Alright, here we go again.

So, there are, like, small shout-outs and larger ones? Do I get a FUS RO DAH! for favoriting, following and reviewing?

You got an endorsement of your FanFiction, that's what you got.

Despite her best efforts? She wants a human to get rid of half their remaining lifespan?

In your great Death Note-related multiverse where humans become Shinigami, I'm sure Dimina, being a human before, would know that.

Of course she knows that! It's also part of the reason she isn't inclined away from mentioning the offer (the other reason being that, deep down, she doesn't really give a shit about Lauren).

Yeah, because both are-nevermind.

I can think of about three or four ways you likely could've ended that sentence, all with varying implications.

3.5*

Yeah, I was wondering how long it'd take someone to realize that the "cannon fodder four" (that was my off-screen name for them) are all named after anime characters who die relatively early on.

I'm not a Microsoft fan, but retarded anti-Microsoft Mungalo is very retarded.

That was actually a reference to one of the Death Note AbridgedYoutube serieses.

(Mungalo's POV)

Leaving the building I'm somewhat stunned by how little Luci was exaggerating back there when he said "all of them". A vast blockade of law enforcement personnel surrounds the front of the building in a reinforced semi-circle, a black screen covering the entrance. Everyone is clad head-to-waist in body armor, and is wearing a tinted visor to hide their faces. Booming overhead is the sound of Luci's original scrambled voice through some kind of megaphone.

'All right, men, stay close together! Do not open the smallest gap! Do not show yourselves! It is likely Kira is still in the area, do not allow him to see the officer exiting the building! Said officer, please follow the man in the blue uniform.'

In front of the screen is a police vehicle with tinted windows, and someone's standing there opening the door for me. I do as told, and without saying a word, the man leads me into a vehicle.

'Thanks, mate.'

'Heh, no problem,' the man responds, taking off his helmet as he slides into the driver's seat.

'…Chief? I didn't think you'd-'

'Shut up Mungalo, I'm trying to organize a blockade here!' I hear through the megaphone, 'Now, all of you, there's a good chance Kira is hiding where he can see us, so just make sure you don't show yourselves while searching the place. All roads to the north, south, east and west have been closed off.'

As we silently drive off, I turn up the radio, where one of the news anchors announces:

'The police seem to be on their highest alert. The entire area around Tomorrow's Today Tonight has been sealed off, except for a few checkpoints. The police are clearly planning to fight this Kira! Their answer is a resounding "NO!"!They are going to fight the two Kiras! I repeat, the police are obviously rejecting this Kira's offer to work together!'

(Lauren's POV)

'All right, I think it's safe to say our work is done here.' I draw up my hood to cover my face completely.

'About that, they've got armed men going into all the surrounding buildings, and I wouldn't be surprised if they've already locked down the ground floor of this one, so you should take the stairs. I'll wait outside.' With that she shoots through the ceiling and out of sight.

Take the stairs? I'm on, what, the third floor? Call me lazy but I don't think she realizes that I can't just fly through stuff. I enter the lift and push the ground floor button.

…

…

*DING*

FUCK! SHIT! I quickly jump under one of the tables, narrowly avoiding the beams of police-grade flashlights emerging from the front doorway, but even in this darkness I doubt they didn't catch a glimpse of me. Luckily, the closing elevator grabs their attention long enough for me to make a stealthy half-second sprint to an adjacent table, where I locate a large vent elevated slightly above the floor and make one final sprint, expertly jumping into it. Fuck stealth, right now I just need to get outta here. I take a deep breath and crawl through the vent as fast as I possibly can, which has little effect on how close the flashlight beam behind me is. Combined with the occasional crackle of a police radio behind me, I can be fairly certain that at least one of them has followed me in here.

I soon reach a small open space with what looks like a dead end ahead, and Dimina shows up through the left wall, swerving around me and giving a direct punch to the officer's face behind me, knocking him unconscious.

'…Next time I tell you to take the stairs, you fucking take the stairs, okay? Just remember, if we get caught, you're deaf and I don't speak English. Actually, technically since they can't see or hear me that means only you have to be worried right now. Alright, so the wall I jumped in through is really thin, you can probably just kick it down.'

My heart now pounding in my chest, I do as suggested and exit the pipe, quickly finding the emergency stairwell which I sprint up as fast as possible. I waste not a moment looking down but from their voices and the sound of their footsteps I'd say I'm roughly two floors above the cops.

