light gasped, looking up the barrel. He feared he was about to die. Then, just as quick, BB pulled back, like someone who realized he about to commit a stupid act.
BB switched his attention to Ryuk.
Ryuk's lumbering form stood near Light. In the light of the evening dusk, Ryuk looked more comical than menacing despite his abnormal grin and sharp, pointed teeth.
"Shinigami, I need your help," BB said, almost solicitously. "And I'll make it worth your while. I have the Shinigami Eyes, but they can only show me a person's lifespan. I received them with a deal, but the Shinigami died soon afterwards. I don't have a Death Note."
"I won't kill for you," Ryuk stated.
"I don't need you kill anyone. What I need you do is find someone for me and I'll kill him."
Ryuk gave a throaty chuckle. "What's the deal? And I'll think about it."
Just then, Light heard a sound carried by the wind. Then it got louder, a whooping sound. He saw the helipad and smiled mischievously. He knew what was coming and it was about to put a major crinkle in Beyond Birthday's plans. An emergency rescue or carry from elsewhere must have been needed and now the patient was being brought back to the hospital. Light gazed into the sky and saw a rescue white helicopter approaching the roof.
Light stood. "Deals off, Beyond Birthday," he said, and pointed to the helicopter. "Emergency Medical Personnel are likely en-route to the roof as I speak to transport the patient being brought here from an accident somewhere. The roof will be flooded with witnesses very soon. And a bulletin has been issued for your arrest. You're trapped, BB." Light laughed.
Beyond Birthday clenched his teeth as he looked up at the helicopter that touched down on the pad. He looked back at the stairwell he came up and then the elevator doors next to it. There was no way he could block either one and there was no other way down.
"You've lost, Beyond Birthday," Light said, grinning.
"Bastard!" BB then pointed the gun at Light. "I'll get my revenge one way or another."
Light gulped, as all bravado drained out of him. HIs death was enviable. But then the door to the helicopter quickly slid open and a man with a rifle was front and centre. He fired—at Beyond Birthday. The gun was shot out of BB's hand. A marksman shot.
BB's hand recoiled, he cried out, as blood dripped from his hand. He clutched it at the wrist.
Light watched as then a large, heavy muscular black man wearing dark clothes and a tank top exit the transport cabin of the helicopter. And he remembered the man. The man's face was covered by a mask when Light first encountered him along with BB and a lady companion. The man wasn't hiding his identity this time. The other man the one that wielded the rifle and shot BB, remained inside the cabin wearing a baklava to hide his identity.
This was obviously not a medical emergency transport.
The rifle was then pointed at Light, covering him. A separate man then exited the cabin who had been the pilot, as the propellers switched to a slower, quieter mode.
Light was shocked to see the Interpol liaison Auric Lafayette in an EMT uniform. Lafayette grinned. "The look on your face is priceless, Light Yagami," the man said. "Allow me to genuinely introduce myself, you can call me A, Auric Lafayette is, of course, is a real name—just not my own. I adopted his identity after I took his place. Ironic, if you think about it. After someone tried to kill me and take my spot as L's rightful successor." Auric looked at BB.
Light was speechless.
Auric Lafayette chuckled. "You're confused, I understand that, Yagami, and I would be too," he said with a grin that bordered on the psychotic, "but just note, you're not my target here. You're just collateral. I don't care about your exploits as the shadowy vigilante Kira, I'm here for one purpose: revenge against my would-be assassin. The one who stole my future away."
"You have a future, as a member of Interpol," Light said baffled, "even if it's stolen."
Auric Lafayette waved a finger in the air. "Oh, no…being an outsider, you don't understand the responsibility that resides in all us Wammy kids. L was a unique and exceptional person and we all aspired to be just like him. Our mutual friend took that away from me, claiming I committed suicide because I supposedly couldn't take the pressure of succeeding L."
"I did not kill L," Light said honestly.
"I don't care, but you will pay for your role in his death," Auric said back. "By the way, you look good for someone who was shot twice in the chest and torso."
Light gasped. "You shot me!"
"I wish I could take credit. Alas, it was Cannon, my associate. He's an expert marksman; another Wammy refugee." Cannon, the man wearing the baklava, remained statuesque in the helicopter cabin holding his rifle.
"You could have killed me!"
"Quite true, but that wasn't the intent," Auric said with a smirk. "You were wearing a kevlar vest. You were being watched, even before Beyond Birthday planted that bomb in your other apartment. Your apartment was bugged with video surveillance and wiretaps."
Light's eyes widened. "I don't believe you," he said skeptically.
"Everything I said is true, isn't that right—Ryuk?" Auric kept his eyes on Light. "I may not be able to see the Shinigami, but you spoke to him so often that I believe I know him intimately. Why not touch me with your Death Note, god of death, so I can see you?"
Seconds passed…
Ryuk approached Auric much to Light's shock.
Auric was touched Ryuk's book and suddenly Auric looked up at the lumbering nine foot Shinigami, wearing silver jewelry and black, tight leather.
"Hi," Ryuk said, waving a hand. "Nice to meet ya! Your real name isn't Auric, but I won't tell Light. Why ruin things? It's so much more fun this way." Ryuk chuckled.
"Indeed," Auric said amicably.
"Traitor!" Light cursed at Ryuk.
"You traitorous bastard!" BB's voice was heard.
Light turned and looked. The black man crackled his knuckles and then picked up BB by his shirt and raised him high in the air. Blood streamed down from BB's hand as he tried to break the big man's grip. Onyx, that's what Light remembered the man's name was.
Onyx laughed. "I got a better offer with far more perks from the 'A' man over there. A brotha has to move up in the world, you know. 'A' offered me a deal I just couldn't refuse. I got clipped on an outstanding charge by the cops or I would've been with you in Jamaica. He posted my bail. 'A' even set up a fake bank robbery just so he could get close to Yagami. Pure genius!"
Light was shocked to hear that.
Onyx then began to choke BB, at first with one hand, then with both. BB gasped for air and clutched Onyx's arms and tried to pull them apart, but to no avail. Then BB did something interesting. Something Light once witnessed L do to get out of a situation when Light and L fought and had opposing view points on how the Kira Case could be handled going forwards. BB coiled up, brought his legs up between himself and Onyx, and then sprung then outwards. The force of the thrust was enough to push Onyx off him. Onyx staggered back.
BB coughed, holding his throat.
"Nice move, bro. But it aint gonna keep me from killing ya—"
Just then, Onyx froze to the spot, his eyes wide.
Light saw a glint of something, and Onyx suddenly fell back, and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Something was embedded in his forehead. It was some kind of throwing blade that penetrated Onyx's forehead all the way up to the hilt and into his brain, causing instant death.
A woman was perched on the top of the boxed concrete elevator shaft encasement on the roof. She wore a black bodysuit. Light recognized it from the time when he was kidnapped. How could be forgot those curves and that amble frame?
Light gulped, momentarily dazzled by the femme fatale that initially helped BB send Kira a cryptic message, murdering a dozen people for the sake of getting Light's attention. Raven stood up straight, blades in hand, and ready to throw them in an instant.
To be continued...
