Chapter 34:

"The Final Solution - Part 3"

"The Eye of Providence," was the last thing Light spoke of after Crusade placed the VR headset over his head and eyes, but he remembered their secret deal. The Eye of Providence was a triangle with an eye, what was commonly referred to the all-seeing eye of God, that symbolically watched over humanity—indications of it could be found all the way back to ancient history and on some of today's global currency.

He had been whisked away within a kaleidoscope of streaming lights and deposited in a place that when seen was blurred with a whitish fog to common sight. It was as if the world around himself had yet to take form. The only thing that was crystal clear was his partner in this game.

"What do we do?" Light looked around, groping the air around him. And while the atmosphere remained unseen, his own features were clear. "Are we in a virtual world?"

Beyond Birthday nodded. "The final 'escape room'," BB remarked.

"Why is everything around us blurred out?" Light wondered.

Just then, an icon appeared before him, and it began to rotate in mid air. It was the Eye of Providence.

"I think this is the gatekeeper, the guardian of the landscape," BB said, "the Eye of Providence. With our minds connected, despite Alexandre in complete control—this reality his to manipulate—nothing will manifest until our perception clarifies the environment. Almost like we have to give it permission."

Light was confused. "Can't we just take the VR headsets off?"

"Alexandre would have thought of that. The moment they were put on, and if we force them off without completing the final game, our heads will no doubt be blown off by some sort of explosive device."

"Bastard," Light said, about the situation.

BB looked around, taking in the surroundings. "We could probably walk in any direction and everywhere would be the same, I think the icon is the entry point." BB cocked his head. "Are we the password?" He looked at his right hand as if thinking about something.

Light circled the Eye of Providence counterclockwise as it rotated clockwise.

"I'm familiar with virtual reality," BB went on, "and it's progressed tremendously over the years to the point a simple probe into the cerebral cortex of the brain can fully immerse a person into a digital environment with crystal clarity." He touched his temple. "We must be connected by a wireless port. Alexandre must have designed these headsets just for us with our distinct brainwave patterns—to generate images according to our perception of the world. This will ensure a completely realistic experience, we won't know what is real or not. But don't ask me how. I have to admit, respectfully, Alex blows me away with this."

"Don't say, 'blows me away'," Light uttered. "I don't want to die here."

BB smirked. "Whatever we encounter here, we must keep our heads."

Light rolled our heads at the dark humour.

BB touched Light's shoulder. "It feels as if I'm physically present here and the events I perceive are actually happening to me, but be careful, albeit theoretical, we could die here—much like in a dream."

"So, what do we do?" Light asked.

BB's brow rose and he shrugged. "Play the game," he said, "and see what happens."

He went to touch the symbol.

Just then, a hand reached out and stopped BB, his fingers just millimetres away. Light saw that it was Crusade. "You were moments away from killing yourselves," the Astral God said.

"What do you mean? And how did you get in here?" BB pulled his hand away, as if annoyed.

"Is that any way to thank me? I just saved your lives." Crusade extended his arms and he twirled around on the heels of his feet like a dancer. He certainly had the frame for one. "Look around you, there's nothing—just empty space. And there's a reason for that." He stopped. "Alexandre lied to you. He never built a virtual world." He raised a finger. "But he was telling you the truth about one thing—this last stage is certainly 'down to earth'. Very crude by the previous standards he set out with the other games that tested you intelligence. He knows he can't beat you, so this is his 'final solution'."

Light glanced around, confirming nothing but white around him, or rather incomplete, blurred images. He couldn't see past the white film, passing his hands through it.

Light was familiar with the term: "Final Solution", and it unnerved him. The Nazis murdered their prisoners in a last attempt to kill their enemies when they knew they were losing the second world war.

He turned back to the "the Eye of Providence". "It's a trigger device, isn't it? This symbol…" He gestured. "The all-seeing eye. And yet we almost couldn't see past our own perception, what we thought of the world. We failed to see through Alexandre's clue when he said, 'Things will only be revealed to you after you 'Blindly See' through the fog of your indecision'. He said that to you BB. I thought it had something to do with your Shinigami Eyes. But he meant this, to have us kill ourselves—if we didn't 'decide' to see through his trickery."

"And we didn't," Beyond Birthday said perceptibly.

