Note: Thank you everyone who has stuck around so long and made it to this point! I am finally proud to present Controller of Minds!
Originally posted in 2018 and revised in anticipation of the final installment, Tamer of Beasts.
"Are you sure you're alright in there?" Touta Matsuda's electronically amplified voice echoed around the small chamber that filled the many screens of a surveillance station.
The whitewashed cell's lone inhabitant gave a shallow nod in lieu of an answer, his wide, sunken eyes fixed upon the golden ring on the table in front of him. It glimmered under the harsh interrogation light. The eye at its center seemed to wink. L stared back at it, his face a mask of intense boredom, with heavy bags beneath his eyes, lined with cows feet, from years of irregular sleep.
He sat with his legs crossed as though meditating, his hands cuffed together in front of him. A chain dangled from his ankle, shackling him to a stark metal chair, nailed to the floor, as was the table. There was only one door, bolted shut, with a one-way mirror set in the middle, reflecting the cell back at itself.
L's handcuffs clanked as he lifted a porcelain teacup from in between himself and the Ring. Holding the teacup daintily with one hand, the other hand dangling behind, he took a single sip and returned it to its saucer. His eyes never left the Ring.
Light seemed to dance across the Ring's shimmering surface and ricochet between the spikes splayed out around it.
The detective may have blinked.
L took another sip and returned the teacup to its saucer.
Sip by sip, the teacup emptied until only dregs of tea and sugar remained.
L blinked into awareness under the harsh interrogation light that glared at him from above and reflected in the eye in the center of the Millennium Ring below.
L unfolded a little, though he remained perched upon the chair, and stared back at the Ring. It did not yield.
L opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse noise.
He tried again. "I have experienced no change." He paused, apparently considering the Ring. "For how long was I unconscious?"
"Er… About five hours, I guess," Matsuda answered. He likewise sounded a little foggy.
The crinkling of papers and clicking of keys followed, echoing over the intercom.
L lifted his teacup from it's saucer, holding it up between the thumb and forefinger of his lower hand, only to find it empty of tea and sugar.
The Millennium Ring appeared to watch him, sitting unmoved, glistening in the center of the table.
Matsuda spoke again amidst the shuffling of paper, "I'll send you down another teapot." At last the shuffling stopped and he asked, "Why haven't you touched the Ring yet? Do you think something's going to happen otherwise? I didn't feel anything while I was taking it to you, only when I was holding it."
L appeared to consider the question before finally answering, "It may be able to communicate without contact."
"You think so?" Matsuda exclaimed.
"It's a possibility."
Matsuda hesitated. "Do you think it could take control of you that way, without even touching it?"
"It is unlikely. If it could, I suspect it would have already..." L chewed at his thumb in contemplation.
"I hope it can't!" Matsuda exclaimed. After another minute he hadded, "Though it'd be nice if it could talk on its own somehow, then we wouldn't have to keep you locked up like this."
"Don't be careless."
"I won't!" Matsuda protested, "I was just saying…" he trailed off.
L ignored him. His wide-eyed stare was already fixed back upon the Ring.
Streaks of light shivered across the Ring, giving way to shadows that pooled around the edges, encircling it. Amid the constant movement, its frozen eye stared back at L, unblinking.
L took another sip of tea and sugar.
He returned the teacup to its saucer and delicately lifted the miniature spoon from beside it. He lifted the spoon across the table, past the teacup and a bowl half-filled with brightly colored candies, to just above the golden Ring, so that its tip was almost touching the Ring's outer circle.
Finally, he closed the distance. The tip of the spoon tapped the edge of the Ring with a faint metallic chime.
Nothing happened.
The Ring did not move. L did not recoil, or even shift in his chair.
L returned the spoon to the saucer and took a long sip of tea. His gaze remained fixed upon the ring. Finally, after another sip, he put the teacup down and picked back up the spoon.
He prodded the Ring with the spoon again. Again, nothing occurred.
He tapped one of the spikes hanging from the outer circle. Nothing.
He poked the triangle at the center. Again nothing.
He touched the spoon to the very center of the eye at the heart of the ring. There was no response.
He tried prodding each part of the Ring again for good measure. Still, nothing happened.
As the ringing of metal hitting metal faded from the cell, L returned the spoon to the saucer where it belonged.