'On the bright side, at least no-one has seen what you look like.'

'Shut up Dimina.' I burst out the top of the stairwell and find myself on the roof of the building. Luckily it doesn't seem there are any helicopters nearby, but now I have no way of getting down to the escape vehicle. Walking up to the edge and looking down I see that it's parked there just as it should be, and the alleyway it's in is still empty, which is good, but that doesn't solve the problem of howAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!

*CLUNK*

…

…

'…Whoever just pushed me off a fucking building is going to have their name in my Death Note.'

'Oh, calm down. Personally I think you should be thanking me, since the cops burst through the door literally less than a second before I instigated your descent. And you only fell, what, seven meters? Just be grateful you hit the roof of the doughnut truck instead of the concrete ground.'

*BZZ*

Huh? What was that? Who could possibly be texting me right now?

'Hey sis, where are you right now?'

'I just fell off a roof. So I'm kinda chillin for a minute.' I hurriedly respond without thinking.

'…The fuck?'

'Let's just say that at some point tonight the bad ideas in my head became bad decisions that happened outside of my head.'

'Hey, Lauren, in case you've forgotten we're supposed to be escaping, remember?' Dimina interrupts.

'Oh, right.' Putting my phone back in my pocket I slide off the roof of the escape vehicle and get inside. Granted, this doughnut truck (more of a small van than a truck) may not be the most sleek, speedy, luxurious thing one can imagine, but it was the best I could do with the limited time I had. Twisting in the key I see the blue-white light emitted by the high beams and the engine roars into life.

As I clutch the gear shift and the revving vibrations intensify, Dimina turns to me with a sudden look of curiosity. 'Hey, when we went over this plan, there's one thing you forgot to mention. Have you ever actually driven before?'

'Aside from when I got this truck over here, no. And at 15 I am way too young to even-'

'THIS IS THE POLICE. EXIT YOUR VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY.'

'Lauren, slam it!'

If by "it" she means the accelerator, I do just that, and-

*CRUNCH*

…Okay, apparently it was in reverse. Let's try that again. I correct the stick and violently pull out of the alleyway before swerving on to the main road. Now the real fun begins.

'Holy fuck, how didn't I see this?! Lauren, there are still boxes of doughnuts here! They were literally just sitting under the explosives the entire time!'

'Yeah, that's nice, can you change the radio to the news for me?'

*munch munch omnomnom*

Typical Dimina. I flick on the radio and, sure enough, the news people have already spotted us.

'We are now reporting live where it appears that several police cars are now in a high-speed pursuit of a doughnut van leaving the area in which less than an hour ago-'

Okay, okay, okay, keep calm. Driving should be easy. Just remember all the-

*BWEEP bip bip BWEEP*

Shit, they're on my tail already. All right, time to use some of my brother's black magic. Taking a hand off the wheel I turn on a small device lying on the passenger seat next to me. The WatchDog. Named after a game which inspired a Game Theory video which inspired him to create it, it was originally supposed to be sold to the mafia and other crime syndicates in large quantities, back when he was in more regular contact with them. To simplify, it's designed to do things that normally only Tom can do, so he doesn't have to do it himself. Whether it's identifying someone's name and other key information just by seeing their face, listening in on the phone conversations of the people around it, hacking into and controlling security cameras, turning any ATM into a free money dispenser, remotely misfiring or shutting down pacemakers, remotely emptying all the insulin in one or more target insulin pumps up to a hundred meters away, mimicking any wireless network to steal information… at least, all that was the original idea.

The project was eventually abandoned due to time constraints and Tom's vast overestimation of his own abilities, and this grey metallic box is the closest thing he had to a prototype, which has only a small handful of useful abilities, that I'll be using over the next few minutes.

'WatchDog, confirm activation.' I begin.

'Activation confirmed.' If there's one thing I'm really thankful for it's that voice recognition was one of the few promised features that it actually has.

'WatchDog, scan for police vehicles within 400 meters.'

'…twelve vehicles detected.'

'WatchDog, keep track of those vehicles and open planned trajectory.'

The screen displays a map with the same color scheme and format as Google Maps, and a red dot representing myself is now shown speeding through the area. A yellow line zigzags down several streets before stopping at a blue dot labelled in tiny letters: Abandoned warehouse no. 2.

Taking a hard right I unintentionally hop a curb, frightening some pedestrians as I begin the next part of my plan. 'WatchDog, begin scan on planned trajectory.'

