Chapter 14:
"Smoke And Mirrors"
After Light and his lawyer discussed a few things out in the prison visitor parking lot, they separated. His lawyer took his own car and drove away, while Light phoned for a cab to take him to a motel a few miles from the prison that he booked and paid for over the phone. He called his father and told him that he would be spending the night and not to worry.
As the cab drove him to the motel, Light reflected on recent events. Beyond Birthday was now in prison again, but something didn't seem right. Light couldn't put his finger on it.
He paid the taxi driver, went to the motel register, and checked in at the front desk.
To his surprise, a package was waiting for him. He wondered how anyone knew that he would be staying here since he had booked over the phone? The package was a square, small, wrapped cube box, addressed to him. He collected his key and took it to his room.
He closed the door behind him.
Ryuk was not subjected to solid objects, so he entered directly after Light through the wall. He had been following the cab the entire way.
"Hey, why did you shut the door in my face?"
But Light ignored him.
"So, what's that?" Ryuk asked, as the Shinigami loomed over Light.
"A package was waiting for me at the register," Light said.
"How did anyone know you'd be staying here tonight?"
It was almost like the Shinigami was reading his thoughts.
Light opened the package and inside a cardboard box he found a type of mystery box, gold plated, with letters on each of its six sides, boxed nine to a side, some of the letters were grouped in pairs. It reminded Light of a Rubix Cube with letters instead of colours, whereby a person had to arrange to establish a solid colour scheme.
Not just any letters he quickly surmised, they were letters repressing elements on the periodic table. There were 118 known elements, but on the mystery box, they seemed random.
With the box came a note, and it read:
It's all elementary, my dear Watson.
"Huh?" Ryuk voiced. "What does that mean?"
"No clue," Light replied. "Other than it's from the British detective series Sherlock Holmes."
"How do you open it?" Ryuk asked.
"No clue," Light repeated.
Light sat down on the bed, and looked it over, rotating the mystery box in his hand. He saw seemingly random metal elements mixed with collective gases. There didn't seem any order to the groupings. Then he felt four elements that were slightly embossed—H, He, Li, Be.
H: Hydrogen,
He: Helium,
Li: Lithium
Be: Beryllium
He recalled his chemistry. These four elements are the lightest on the periodic table. These elements were present during the initial formation of the universe…
Then he hit him. Lightest, he thought.
He looked at the note again, and read it differently: "It's all elementary, my dear Watson."
His mind raced.
"Watson—Watt—an element of power for a light bulb," he said out loud. "It has to be a coincidence," he added.
"What?" Ryuk asked.
Light didn't answer the Shinigami. His mind kept racing.
It was a bit of stretch. The mystery box was an elemental riddle, but there was a hidden meaning among the letters—just for Light. And he wondered if it was a way to open it? To open the box, he'd have to press them in sequence from 1 to 4 by way of their atomic number.
And he did so, easily.
H: Hydrogen, Atomic Number #1
He: Helium, Atomic Number #2
Li: Lithium, Atomic Number #3
Be: Beryllium, Atomic Number #4
So, the access code for the box was: 1, 2, 3, 4.
There was a click, and the box opened. It revealed something inside, a small diamond cubic shard. Diamond was one of the hardest known substances in the world and it was composed of carbon atoms, the building blocks of life, found everywhere in the universe.
Kira is a diamond in the rough when it comes to building my brand new world. He had a bit of chuckle with that thought. The elements of life, the order of existence—
Light was using the Death Note as an "elemental" tool to re-order of life in the Human World.
He shook his head in disbelief.
He thought associatively.
Someone highly intelligent put something this together and just for me. This meant the creator knew I'd be able to open it, and knows about Kira, and that I am Kira…But what is this thing?
"Ohhh," came a throaty tone from behind Light. "I know what that it." Ryuk lurked over Light, and had been the entire time Light fiddled with the mystery box. "It's a Shinigami quartz, a storage device that we use to keep track of infinite dimensional realms. We use it to open up gateways. I used one to come to the Human World. They're very valuable."
Light looked it over. "Why would someone be sending me this? And who, other than a Shinigami, would have one? Someone with a Shinigami, perhaps?"
Ryuk shrugged.
Just then, a musical tone began to sound from the mystery box, it turned into a music box.
Light listened to it, the sound was a little off due to the mechanical method of delivery, but it was unmistakable: William Tell's Overture: the Finale.
Another message to decipher?
Was it a hint that something was coming to an end?
