So, yeah, a lot of shit has happened. Like, a lot. Most of it was completely out of my control so I'm not apologizing for anything. With that out of the way, let's see what AV said this time:

It would be very easy to understand that someone else is doing the killings unless the second kira is very careful.

Yeah, Lauren probably should've thought through her plan a little better.

*'Here's what I'm thinking. Lauren's birthday is tomorrow...*

How convenient!

Yes, it is! You see, Lauren's birthday is the same day Light and Misa met (May 25), and that conveniently lined up with when these events are taking place.

And that should just about do it for… wait… is that…

Someone else said something! A guest gave the following review:

I really like this fanfiction, keep up the amazing work!

…Well, that isn't exactly as content-filled as I'd like, but hey, it's far better than nothing!

(Chris' POV)

After packing my school bag for tomorrow, I leave it next to the door and open up my laptop again.

'So, now that Luci's returned from the annual Bilderberg meetings again, I'll need to remind Connor and Kallet to be back on high alert. Who knows what kind of new tricks that elitist detective has up his sleeve now? At this rate, I doubt our three-person "L case" group is going to survive in its present form. And then there's the constant threat of the… Rugo?'

Spinning my chair around, I see that he isn't anywhere in sight. Must've gone down to get snacks or something-

'CHRIIIIIIIIIIS! SOMEONE'S AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!' I hear from Indy downstairs. It's probably Connor.

Through the door I yell, 'Tell him I'll be there in a minute!'

'It's a girl, Chris!'

'…Well tell Kallet that I-'

'It's a different girl! She says she brought over your notebook!'

Notebook? It can't be? Poking my head out the door I look down the stairs and see a short, slender young woman who appears to be around the same age as myself. She has long, straight brown hair and shining green eyes matching the color of her earrings.

She's… she's beautiful.

I quickly leave my room and descend down the stairs, closing the front door behind me so mum and Indy don't hear anything.

'Umm, can I help you?'

With a neutral, indecipherable look on her face, the girl introduces herself. 'Pleased to meet you, Christian Atarashimono. I am Lauren Blackheart, and I am the second Kira.'

'Ahhhhhmmmm…' How should I respond? On one hand, after over a month of silence from the Kouhai, it's a relief to know that my worries of her falling into enemy hands have clearly been incorrect, meaning my "extreme backup plan" will luckily never take place. That being said-

'Here, you can touch my Death Note.' She continues, and I look down to see said colour-inverted object of hers being held out at me, before briefly tapping the corner and looking up again to see… nothing. Darting my eyes left and right I still fail to identify anything resembling a Shinigami.

'Dimina's probably already trying to find Rugo. You'll see her any moment now.'

Well, that confirms it, this is the new Kira. Opening the door I politely gesture for her to enter, which she does.

'Come on in… Hey, mum, she came all this way, could you bring up some tea or something?'

Emerging from the other room mum grumpily shouts, 'Who's come all this way?! Who are you tal-'

'…'

'…'

'…Mum?'

'…Oh, yes, yes, I'll get right on it! Welcome to our home, Lauren.' She cheerfully says, returning to the other room.

Well that was awkward. I swiftly guide the girl up to my room and open the door for her.

'Please, step into my headquarters.'

'This is your headquarters?'

'It's a work in progress. You can take a seat anywhere.'

'Oh, thanks.' As she flops onto my bed I make sure the door is locked, and swivel my seat around to face her.

After a brief silence I begin.

'…How the fuck did you find me?'

'Well it was pretty easy. You remember back when you payed Tom to make your voice scrambler as well as protect your computer from any enemy attempts to hack into or spy on it?'

'How do you know about that?'

'He told me about it once.'

'How'd you even get into contact with him?'

'I'm his sister. Were you paying any attention at all when I introduced myself?'