He stared at the Ring as he took yet another sip of tea, and then another.
The cup was nearly empty when he turned his attention to the bowl of candies beside it. He had made his way halfway through the bowl when he selected another, a bright blue candy, with particular care. Instead of popping it into his mouth, as he had with all the others before it, he held it up to his eyes and examined the glossy sphere of translucent sugar from all angles. At last he lowered it, not to return it to the bowl, but to to hold it out, just a few inches above the eye of the Millennium Ring.
He turned the candy one way and then the other as though he were showing it to the Ring, offering the candy to it.
The Ring made no move to accept.
L gently tapped the candy against the eye of the Ring. It elicited no response.
He touched the ball of hardened sugar to the Ring again and held it there. Seconds passed, but still nothing.
L removed the unscathed candy from the unaffected Ring and ate it.
Some time after he had finished it, he reported, "I have experienced no change."
It appeared there was no alternative.
L lifted his hands from his lap and reached toward the Ring. He hesitated, the tip of his finger only a centimeter from the Ring's golden outer circle.
Then, he closed the distance and his finger touched the cold metal.
For an instant, L sat upright, his chest puffed out, both legs firmly on the floor. His hair, already in disarray, seemed to become wilder; a puffy mane sticking up at all angles. His eyes narrowed.
He yanked his finger away as though it had been burned, pulling his other hand after it, and immediately deflated. His hair fell, his back doubled over in a slouch, and he drew both legs to his chest. His eyes opened wide to stare at the Ring. He chewed at the skin of his thumb, the repetitive motion reflecting the rapid turning of the gears in his head.
After many cups of tea filled to the brim with stacks of sugar cubes, accompanied by the remainder of a bowl of cookies, L spoke at last, "When I touched the Millennium Ring, I suspect another individual entered my mind."
L sat unmoving, his knees drawn up to his chest and his head resting on top of them, staring unblinking at the Millennium Ring.
Finally, he lifted his hands once more and reached out towards the Ring. He paused, his finger lingering just above the outer ring, and then, in one fluid motion, he tapped it and withdrew his hand. There was barely time for his posture to shift, but for an instant, again, his back straightened and his expression sharpened. However, his legs remained tucked close to his chest.
He took another tartlet from the tray beside him and filled another cup of tea, one cube of sugar at a time.
Only when he had finished it all in small bites and deliberate sips, did he tap the Ring again. The same change occurred and vanished.
"Are you alright?" Matsuda asked over the intercom.
A minute passed in silence, and then another. Matsuda's voice again began to sound over the intercom, but stopped before it could form into words.
L finished another cup of tea, sip by sip.
Only then did he answer, "I am fine."
"You're sure this is a good idea?" Matsuda blurted out. "We've seen what this thing can do…"
"My decision has not changed," L's voice was flat, but resolute.
"I know, I know, I've asked it already, but if you're right and there is something in there that took over Bakura-"
"You are aware of all the precautions in place," L poured tea into his cup again and began to fill it with cubes of sugar. "Your concern is not productive."
There was a pause before Matsuda's voice resumed, "What's happening to you when you touch it?"
L added another cube of sugar to the already syrupy tea. "It appears that someone else takes control of my body, though I can continue to control it if I plan my action in advance. I am also aware of their presence in my mind."
"That's creepy!" There was a pause, and then, more subdued, Matsuda said, "That sounds like what I felt when I touched the Ring."
"And what have you discovered?" L asked pointedly, between bites of a pink frosted eclair.
"Oh yeah… I talked to Ryou Bakura - we keep seeing him on the cameras outside, though he doesn't stick around for long. He says he doesn't know where the Ring is, but it's like it's pulling him back to it. Anyway, he wasn't really able to fill in many gaps. He said his father found the Ring in Egypt at some bazaar. He wants it back, though I told him we confiscated it as evidence."
"You were not supposed to reveal your identity," L said, his mouth still full of the remainder of the eclair.
"They don't know I'm working for you, they just think I'm a local police officer. It makes my questions a lot less suspicious than they would be as Taro Matsui."
"What about Bakura's father?" L interrupted Matsuda's excuses.
"He's an archaeologist; he owns the Domino City Museum and is the curator of the Egypt exhibit. His wife and daughter died in a car crash a while back, so Ryou Bakura is home alone a lot. He's on another expedition in Egypt now."