'…two traffic light systems identified between present location and destination.'

At this point what were barely-noticeable red and blue lights a minute ago are now gleaming across my mirror. The police siren is getting louder and they're giving another warning through the megaphone, but I'm certain they won't expect this…

'WatchDog, initiate procedure "LightSwitch" along those systems.'

'Initiating procedure.'

The moment it says that, the traffic light in front of me turns green, and out of the corner of my eye I sees it go red again when I speed past. On the WatchDog's screen it shows that all of the police vehicles directly behind me have now been stuck behind that light, exactly as planned.

'Procedure one of two complete.' Now the really real fun begins.

'WatchDog, begin control analysis for police vehicles within 400 meters.'

'…Analysis complete. Seven vulnerabilities detected in each vehicle.' It replies over the sound of one of the side mirrors being swiped off completely by a lamppost. I shift gears again and floor the gas pedal.

'WatchDog, identify vulnerabilities.'

'Vulnerable elements include: Steering, Brakes, Engine-'

'Shut down engines in all vehicles!'

A few seconds later I hear distant screeching sounds followed by a distinct crashing noise, followed by another, and another…

'Wait, did you actually just do that?' Dimina asks, poking her head up next to mine.

'Yup. My brother even showed me once how it's done.'

'Okay, just don't say I didn't warn you when a certain reviewer calls bullshit on that.'

'Wait, what?'

'...Oh, never mind. I forgot you didn't know about the-'

'Procedure one of twelve complete. Procedure two of twelve complete. Procedure three of twelve complete…'

On the map I can see that there are no more police cars pursuing me, but I still need to hurry if I want to have a chance at outrunning the helicopters.

'…Procedure twelve of twelve complete.' WatchDog narrates as another red light briefly turns green while we shoot past it.

'Procedure "LightSwitch" two of two complete.'

'WatchDog, remove all evidence of-'

'ERROR. BATTERY CRITICAL. COMMENCING EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN.'

'FUCK!'

'Don't worry Lauren, all they'll know is that we hacked into their cannon fodder's automobiles. You once mentioned that there are less than half a dozen people who know that your brother is T, and that there are only about a hundred people who even know about T, so it's unlikely they'll figure out who you are. Oh, and in case you were wondering, before you crashed the police cars I flew up to them and checked the numbers above all the cops' heads, you know, in case you asked me to kill them. Only about five of them were scheduled to die tonight or tomorrow, so I'm sure most of them are okay.'

'That's good. In other news, it looks like we're here.'

Coming to an abrupt halt beside the abandoned warehouse I grab the WatchDog, Dimina grabs as many boxes of doughnuts as she can carry, and we both jump out and run into the warehouse, where we'll avoid being seen by the approaching helicopters.

'Dimina, have you got the remote detonator?'

'Yup. Right here.' She answers, throwing it to me where I catch it in mid-air.'

Crouching inside a small metal crate behind a larger metal crate I hover my finger over the single red button on the small black device. 'Well, here goes nothing…'

*BANG*

…

…

…Holy fuck that was loud. Turning around I see the flaming debris of what was the doughnut truck and everything within half a dozen meters of it, which is illuminating the entire warehouse with a dull red-orange glow. If that hasn't gotten rid of any fingerprints, DNA etc. that they could've found, then I don't know what would.

'It's a shame, really. All those doughnuts that will never be eaten…'

'Dimina, why are you so always emotional about being hungry?'

'Don't try to tell me that hungry is not an emotion because I feel that shit in my soul. Maybe if you'd gone decades without eating anything from outside the Shinigami world you'd understand.'

(Luci's POV)

Hearing a knock at the door behind me I turn around and Q lets Mungalo and Blackheart in.

'Chief! Mungalo!' Okada exclaims, happy to see them.

'Welcome back,' Aivenawa adds, less enthusiastically.

The mini-reunion is cut off by the ringing of the chief's phone.

'Oh, just excuse me for a minute.' He says, leaving the room.

'I'm sorry if I got a little impulsive there, Luci.' Mungalo apologizes.

'Yeah, that's nice, now let us see the videos!'

He hands me the bag. 'I already told you that they'd destroyed the original, but all the copies are in here.'

'Thank you, Mungalo. I hope what you did will not be in vain. Now, on the off-chance one of these actually is the original and the airheads at TTT were lying, I suggest someone send these over to forensics.'