"Correct," Crusade confirmed. "This symbol is the trigger to explosives connected to your headsets. The moment it's pressed by you—believing it's the icon to begin the last stage of Alexandre's deadly games gauntlet—you would have triggered your own demise, and he'd win by default."

Beyond Birthday gritted his teeth. "That sneaky bastard," he said, but with a snarky smile. "Still, I have to admire his gaul. It's actually quite brilliant. But why did you stop me? I thought you had a deal with Alex?"

Crusade nodded. "I've been forced to alter the original contract, because another contract supersedes it—one with priority. I was forced to intercede after I received a personal request. And it aligns with the same request you asked of me, Light Yagami, before I placed the headset on you. This is why I've entered this world, and saved you from a horrible fate. He wants to meet you."

Light smiled devilishly. "Perfect," he said. "I figured he wouldn't want to pass up the challenge I put forth."

"What challenge? Okay, now I feel like a third wheel," Beyond Birthday said.

"My request was for Crusade to pass on a message to the Evangelist," Light said. "He financed Alexandre's games, but since we've never officially met, I, Kira, requested an official audience with him. If he's the all power harbinger he portrays to be on the internet, then he'll want to met 'God'."

Beyond Birthday burst out laughing. "Oh, so brilliant," he said, "and it assured our survival. The last minute save. The Evangelist is an arrogant, egotistical, machiavellian psychopath, and you managed to tickle his ego. The Evangelist believes he's a god, so to get a direct challenge from Kira to prove it is priceless. Sadly, I was wrong about you, Light Yagami. Maybe L did deserve to die by your hand."

Light eyed him. BB had all but accused him of killing L without confirmation, but Light wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Besides, he had not been the one who had directly killed L. But BB was correct, L had died by Kira's hand. It had been the first major step to establish Kira's brand new world.

Beyond Birthday let out a breath. "So, now what? How do we get out of this place? If we attempt to take off the headsets, they'll explode." The Eye of Providence continued to float and rotate between them. "This symbol is just a means to an end for our demise. The threat still remains outside this world."

"You need not have to worry about that anymore," Crusade said. "They have been deactivated."

"Excellent!" Light said.

"One thing, Astral God," BB said seriously. "Tell me the truth about Alex. I know I killed him. What lies did you feed him? I can see his lifespan with my Shinigami Eyes, but the numbers never fluctuate, like everyone else does. With every action a person takes, day-by-day, their numbers change. They either increase or decrease, given a circumstance. But Alex's lifespan remains the same without a single change. I saw him die. I've seen his lifespan since the day we met, like I have seen everyone's since I was a child. And I knew the very moment he would die, down to the second. I knew when my parents were going to die, but I can't see my own lifespan. I wasn't born with the 'Eyes', like everything thinks. I was gifted them by a dying Shinigami at a very young age, hence I chose the name Beyond Birthday as a sobriquet. Beyond my cognitive knowledge of what I perceived the world to be, 'beyond' my true 'birthday'. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I accepted them. You're the only one I've told this to, Yagami. So, consider yourself privileged. L thought he knew, but he was often too naive in some things for his own good. And that's what probably got himself killed."

Light nodded in agreement. "L was too smart for his own good," he said.

Crusade's own eyes twinkled as he looked into BB's. "There is no fooling those Eyes of yours," the Astral God said with a chuckle. "As it's said, the eyes are the window to the soul, or the lifespan, therein. I knew you would not be so easily tricked. We gods enjoy playing with you humans, but you…are a cut 'beyond' the rest. You're correct, Alexandre Monet's lifespan is fake, one of my own design."

Beyond Birthday frowned. "I want answers, Astral God," he demanded. "Why was he resurrected?"

"It wasn't of my design, you'll have to ask him," the Astral God said, "when you see him."

Beyond Birthday's eyes narrowed, and then he said, "And I shall. Mark my words."


With his game almost at an end, Alexandre smiled with glee.

He took one last glance at Rue and Light Yagami strapped in the metallic chairs. The moment they trigger the Eye of Providence inside the simulation, thinking it would begin the final game, their deaths will be assured. The headsets will explore, killing the pair instantly. He wished he could stay for the gruesome end, but he had to leave—he was never one for the sight of blood.