He listened it to, and suddenly as it neared the climax, Light feared the worse.
This music normally accompanies fireworks, and they blew up!
"Ryuk, get rid of it! Now!"
Ryuk flew out of the motel window with it, high into the sky.
When he returned, Light's suspicion had been confirmed—it had been a bomb. Ryuk had flown up high enough that the general public didn't notice the explosion, and it had not harmed the Shinigami, since gods of death can't die from conventional human weapons.
"Do I get a reward for saving your life again?" Ryuk asked, hinting at the time he saved Light from the bullet that nearly cost him his life on the hospital roof. "Don't be cheap this time. I want a dozen juicy red apples and one of those fritters you bought once."
Light agreed, the Shinigami deserved a thank-you. "The apples I can do, but later," he said.
Ryuk groaned. "I always have to wait," he said with a grunt.
Light gazed at the quartz device and wondered how to use i. It was memorizing just to look at, sparkling like a diamond. If the mystery box was a bomb, the device may very well be a trap as well, he thought. "Ryuk, how can we use this? Is it programmed for a specific designation?"
Ryuk shrugged. "Not sure until I feel it," he said. "All I would have to do is touch it and absorb the information stored. You may think we Shinigami can't do that, but there's a lot we can do that is beyond human understanding. But the question is, who sent it? And how would anyone get their hands one? Only we Shinigami possess them."
Light had no answer. But he wanted to know what information resided in the device. He tossed it to Ryuk, the Shinigami fumbled with it. "Hey, it could've fallen and broke," Ryuk said.
"Read it, Ryuk, and tell me what's on it. I'm curious to know."
Ryuk gripped the quartz device in hand, shut his eyes, then after a moment, his eyes fluttered open. He said, "It's a destination within the Human World, just one. This crystal is brand new and has never been used. I'm very curious where this came from."
Ryuk gave him a set of numbers, they were latitude and longitude.
Light looked them up on his phone.
Light looked at Ryuk. "Why…here?" Light asked curiously.
Ryuk shrugged.
Was this pre-planned by Beyond Birthday?
Impossible! Light thought. There was be no way the villain would know Light would book this particular motel. Can he see the future?
Again, another impossibility—unless Beyond Birthday can tap into something within the universe normal people could not? Like a Shinigami.
The man was in prison, behind highly secured walls, with a state-of-the-art security system.
Raven, Light thought.
Light looked at his phone. His phone was probably tapped, so BB's accomplice could plant the package at the motel, and make things seem he can be in two places at once. Beyond Birthday was intelligent, but even he wasn't a Harry Houdini.
Light knew he would have to be very cautious now and his next steps would be crucial. Beyond Birthday vowed revenge for L's death and Light had already been attacked several times. Even a cat only had nine lives.
Light had the Death Note, and Kira was cleansing up the world one criminal at a time, but one wrong step, and his brand new world could come crashing down around him, and also destroy everything Light had already crafted—if he allowed Beyond Birthday to gain further advantage.
Light decided to take a chance, but not so much of one that he would risk his own life. He had had already had so many close calls. It was time for Ryuk to earn his keep.
"Ryuk, I want you to go to this location and see what is there," Light directed. "Report back anything that can be dangerous to me. If it's a trap, you won't be harmed."
Ryuk moaned dispassionately. "A Shinigami's work is never done, huh? I want two dozen apples for this extra work," he demanded. "I'll go, have a quick peak, and then come back."
"Fine," Light said annoyed, "two dozen apples. Talk about inflation."
Ryuk produced a large smile, then opened a dimensional eddy in the motel room. The winds from the rift were controlled, and it only blew moderately. Ryuk stepped in. The rift then shut behind the Shinigami. And Light was forced to wait for news.
Minutes later, the rift opened up, and Ryuk stepped through, the rift shut behind him.
Light perked up, excited, sitting up on the bed. "What did you find, Ryuk? And it better be good."
"You're not going to believe it," Ryuk said.
Light nearly didn't, as the rift opened up again, and Beyond Birthday suddenly walked out into the motel room, dressed all in black clothes—including a leather jacket and gloves, with a Glock-7 in hand, pointing it directly at Light. Beyond Birthday produced a waxy smile.
Light shot to his feet.
Beyond Birthday chuckled. "Surprised to see me, Yagami? Thought you just saw me?"
"H-how did you escape? It was a maximum security prison. You were being watched by CCTV from every angle, and the only way out was through a biometric door."
BB put a finger to his lips. "That's a secret," he said, with a chuckle.