L chewed at the skin of his thumb, his gaze was still directed toward the Ring, staring past it rather than at it.
"I would try to trace it further," Matsuda continued, "But I know you don't want to attract that much attention and I was thinking it might be better to try and follow other leads here in Japan, since a few of the other Millennium Items managed to find themselves here somehow."
"It is probabilistically unlikely," L agreed.
"Everyone else seems pretty ordinary. Well, according to Chief Yagami, 'Bandit' Keith Howard is still missing, and there was another attempted takeover at Kaiba Corp, but Yugi Muto and his friends all seem to be perfectly normal kids, even after everything that happened at Duelist Kingdom."
"What about Light Yagami?"
"I don't think so…" The shuffling of paper echoed over the intercom. "He still hangs out with Yugi Muto and his friends sometimes and there doesn't seem to be much unusual in Naomi Miasora's reports either; top student, cram school, even a date over the weekend with a girl from his class. It doesn't look like she's seen him take out the Puzzle at all. There haven't been any more comatose criminals either, maybe it's all over?"
L appeared less than convinced. "Find out as much as you can about Light Yagami and his Millennium Puzzle."
"If you're sure..."
L said nothing more, his focus returned to the Ring, taking another pastry for good measure.
L sat unmoving, his eyes closed and legs crossed on the chair, in sleep or meditation.
After some time, his eyes opened and he folded his legs up to his chest. He poured himself a fresh cup of tea and began to fill it with sugar. Once it had nearly turned to syrup, he took a sip. Only then did he reach out to touch the Ring again.
He let his finger linger on its outer circle as his back straightened and his chest puffed out. He opened his mouth as though to speak-
He yanked his finger and hands away from the Ring and snapped his mouth shut.
He slouched back over and took another sip of tea, glaring accusingly at the Ring. It only shimmered in response.
Many sips of sugar tea, L asked, still warily watching the Ring, "Did you hear anyone speak?"
"Not until you just now," Matsuda answered. "What's going on? What were you about to say?"
There was a pause.
"I heard a voice speaking," L said. "It greeted me."
"Watari, did you hear anything?" Matsuda asked, his voice distant.
"No, I did not," Watari answered, his voice even farther away.
"You're hearing things?" Matsuda said directly into the microphone, a hint of worry in his voice.
"I believe the spirit of the Ring spoke to me," L said carefully.
"What did it say?"
"'Hello.' It attempted to say more, but it was cut off when I removed my hand."
"You can't hear it any more, can you?"
L shook his head. "I also believe it attempted to cause me to speak aloud for it."
"That's what it was doing to Bakura!"
L gave no reply and instead fell into a pensive silence. He took another pastry, and when he finished that one, took another, each accompanied by a fresh cup of syrupy tea.
Finally, he reached out and touched the Ring again, sat up straight for a moment, and then, just as his mouth began to open once more, tore his hand away.
"Did you hear him speak again?" Matsuda asked.
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"It attempted to greet me again, though I suspect the spirit's true objective was to speak aloud."
"What do you think he wanted to say?"
L sipped at his tea in lieu of answering.
Once it was empty, he said, "The spirit of the Millennium Ring appears to be amused, but it is becoming frustrated. It wants me to enable it to speak."
"I have concluded that in order to gain the information I require, I have no alternative but to allow the Millennium Ring to speak."
L repositioned himself on the chair and examined the Ring for another moment. He took another sip of tea and then returned the cup to its saucer. Finally, he reached out his hands and touched the index finger of his lower hand to the edge of the Ring. A war seemed to wage within the detective's form, his eyes widened and narrowed, his legs drew closer and shifted away from his chest, his arms stiffened and relaxed, his lips twitched as a wide range of emotions tried to break free of his perpetual mask.
At last his body unfolded a little; his chest puffed out, his hair became a little wilder, his legs relaxed a little, but he did not change his position; he remained perched upon the chair. His eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a harsh smile.
When he spoke, it was in a voice that was only partially his own - deeper and rougher, and less hesitating. "Finally! You know you've got to let me out of there to answer your questions; I can't do anything without a host."
L had barely finished speaking when his eyes widened and his posture condensed. He fought his mouth shut, cutting off each word that tried to slip through until his lips remained pressed into a thin frown. Still, he did not remove his finger from the Ring, though at times his whole arm shook with effort.