He checked his phone and scrolled through the CCTV of the building. The police were buzzing around like flies. But it would be too late for the Bomb Squad to arrive. And he had given the task force members a false reference to the location of the bombs, so they'll be searching in the wrong places.

He laughed.

"I wish I could stay to see it all come crumbling down, but I must be going," he said, eying the pair. "Alas, when those headsets explode, the bombs in this old brewery will be set off in succession, after a five minute silent countdown, destroying any and all evidence that this place ever existed," he added.

He had lifted the invisible barrier that separated the room before the detectives arrived. It had served its purpose, but just in case something like the truly bizarre happened and Rue and Light Yagami were able to escape the headsets, he secured it again. Once he got up to the helicopter and he was on his way out of the area, he would trigger the bombs himself by his phone if Rue and Light somehow managed to avoid their pre-planned demise. A true genius planned for every contingency.

"Intelligence only gets you so far, gentleman, before you stand before a wall you cannot breach," he said. "I think Plato's allegory presents it best, we all live in a dark cave of our own invention."

Ryuk suddenly stood in his way with his skull and crossbones Death Note in his hand, opened to a blank page, with a black feathery pen balanced in his left hand.

Alex stopped and looked up into the face of the ghastly, clownish Shinigami. "And what do you think you're going to do with that? Crusade warned you. Taking Light Yagami's life now will only be bad for you. And if you think you can hide from an Astral God, you'd be mistaken."

"I'll take my chances," Ryuk said adamantly. "And while I'm at it, I'll also take Beyond Birthday's. Kill two birds with one stone. I think I deserve it after everything I've gone through since dropping the Death Note to the Human World. My contract with Light will be done as stated in Shinigami Rule Book."

Alexandre's eyes widened with revelation and he clenched his teeth, squeezed his fists. "You can't do that! You'll ruin everything! They are mine to kill! MINE! Do you hear me! And I will have my vengeance!"

"On the contrary, you inauspicious, little worm," came a voice, and Alexandre snapped a look to the chairs, as Rue and Light suddenly pulled off the headsets without them exploding, their binds mysteriously unstrapped. "I overheard you, and I believe you misinterpret Plato's allegory. Ignorance may be bliss, but when you decide to think for yourself against your peers, then no chain can bind you, and no dark shadow can bedevil you—especially one from your past."

BB winked at Light.

Alexandre stood speechless. So shocked, he almost dropped his phone. "B-but…how?"

BB smiled broadly, the scars on the left side of his face pulled at his burnt, waxy skin, which created an almost abnormal, sadistic look. "Let's just say, I have a god on my side," and he gestured to Light.

Alexandre growled under his breath. "Say what you wish, but neither one of you will leave here alive!" And he fingered his phone. "I've started the five minute countdown to blow this building. You and the police that inhabit and surround this place will all die. But the infamous 'L' will make a stunning comeback. And when the story is told, I'll go down in history in killing two serial killers in a single blow."

He laughed.

"You can kill them if you wish, Shinigami, like you about to," he said to Ryuk, "but you can't stop the enviable to come—in five minutes, everything will be incinerated." He looked back at BB and Light. "No one can run from the Grim Reaper. I'll have my revenge, one way or another!"

Alexandre then ran for the open door on the other end of the room that had the keypad. He entered the stairwell and ran up to the roof to an awaiting helicopter to begin his escape.

And he cursed at the sudden turn of events.


Rue bolted after Alexandre, but he was immediately repelled by an invisible barrier. He pounded his fists on the surface and screamed a series of curses. "The damn invisible wall from before!"

"Ryuk! Get us out here!" Light ordered, moving his hands across the same invisible barrier. Light frowned at the Shinigami, as the god of death had his Death Note out ready to write his name down, as revealed by Alexandre. "And we'll discuss what you had intended to do later. Just help us!"

Ryuk put his book away into its pouch, and said, "Sorry, but I can't. Not that I can't, but while I can pass through that barrier Alexandre Monet has erected, you can't. You need to get out yourself."

"He's right!" Beyond Birthday said, looking around quickly. "Crusade left as soon as he helped us, he went back to the Evangelist to inform him that his terms were agreed upon. His part in this is over. Now it's time we help ourselves." He ran to the headset he had taken off and turned it over in his hands. "We can use this to blow a hole through the wall." He took off a side panel on the headset. "Hopefully Crusade only deactivated the headsets so we could pull them off…Yes!" He said thrilled. "The circuits are still intact. With what I have in mind, this'll work!"