'Well, of course! …kind of. Maybe.' Wait, so if she's Tom's sister, then she must also be the daughter of Nigel Blackheart, the chief of ANPA. That could be a problem. '…But back to my question, how did you conclude I was Kira from that information alone? It seems rather-'

*SPINZAKUKICK*

(Lauren's POV)

Well, it looks like Dimina showed up. And from the look her face as she knocks Chris onto the ground, she certainly doesn't seem happy.

'THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!' She screams, taking a few more kicks at his stomach.

'W-what?!'

'Don't play dumb with me! With all your reckless actions you could've gotten my Rugo killed here, you crazy son of a bitch! Shinigami die if they are killed, you know!'

'…Dimina, are you okay?' I ask.

'Is she okay?! She fucking attacked me for no reason!'

'NO REASON, HUH?!' *PUNCH* 'DON'T BULLSHIT ME YOU, YOU…'

Her sentence abruptly cuts off, and she turns around at what I assume is "Rugo", the other Shinigami.

Looking down she coldly warns, 'I'll be back', and leaves the room.

'…Chris, are you okay?'

'I'm still breathing, but quite out of it. I think I hallucinated like five action sequences.'

'I do apologize for that. You see, Rugo is the closest thing-'

'-she has to family aside from some sister of hers which she hasn't been able to find in decades. I know, he told me all that.'

'Plus there's the fact that she's like a bitter old man except she's a medieval-era teenage girl.'

(Rugo's POV)

As Dimina lies down on the roof and waits I find a box I'd been keeping in Chris' minifridge. Carrying it up I hear her ask,

'Haben Sie eine Ahnung, wie besorgt ich über Sie gewesen bin?'

'…Please, let's just stick to English. After all, we're now in an English-speaking country in a world primarily run by English-speaking people. Here, I got us Pizza.' I place the box between us and flip it open, revealing the large aforementioned food inside. Her eyes light up and she jumps up to... wait, is she hugging me? Okay, this is new. Uhhhh… how do I respond to this? What do I do?

'…You are so sweet, Rugo. You really didn't need to-'

'Yes I did, because unlike most people I care about you. That being said, you really shouldn't be so hard on my friend. I think you scared the shit outta him!'

'Heh, I doubt many can say that they've scared a Kira. Two, actually.' She jumps back to the other side of the box and continues, 'You really should've seen the look on that girl's face when she first saw me, she even ran at me with a knife like some kind of demonic warrior!'

'I hope you didn't throw a tantrum at her too.'

'What? Of course not. You know I only start an argument when I'm right, which is why I'm always arguing… So, you think he can do it?'

'Do what, exactly?'

'Why, "save the world" of course! Or whatever catch-phrase he uses. I'll admit that it's certainly an admirable idea, to tear down a world order built on lies, deception, propaganda and injustice, but it's easier to say such things than to actually succeed in doing them. And even if he wasn't a crazy unpredictable asshole, I think he's still setting his goals to high. Religion, ideology, resources, land, spite, love or just because… no matter how pathetic the reason, it's enough to start conflict. Injustice will never cease to exist, reasons can be thought up after the fact… human nature pursues strife.'

'Well, I'm not too fond of such pessimistic stories. Don't get the wrong idea, I have my doubts too, but we should at least hold a little hope.'

'Hope, huh? People are only able to hold onto hope, since death is that which cannot be seen.'

'Well you were certainly more optimistic last time.'

'Yes, but back then we had a clearly-defined enemy and realistic clearly-defined goals. In this situation, it's more like that old story about Icarus. He made wings out of wax so he could fly, but when he got too close to the sun, to god, his wings melted and he came crashing down to Earth.'

'Well I trust that Chris' "wings" won't melt.'

'…'

'…'

'…Rugo, would you ever give up your life to save his?'

'No. As of now, I wouldn't even seriously consider it. Besides, if I did that, who'd be there to see the good in you?'

'Heh, I don't want someone to only see the good in me. I want someone who sees the bad, and still wants me. I thought you figured that out decades ago.'