Gradually, his expression relaxed until he finally trusted himself to speak. His own voice emerged, perhaps a little stiffer than usual in contrast to the spirit of the Ring. "Another entity took control of my body. I have temporarily resumed control."
He paused for a moment, perhaps in thought or to maintain control.
Then, he spoke again, his voice flat, "What are you?"
It took only an instant for his posture to open up once more, the harsh smile returned and he answered, his voice deep with a hint of a cold laugh, "I am a thief and a stealer of souls, I seek the seven Millennium Items."
L's arm twitched as though he were attempting to recoil from the Millennium Ring, but again his finger remained as though affixed to it. His posture shifted as he regained control of his own body. His eyes were wide, almost fearfully so, though, it may have only been the contrast between him and the Ring.
"What are you searching for in my mind?" the detective asked, his stiff voice betrayed no hint of emotion.
He resigned his body to the Ring's control. It twisted his features into a menacing smile.
"I seek the seven Millennium Items." it said and refused to divulge more.
A range of expressions warred across his face until, with a final show of force, L yanked his hand away from the Ring.
"What do you know of the Millennium Items?" L asked, one finger on the Ring.
His posture shifted and he let out a harsh laugh, but he said nothing.
L reclaimed control. "Why do you want them?"
He answered in a voice that was not his own, "Who wouldn't want their mystical power?"
"What power is that?"
"Let me show you," the spirit of the Ring said, L's face twisted into a malicious smile.
The words had no sooner left his mouth, when L pulled his hands back, away from the Ring.
"Who are you?" L asked.
"I told you," the spirit of the Ring answered in a distortion of L's voice, "I am a thief and a stealer of souls."
"Are you human?"
He let out a harsh laugh as the spirit of the Ring resumed control. "Maybe once."
"What do you remember?"
"How could I forget any of it?" the spirit of the Ring said with a cruel smile.
"What happened?"
The spirit of the Ring only laughed until L took back control.
"What do you know of the Millennium Puzzle?" L asked, his hand on the Millennium Ring.
The spirit overtook him and he let out a harsh laugh. "The poor Pharaoh," he taunted.
"The pharaoh?" L asked.
The spirit of the Ring took control with another humorless laugh. "You really want to know? Yes, I can feel you knocking at my soul room."
He did not let L regain control to answer.
Instead, the spirit of the Ring sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Long ago, in ancient Egypt, there ruled a noble, benevolent Pharaoh. But all was not well in the two kingdoms. They were plagued by threats from within and without. So, this wise Pharaoh decided to eliminate both with the same cursed stone. He ordered his high priest to create the seven Millennium Items that fascinate you so. Their power calls to you, doesn't it? It calls you with the voices of the 99 souls of Kul Elna!" He let out a wild, uncontrollable laugh.
L's arm shook and his features warred between them.
With a final show of force, L yanked his hand away from the Ring, nearly knocking himself from his chair. He curled in on himself, his legs tucked up to his chest, his eyes still fixed on the Ring.
L stared at the golden ring as though that alone could draw out its secrets. The Ring betrayed nothing. His cup of tea, still full, had long since turned cold and the slice of cake beside it was likewise untouched.
Suddenly, the intercom buzzed to life. The quiet noise echoed around the silent cell and was enough to startle L into motion. He shifted in his chair so that the leg that had been dangling was pulled up to his chest, and the foot that had rested on the chair now brushed the ground.
Watari's voice sounded over the speakers, "I have a report from Miss Miasora."
L nodded in assent, but his eyes never left the Ring.
"This afternoon, Mr. Yagami met Mr. Bakura…"
...
… It was too easy. A smile here, an understanding nod there, and the occasional trite word of sympathy, and Ryou Bakura would do just about anything for him.
"I don't know how it could help, or even if it really has anything to do with the Millennium Items at all," Bakura was saying, "but there's a new exhibit at the museum; an ancient tablet that's apparently connected to Duel Monsters somehow! Maybe it could hold some answers."
So this was why Bakura had texted him so urgently to meet after school. It was probably just ancient nonsense, but Light wasn't about to turn down the opportunity to talk to Bakura without any of his foolish 'friends' around to get in the way.