Light said, "What's the plan? We use the headset. How?"

Beyond Birthday began to strip out of his flight suit. "When I was at the orphanage, I used to sneak into the lounge late at night and watch an old American television show called MacGyver as a scarfed down vanilla homemade sundaes topped with strawberries and smeared with strawberry sauce. I just love strawberry. It was before all this detective business and before L arrived. Great times, I had no worries. Anyway, you may not have heard of it, but it's amazing what a little ingenuity can accomplish."

Light and Ryuk shared a confused look.

BB continued, "Take your flight suit off, Light, and then roll into a tight ball with one arm hanging out, then stuff it into the helmet. The headset will reactivate the proximity detector. Ryuk, I need your help here."

Ryuk passed through the barrier with ease. "Okay, what do you need?"

"I need you to use your nails to slice off strips of my flight suit, so I can tie the strains into something resembling a rope. We then tie one end to the loose arm to Light's flight suit."

Light looked perplexed as he stripped down. "Why slice it into pieces?"

"Just trust me, my plan will work!" BB said.

Once it was done, the helmet was placed at the base of the barrier and the "rope" was long enough for the pair to remain at a suitable distance.

"Now, with your flight suit in the headset, we pull the rope and yank out it like a grenade pin," BB explained. "However, I need you again, Ryuk, and this won't kill you. Shinigami, I need you to hold the headset steady while we pull quickly, so the headset doesn't come back at us."

"But I'll be directly in the centre of the blast!" Ryuk protested.

"You might feel a little tickle," BB jeered, "but you'll be fine. Besides, it's either this, or we die. And if that happens, Shinigami. Your entertainment goes adios with Yagami with his lifespan! I estimate we're running out of time fast!"

Light gave the Shinigami a serious look as he gripped the rope along with BB. "Ryuk, help us out," he said, "and we'll call things even for you wanting to kill me earlier. And if we survive this, I'll enrol you in the Fruit of the Month Club when we get back home, nothing but apples of every variety."

Ryuk gave a toothy, broad smile. "Hey, for apples—I'll do almost anything," the Shinigami said. The god of death got into position, his body was transposed half way through the barrier, as he gripped the sides of the headset. "Okay, ready. I hope this works?"

Rue nodded.

They pulled.

The flight suit was yanked out of the headset. Seconds later, the headset exploded, blowing a giant hole in the barrier, the edges sizzling like melted glass.

Ryuk had closed his eyes, but then reopened them. He was none the worse for ware, but the headset in his hands had been completely destroyed. As a Shinigami, no conventional weapon could harm him.

"Beautiful!" Light said.

BB nodded. "Nothing to it," he said modestly. "Now, let's go get Alex! And we'll bestow our very own Final Solution upon him!"

"What about the explosives?" Light asked. "The building is about to explode!"

BB paused. "You've been a good partner, Light Yagami," he said seriously, "but this is where we part ways. I'm going after Alex. I don't care what you do. He and I have a score to settle." He ran over to the second seat and picked up the spare helmet. "Good-bye, Light Yagami," he then said. "Maybe, if things were different, we could've been allies, striving towards a common cause. Occurremus iterum."

He then ran out the door and bolted up the flight of stairs to the roof.

Occurremus iterum, Light recalled is Latin: "We will meet again."

Light watched him, but didn't follow. Instead, he ran down to the stairs. He found his father and Aizawa with a collection of uniformed officers in a main area. "Dad!"

"Light?" His father was shocked. "H-how did you escape? And why are you half-naked?"

"I'll explain everything later," Light replied. "Right now, everyone needs to get out of the building. Alexandre, 'A', has it rigged to explode and he's started the countdown. We have less than five minutes!"

Light's father's eyes widened, as he looked towards Aizawa. "'A'? Oh my god!" He frowned. "So, that was Alexandre Monet dressed as L. The fiend! Light, where's Beyond Birthday?"

"Settling a score," Light said simply. "No time to explain it now. We need to get out of here!"

His father gave Light his jacket, and then, after quick instructions to everyone within ear shot, and radio transmission, everyone quickly made their way out of the building.

To be continued...