(Chris' POV)

As Lauren continues to explain her story to me, I can't help but feel torn on whether I should let her team up with me. On one hand, she seems highly intelligent and she is pretty hot, plus it would be good to have another human to talk about these things with. After all, being Kira is the most important aspect of my life, and having to keep all my thoughts to myself can certainly induce a strong feeling of loneliness. On the other hand, if I accept her in, there's a high chance she'll be captured and killed. And even ignoring the fact that'll inevitably put me in the crosshairs too, I'm not sure if I'd even be able to handle having another girl I ally myself with die under my watch. I mean, fuck, she even looks a bit like Viper.

'…Yeah, so then I did a bit of research into you on the internet, and it all seemed to add up. It was only then that I realized that I could just ask my Shinigami.'

'What do you mean?' I question, taking another sip of the tea mum brought up.

'It's against the rules for a Shinigami to tell a human the name or face of someone they don't know, but since I already had both of those there was nothing stopping her from openly confirming that you were Kira. She also gave me the directions to your house.'

'How did she know that in the first place?'

'It seems she's been watching over the two of you almost 24/7 from when Rugo left the Shinigami world to when she followed him down here.'

'That's all certainly a foolproof plan, I see. But if you had messed up somewhere along the way and been caught, Kira's secrets would have been revealed.'

'Well obviously I've managed to get this far without getting caught, so, in conclusion… I strongly suggest we become allies.'

'What?' I squeak, and while I don't have a mirror or anything in here I can feel my cheeks burning red.

Looking away I give my answer. 'I'll acknowledge that I liked the concept back when I made my reply to your broadcast, however now that we've met in person I really don't-'

'Come on, Chris, we can be a team, can't we? When I'm near destruction you can swoop in and try to save me! And when you're in a pinch, I'll pretend to be there for you! Allies.'

…

…

...I know I'll regret this later, but oh well…

'That sounds… nice… since I've never had another human on the team before, let alone a proper connection with a girl, I apologize if I treat you badly.' I reach over to my bookshelf and pull out a file I'd been working on in case this happened. 'Now, I have already written out this document which will specify the terms of our alliance. You don't need to read what it says, just sign it at the bottom.'

'Oh, Great!' She grabs one of the pens on my desk and writes her initials in the blank space provided. 'You know what? All my life I've wanted to be in a crime-busting gang, and now I am! So... I don't suppose you'd consider giving me a cool nickname, would ya?'

'No. "Lauren" is fine.'

'Okay, just don't make my Kira suit red. Or live-action!'

'Now, about your broadcast-'

'I made the same precautions you do. The envelope contained instructions to incinerate all physical evidence, and there's no way anyone could've seen me.'

'So I assume your Shinigami flew you there and back?'

'…Flew? What do you mean?'

'Well, when I deliver a video, Rugo basically carries me to the station and back here through the air.'

She looks rather stunned by this, and takes a few seconds for the words to come out of her mouth.

'…You fucking fly a Shinigami?! DIMINAAAA, WHY-'

'Nope. Too exhausting. And you're too heavy.'

'Oh hey, the fourth powerpuff girl is back!'

*KICK* *PUNCH* *MORE KICKING*

'THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME?! I ONCE KILLED A MAN IN HIS SLEEP WITH HIS OWN MOUSTACHE AND A GRAPE YOU KNOW!'

(A few minutes later)

'Do you have any idea how hilarious it was watching a little girl bash the shit out of you?'

'Shut… shut up… Lauren. So… as I was about to ask, how did you deliver your envelope?'

'The station isn't far from my house, so I went there by foot and hid nearby while Dimina carried it the final 100 meters.'

'But then did anyone know you were going somewhere? More specifically your father, the chief of ANPA?'

'He was at work when I sent the message, and also during the broadcast itself.'

'And the car chase on that night, was that you?'

'Yup. And yes, it's true that I blew it up to remove potential evidence, accidentally setting half a warehouse on fire in the process.'