"You were right to invite me to see it, Ryou. The more we know about the Millennium Items, the more of a chance we have." Light glanced away just long enough to suggest a little uncertainty about the powerful Items. Then he turned to the real question; "Have you had any luck finding the Millennium Ring?"
Bakura shook his head. "Not really… I keep being drawn back to this same place, it's just some office building, but I have this feeling… But I shouldn't be looking for it at all! I should be grateful; I'm my own person for the first time in so long, but I can't help but worry about it. I wouldn't want anyone else to fall under the Ring's power. Or maybe it's just the Ring, making me worry!" He buried his head in his hands.
Light gave the slightest hesitation. "You're not alone. I've felt the puzzle changing my thoughts too. I don't know if it's real or I'm just imagining it, but it feels like it sometimes… But at least now we have each other. You don't have to do this alone."
Bakura looked up and Light gave him his brightest smile.
As they were approaching the museum, Light noticed a man out of the corner of his eye. He was impossible to miss, sitting beside the quiet street in a dark purple robe.
The man waved his hands over the crystal ball on the table in front of him, and called out in a voice that he may have intended to sound mysterious, but only succeeded at being laughable, "Future's told, fates unfold. Step up boy and I'll reveal the secrets of your future." He pointed a crooked finger at Light for good measure.
The whole charade was for nothing; the man's voice gave him away. It seemed that being defeated by Pegasus yet again had finally pushed "Bandit" Keith Howard over the edge.
Bakura, however, was unsurprisingly more credulous. "What do you say Light? Do you think he knows something about the Millennium Items?"
The hood of his cloak was decorated with the symbol of the eye that was on all the Millennium Items, but that didn't mean anything. "It's probably just Duel Monsters merchandise."
"You're probably right…" Still, Bakura glanced over his shoulder at the man as they passed.
They were almost at the museum; Light didn't have much more time. He paused at the bottom of the stairs that sloped up toward the grand entrance.
"I don't want to worry you even more," he continued, "but I don't know if Taro Matsui really is a police officer. I knew I recognized his name when I met him, and I finally remembered how - I saw this article in the news a few days before the tournament."
He was just getting out the newspaper from his bag, already open to the article about two murders Taro Matsui was suspected of committing.
However, he was interrupted by Joey Wheeler calling to them from the steps, "Hey Bakura and Yami! Or is it Akira? Or whatever you're calling yourself!"
"His name is Light, you dolt!" Tristan Taylor stepped in, hitting Wheeler on the head in what Light presumed passed for a friendly gesture between these fools.
Light forced himself to put on his friendliest smile and greet them all cordially.
"I invited everyone else to join us, since they were there too," Bakura said, "I hope you don't mind."
"Oh, I don't mind at all," Light said, his smile frozen in place.
Thankfully Taylor and Wheeler ran on ahead, but Muto, joined by Tea Gardner, remained on Bakura's other side, apparently still intent on interfering with Light's plans. Still, even Muto could be useful to him if manipulated properly.
As they walked up to the museum Muto said, "After everything that happened, I just want to understand it all better."
Bakura gave an eager nod. "Maybe the curator might even know something about the Millennium Items." He glanced up at Light.
Despite Muto's efforts, Bakura remained well under his power.
"Maybe, but we have to be careful; even the curator could underestimate their power."
"Do you feel that?" Muto asked suddenly.
Beneath his irritation at the interruption, Light could feel the puzzle calling to him, trying to compel him to put it on.
Could it feel the presence of another Millennium Item?
"What is it?" Light asked.
"I don't know," Muto said. "Sometimes it's almost like I can feel the Millennium Puzzle. I don't know how, but I know it's in your bag. It's like it's calling to me and right now it seems like it thinks there's something important over there." He pointed to a pair of double doors at the end of the exhibit hall.
The doors were roped off and they looked like they led to a storage or maintenance area.
"Are you sure?" Gardner asked from Muto's other side.
Even Wheeler and Taylor seemed to notice that something was amiss, and doubled back to barge in on them.
While Wheeler and Taylor distracted the others, Light reached into his bag for the Millennium Puzzle. All of the pharaoh's inane thoughts and emotions flooded his mind, but at the forefront was the answer he was looking for; Muto was right, there was something down there.
How does Yugi Muto know that there is something there? Light silently asked the pharaoh.
I do not know, the pharaoh replied, But I feel that there are answers here, beyond those doors. Maybe that question will also be answered.