Pearl comments, 'I can do that. I know a lot of the people in the FBI's forensics departments, and I know that they do their jobs well. Even if none of them are the original, they should be able to find something. Of course, we should edit out the sound in the videos that we give them, so they don't hear what's said.'

'Great. Thank you. While they're doing with that, I'll watch the copies myself to see what's in them.'

Nigel re-enters the room with a hopeful look on his face.

'Well I've got good news. We may just have a lead regarding the new Kira.'

'Already? Go on.'

'While searching the surrounding area, some of our men encountered an individual in an empty office building, and…'

(Ivan's POV)

(Note: As before, all the dialogue in this next scene is in Russian but written in English)

'Vladimir Putin, you wanted to speak with me in private?' I ask, standing before the Russian president's desk.

'Yes. And while no-one's listening, you can just call me Vladimir. Now, take a seat.'

'…I'm sorry about my informal suit. It was just such short notice and I-'

'That's fine. I remember a little trick I learned when I was younger was that, when someone pointed at my black KGB suit and humorously asked whose funeral I was going to, a look around the room and a casual "haven't decided yet" was always a great response. Now, I assume you're already aware of what happened down in Australia three hours ago?'

'I have a rough idea, but I don't know the details-'

'Neither does anyone else right now. Now so far I've privately spoken with some of the others about this, and after hearing their opinions, I'm starting to have doubts about whether or not we should go ahead with Operation Alexander and the annexation of Belarus, now that we have this new Kira.'

'…What do you mean?' After hearing the news I'd already thought ahead and warned the director of the FSB to be on standby, but this sounds like a rather extreme thing to say, especially coming out of Vladimir himself.

'Well, for all we know, this "Kira" might be another victim of western mainstream media propaganda, in which case there's a pretty high chance that they'd kill us all once we initiate the two operations and the west describes it as "extreme Russian aggression", or whatever bullshit catch-phrase they use these days.'

'…Yes, that is a risk.'

'Or maybe that's just what Kira wants us to think, and he and the "second Kira" are actually the same entity. It would provide a golden opportunity to finish us off, after all.'

'Are you implying that Kira could turn against us?'

'I'm not implying it, I'm stating it. I mean, for all we know, "Kira" may just be an extremely well-performed operation perpetrated by our enemies. It would certainly explain what "he" did in Syria and North Korea, and why "he" hasn't tried to contact us since December.'

'If that were the case, we'd have been killed off long ago. I know you have your doubts, and I know that your intelligence is a force to be reckoned with, but I have to disagree with you here. Just look at how much Kira's orders have improved our country, or how much his influence has damaged NATO so far this year.'

'Influence?'

'You think it was luck that led to French Guiana, New Caledonia and the Canary Islands all gaining their independence within the last three months? Sure, there haven't been any heart attacks involved in any of those cases, but I highly doubt Kira doesn't have more tools in his arsenal than mere cardiovascular assaults. The bottom line is, one of us has to be wrong and it's not going to be me!'

'I suppose the difference in judgement between you and me originates from different rules derived from past experience, as would be expected. In any case, even if Kira is on our side, that still does nothing about the second one.'

'I'm sure the new Kira will see the truth. Granted, if I were in your position I'd postpone Operation Alexander until further notice, but as for Belarus, they voted to join the Russian Federation. I don't see how anyone could demonize us for their decision.'

'Ah, yes, because no-one at all demonized us for Crimea's decision when they voted to join us three years ago… Of course, by now I'm used to getting constantly bombarded with hatred and backlash from the west. You know, people claim to know you through the things they think you've done, and not by sitting down and listening to you speak for yourself. It's not fair. Although I guess Kira has the same problem.'

'…This isn't like you, Vladimir. What ever happened to the fearless leader who vowed to protect the Russian people wherever they may be, and who promised to fight the western elitists and their world order to the bitter end?'

'Oh, he hasn't gone anywhere. Don't worry, I was leaning against having these new events affect the annexation of Belarus from the beginning, but I can't say anything for certain yet, at least not until I've heard defense minister Shoygu's opinion. Speaking of which, he should be arriving here any minute now… Ivan, we'll speak again at the next weekly meeting. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.'

'Thank you, Vladimir.' With that I silently leave the room.

(Luci's POV)

Pearl and I finish going over the fourth tape for the last time, having pulled one of the most exhausting all-nighters I've been through since the case I was on in Libya last year. I rub my eyes as Q answers the door and the Task Force enters.