'Well, technically nothing is ever on fire, fire is on things… I actually saw the news footage of that the next morning. It kinda reminded me of a time a few years back when I was having a bonfire in the backyard with a few of my friends from school, and suddenly we heard sirens, and saw a firetruck turn into the street in front of us. So we all ran over to see what was up, and the neighbor's house was on fire! And when we got there, the woman was crying in her husband's arms, and then turned to us and gave us the most horrible look ever. It turns out we were still holding our sticks with marshmallows on them, watching the fire… it was really bad timing. Back on topic, what did you do regarding the cops' vehicles, or the traffic lights?'

'I borrowed one of my brother's old gadgets for that. And before you ask, no, there's no way he's going to suspect me of being a Kira. I mean, he's only thirteen!'

'Obviously. It would be silly to think that he could find out about any of this. Now, just to be sure, you don't have the eyes?'

'That is correct. You know, I might've taken them if they gave more useful information, like people's credit card details.'

'One more thing, where do you usually hide your Death Note?'

'Yeah, about that… I don't actually have a good place to keep it, so do you think you can hide it with yours?' She suggests, handing me the white notebook.

'But you might have removed several pages from this and are hiding them.'

'Of course I am! Do you really think I'd completely disarm myself?'

'Heh, at least you're being honest…. Wait… why are you being honest? If I were in your place I'd almost be scared. After all, everyone else acts cautious when they even talk about Kira.'

After a few seconds she gives a quiet sigh and answers.

'I guess the main reason I feel so comfortable is because… someone just like you once saved my life.'

Shit, is she gonna have some barely-relevant Misa-style backstory?

'"Someone just like me"?'

'Two years ago, my mother, brother and I were all held hostage by a foreign crime syndicate. My mum tried to get us out, but…'

…

…

Wait, that sounds just like what happened at-

'Two children, around the same age I was at the time, they saved Tom and I. But the thing is, under the justice system that existed at the time, they were the bad ones. The vigilante corps, I believe they were called, they took lives when necessary in order to protect the innocent. Yet ANPA and all the other acronyms called them criminals because they were part of the Australian mafia. My father, and all those above and below him… none of them can see the difference between rightful vigilante justice and cold-blooded murder. Perhaps that's why I feel so comfortable around you, Chris. The boy who saved my life, he was no different from Kira, from you.'

Lauren Blackheart. Blackheart. How did I forget about… No, it can't be. This can't be the same girl… I need to be sure.

'Lauren, do you remember the name of this boy?'

'He used an alias, Onomihsarata.'

Holy fuck. It's her. Should I let her know? No, not yet. Not until I can safely predict her reaction. For now I'll act as though this is all new to me.

'…But Lauren, on the night of your broadcast you killed several innocent police officers. How is that different from the people who killed your mother?'

'Please don't ask questions you already know the answer to, Chris. Besides, you also did that back when L made his debut.'

'First of all, that was only one guy. Second, he turned out to be a criminal anyway. Third, the Task Force refers to L as "Luci" and I say we should too.'

'Wait, have you met him?'

'Only in my dreams, and in reality… Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, RUGO FUCKING TRICKED ME TO DO IT!'

'Oh, right, so how about showing me him?'

I have to get her to trust me, and if we're going to be working together I suppose I have no choice but to show her Rugo.

'Yeah, sure.' I then proceed to locate my screwdriver and lift up the front of my laptop. I figured out a while ago that hiding the Death Note in plain sight simply isn't a long-term solution, so I rearranged the inside of my PC to empty out a space to keep it. Not only does the overall weight of the computer stay the same, but the screws themselves are so cleverly blended into the underside that you'd have a really hard time even locating them unless you know what to look for.

'And here you go.' I hold it out for her to tap the notebook, to be greeted by Rugo who's sitting on the bed next to her.

'Wow, you totally look different from Dimina. It's Rugo, right? Nice to meet you.'

'Same here.'