Light changed the subject. "You created that mystery box just for me?" he asked.
"Correct. I made it a bit challenging. Still, I knew once you were enlightened..." He laughed short. "You'd be able to open it. Congratulations! You've earned my respect. I admit, the bomb was overkill, but repetition is the cornerstone of success. I knew you'd see through the music and discard it before it detonated. Be thankful for your Shinigami, once again."
Just then, Light's cell rang. It was on the bed where Light had been sitting.
"Answer it, but act calm," BB said, threatening with the gun. "However, I believe I know who is calling you, and you're about to get a surprise."
Light did. It was his father. His father's voice sounded unlike anything he had heard before, almost panicky. "Dad, what's wrong?" Light listened. Light's eyes suddenly widened with shock as he looked at BB. "How did Kira know he was there?" He listened still. "Okay, please keep me informed." He ended the call. "Who the hell are you? How can you be in two places at once?"
BB smiled smartly. "You know the old saying that everyone has a doppelganger somewhere in the world? Well, you met mine. And now thanks to Kira, I'm officially dead—again. But don't be so surprised. When I kidnapped you some time ago, you obviously noticed the piece of the Death Note removed from your watch. Thank you. It came in quite handy."
Light eyed him with disdain. "Legend has it if you see your doppelganger, you will die," he said.
"If true, it didn't work out so well for mine, did it? But my/his 'capture' gave me the perfect opportunity to sever the cord between us. He had outlived his usefulness, anyhow."
"You still haven't explained how? How he—the other BB—looked exactly like you!"
"Back at the hospital, the switch was made. When we emerged, no one knew the difference since we were both wearing police uniforms. And those other officers were friends of mine. It's also how the uniform I was wearing was so authentic. We bagged the fake BB with a hood, so Kira couldn't see his face, (but still his name)—even if Misa Amane did see his name on the news, the name and face wouldn't match, hence I would not be killed. I remained in the background with a new face, a mask, moulded with lightning speed inside the elevator. And I managed to slip out unnoticed. Then I concocted that legal accusation against you, so you would confirm the other was me, and even visit my double."
"Yet again, the prisoner—the fake BB—looked exactly like you down to the face burn scar."
"Oh, it was nothing special," BB said. "Way back, when I enjoyed dressing up as L, I got quite good at mimicry. So, I passed on my tricks to another, and my doppelganger was born. As I changed, he changed—quite a remarkable transformation if I do say so myself. When I saw him in the prison cell, and our eyes met when he spoke to me, I was actually in awe."
Light breathed in. "At the prison?" Then he knew. "My lawyer, it was you!"
"You're getting quicker. For the short time that I was your councillor and you were my client, you never knew you were actually conversing with your enemy. I'm just that damn good. Your task force friend called me up believing I was someone else he knew. I met the challenge of playing a medley of many roles all to get close to you once again. You are so easy to manipulate."
Light scowled. "It was all smoke and mirrors," he said, ashamed of himself that he had been tricked so easily by a quick-change artist and had fallen directly in Beyond Birthday's trap.
"The whole thing even tricked me," Ryuk put in.
Light sat back down and gripped the edges of the bed with exasperation, but then artfully smiled, and said, "Honestly, I'm impressed. You're a true genius in the art of deception. More than L could ever achieve even behind his computer and slew of nom-de-guerres."
BB took a bow. "Thank you, I enjoy positive feedback. Now, you and I are leaving," he said, gesturing to the still opened dimensional rift. BB held the quartz device in his other hand, taken from Ryuk. "Step into my parlour said the spider to the fly. We've come full circle, you and I. If you only knew half the things I had to do in Los Angeles to draw L to me…But unlike L, he saw through my tricks and traps. You're smart, Light Yagami, but you're no L."
Light looked at Ryuk as he stood up, and said, "Traitor! You can forget about those apples."
Ryuk chuckled. "Got a better deal," the Shinigami said. He looked at BB.
BB gestured. "Come, Yagami," he directed. "It's time for the final act between us to begin. The act whereas Kira will suffer for his sins and justice will be served for the innocent lives you have taken playing god. L will be avenged. This I promise. So help me…Kira." He laughed.
Light proceeded to walk to the rift, but slowly. But then Beyond Birthday shoved Light forward, impatiently, Light staggering. "No more escapes for you, Yagami," he said. "Time to face justice."
Light was pushed all the way in—with BB, and Ryuk in tow.
The rift shut behind them.
To be continued...