When it was clear the puzzle would be of no more use to him, Light let go of it and closed his bag.
"Is everything alright?" Bakura asked.
Light nodded. In a lowered voice he said, "The puzzle wanted to take control, but I was able to overcome it for now. But it confirmed what Yugi said - there's something down there."
"Do you think Yugi is alright? Do you think the puzzle has him too?" Bakura sounded like he was on the edge of panic, which would diminish his usefulness significantly.
"He's fine," Light said, his tone firm, but still comforting. "We know that the Items can only control one person at a time."
Bakura nodded, his fears assuaged for the time being, but still present for Light to make use of them when the time came. They followed Muto and his entourage through the door and down the poorly lit stairs.
"Are you sure we're supposed to be down here?" Gardner's voice echoed up the stairs.
"Yeah! It's kinda creepy!" Wheeler said even louder.
They had no notion of the meaning of subtlety.
Any chance of being undetected gone, Light played his part and called down after the others, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
However, the question received no reply as their attention had been claimed by a large stone tablet in a case at the foot of the stairs. The lights above it were on - someone was expecting them.
If he had not known better, he would have assumed it was a hoax. The tablet depicted two figures facing each other, with monsters above them, all surrounded by ancient Egyptian text. One of them, with hair as absurd as Yugi Muto's, was carrying the Millennium Puzzle, and above him was what looked like the Dark Magician. Opposite him was a man in an equally elaborate headdress, and above him was a dragon. Arranged at the very top of the tablet was an engraving of the Millennium Puzzle surrounded by three monsters, each of which was conveniently bordered by a rectangle just shy of the dimensions of a Duel Monsters card.
Muto and his foolish friends were awed, of course, not that they knew at all what to make of it. Wheeler even began to speculate that it was an ancient game of Duel Monsters.
However, he was mercifully interrupted by the arrival of something much more interesting. Light heard her approaching and turned around just in time to see the figure of a woman standing in the shadow of the stairwell behind them before she spoke, "My Pharaoh, I've been expecting you."
She emerged from the shadows as everyone else turned in surprise. She was wearing a necklace in the center of which was the same symbol of the eye as was in the heart of all the other Millennium Items.
Wheeler screeched in surprise.
The woman ignored him, instead her attention was fixed on Muto. "But there is something wrong. This is not what I foresaw." She stepped toward him. "I can see that you are the rightful bearer of the Millennium Puzzle, why do you not possess it?"
She was a fool. What could that child do with the power of the Millennium Puzzle? He would only waste it. Light was the only one who could bring justice to the rotten world. If she could not foresee it, she was a fraud. Light would show her why he was the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle.
"How do you know all of this?" Wheeler asked.
She seemed startled by his continued presence - another score against her so-called 'knowledge' - but answered all the same, "Like the Millennium Puzzle, my Millennium Necklace affords me certain powers. With it, I have gazed five thousand years into the past and seen visions of the future."
It would be his.
"That's remarkable," Light said, giving her his most charming smile. He stepped forward so he was between her and Muto. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle."
She backed away from him. "This is not what I foresaw. Yugi Muto is the rightful bearer of the Millennium Puzzle. He shares the Pharaoh's destiny, you do not. He is the one who will enable the Pharaoh to rescue mankind once again."
She was obstinate, but no armor was perfect.
"Can't we all help the Pharaoh rescue mankind, if that's what he's really meant to do? Even if Yugi had the puzzle, we would all help him, right? All of our destinies are intertwined," Light protested.
A cheer of agreement from the others emphasized Light's pronouncement.
"And its your destiny to help us, isn't it?" Light held out his hand to her.
"It is my destiny to aid Yugi Muto, the rightful bearer of the Millennium Puzzle and keeper of the Pharaoh's soul," she insisted. "It is he who I invite to join the Duel Monsters tournament which is beginning, for the victor will hold the answers to the Pharaoh's past." And it was to Yugi that she said, "When you return home you will discover an invitation waiting for you. Farewell."
"Wait!" Bakura called out after her.
But she did not turn back.
That Millennium Necklace belonged in Light's hands, and nothing could stop him from claiming it.
...
"Contact Matsuda," L said when Watari had concluded. "instruct him to join this tournament. The Millennium Items cannot remain at large any longer."