'Good morning Luci. So, what do you make of it?' Chief Blackheart inquires, and I stifle a yawn amid turning around in my chair.

'We haven't run a full analysis on the car chase yet, but to put it simply, these are some very interesting videos. To put it less simply, the instructions were to broadcast video 3 if we agreed to work with the Kiras, and to broadcast video 4 if we rejected it, which we obviously did. Video 1 was to convince Tomorrow's Today Tonight that the sender had Kira's power. Video 2 was what we saw on TV yesterday, the message to Kira and I.'

'It took you all night to watch four short videos?'

'Shut up Okada! So, the good news is that neither video makes any big demands of us. The bad news is that, if the videos aired are altered or edited in any way, it's claimed that we'll be facing a massive killing spree of basically everyone who's keeping this investigation afloat, so our hands are tied there. That's probably a bluff, but let's not test that the hard way. Now, the badder news is that, after watching and re-watching these countless times, I am now over 90 percent confident that the individual who produced and sent them is not Kira, but as they claimed they are rather a second individual with the same power… a second Kira.'

'So what did they want from us if we gave in to their demands?' Mungalo questions.

'Basically, they wanted the police and media to show more criminals on the news, and particularly to report crimes relating to corruption and other inefficiencies within the world's law enforcement agencies themselves. It's mentioned that exactly which one gets to decide who gets punished cannot be said conclusively, at least not until the two of them are in regular contact.'

'What else did it say?'

'The one other demand was that, as proof that the police are sincere about cooperation, top ANPA and ICUP officials have to appear on TV to make the announcement. In other words, to make the top brass and myself show our faces, so they have a trump card in case we turn on them. Now, even the video itself mentions that the probability of us choosing to cooperate is, and I quote, "less than five percent".'

'So what about the "no" video, number 4…?'

'It's a similar speech, but without any of the demands. It'll be faster to have you watch it than to explain it in words. Nigel, I suggest we go ahead and give Tomorrow's Today Tonight permission to air this video.'

*BEEP*

'Hello again. It is highly unfortunate that the police have rejected my offer and will continue to oppose Kira and I. That being said, I never really expected them to accept it anyway. After all, there's a much bigger battlefield being fought on here, on which ANPA, the ICUP and the world's other law-enforcement agencies are little more than pawns at best, cannon fodder at worst. Now my message to Kira in all of this is the following: when we do meet in the near future, and perhaps even before then, I know we are inevitably going to have our disagreements. But there are common ideological bonds we share, and if we work together, I am sure that we can face the enemies that are at our doorstep, and we can take the fight to them! I know that neither of us want to take the lives of innocent people, but that does not mean we don't have work to do. Together we can create a world with no place for injustice, no matter who the perpetrator or the victim are. Also, when we do meet, I have some vital information which I think you'll find very… interesting…

Of course, right now, this broadcast is being listened to by millions more of you who aren't directly involved but are enthusiastically cheering on the Kiran phenomenon. And while you may all stay on the sidelines for the foreseeable future, there are things you can do to begin to move the world in the right direction. Remember, the greatest crimes in the world are committed not by people breaking the laws but by those who follow them. It's people who lawfully follow orders that drop bombs and fire missiles in foreign countries, and who spy on and attempt to manipulate the rest of us on the home front. And, when in the course of history a political system has shown itself to be an enemy of the people, the people have the right and the responsibility to dissolve that system. To stand by passively without so much as raising one's voice as the tide of tyranny rises is a betrayal of our future generations.

In the end, I just want the weak who get swept along with the flow to be considered human too, but Kira and I can't do that all on our own. That which can be destroyed by knowledge of the truth should be, however the process of relaying real information to the public is becoming increasingly rare. And certain events on the other side of the ocean certainly haven't been helping. Just remember that having access to true knowledge is a basic right, and our rights as people were not granted by some government or global organization. Our rights are granted to us purely by the fact that we are living humans. And if you think that some authority can pick and choose what rights you have, then you clearly don't know what rights are. But Kira and I do, and we will not rest until every man, woman and child on this Earth has all the safety, peace and freedom they could ever ask for.

And to L, the Task Force and all other major opponents of us Kiras, I must make it clear that we will never give up, just because you have the high ground. We do not fight because we think we can win but rather because we have to win and it is for that reason that WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!'