'…Hey, Chris, has Rugo ever told you where Death Note came from?'

(One boring, complicated explanation that'll be summarized in the next line of dialogue later)

'So, you're saying that the world of Death Note is a real fucking place, and that it's connected to the Shinigami realm through a portal just as ours is? Is that what you're telling me?'

'I know, it certainly sounds unrealistic, but Dimina says it's all true.'

'And that's because it is,' the aforementioned god of death confirms. 'Let me put it to you this way. There was a time when most humans thought Africa and Eurasia were the only continents in existence, then you were proven wrong. There was a time when you thought Earth was the only planet in existence, then you were proven wrong. There was a time when you thought your solar system was the only one in existence, and then you were proven wrong, and so on. Yet you always continue to jump back to the conclusion that you've found the top level.'

I throw a quick disappointed glare at Rugo, promting him to speak up.

'I would've told you, but Light ordered me to keep it secret.'

'So, if I'm not mistaken, what this means is that Light, being a real person who really used a Death Note and really died, is now a Shinigami, and it's because of him that the four of us are sitting here right now?'

'Yeah, that's about it.' Dimina interrupts.

'So that makes Lauren and I, what, the "chosen ones" or something?'

'I highly doubt he'd choose you to be this world's Kira.'

'SHUT UP YOU DEMONICALLY POSESSED-'

'BOTH OF YOU STOP IT! …Dimina, save your insults for later. Chris, don't be a dick.'

'But she started it!'

'WELL I'M FINISHING IT! Now, you were saying?'

'Yeah, I was going to ask, how could two nearly-identical Earths-'

'Three, actually. At least, three that Dimina knows of.'

The female shinigami glances at the floor, and answers my question before I can ask it.

'Let's just say it's very different from the other two. Also it's where I'm originally from.'

'Great, now things are even more confusing. But does this mean we're constantly being watched over by Light or one of his subordinates?'

'Nope. That squad has their hands full with their own world. We're completely on our own, to the best of my knowledge, meaning right now I don't even think it matters what is or isn't real. In fact, it could be years before this information has any use to us. And that is bad, because things have changed since last time. Governments have become more powerful, their control has become more absolute and they've grown cleverer in their governing, whether it be in America, Britain, Japan or even there in Australia. They've all changed, used fear coupled with the lure of reward to gain a stronger hold over the masses. Governments these days are all secretly fascist in nature, schools indoctrinate instead of educate, common folk turn to the elites for salvation, youths follow madmen, and a veil of lies and propaganda keeps the truth hidden from nearly every-'

Rugo puts up a hand to stop her from rambling. 'In other words, it's exactly like last time.'

Huh?

'Wait, what's this "last time"?'

'Oh, oh, it's nothing. Forget Dimina or I said anything.'

'…Lauren, any idea what they're talking about?'

'Nope. And for the first time in my life, I think I may be the most normal person in a room with more than two people.'

'…Okay, here's an idea. There's no doubt Luci has been following along with the case and recognized how closely it fits the initial plot of Death Note, and in the world of Death Note, Light and Misa didn't meet up this early. In fact, if I recall correctly Misa sent out two more videos before the two of them made contact. We should use that to our advantage. If we play along and act as if you don't know me yet and are using the same strategy Misa did, followed by a third broadcast where we appear together and announce our alliance, then the Task Force will construct an approximate timeframe of when we met, which will be incompatible with the timeframe of when you and I, as in Christian Atarshimono and Lauren Blackheart met. So, what'ya think?'

'That sounds… like the dumbest idea I've heard since ignoring Dimina and taking the lift.'

'What?'

'Oh, just a funny thing that happened during my debut night...'

(M's POV)

Wait, what? I'm making another appearance? Finally! I haven't gotten a sentence of screentime since, like, over a dozen chapters ago!

So, this is the part where I describe my surroundings, right? Okay, I'm in my New York headquarters, the clock on the wall says its around half past 8 in the morning, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows in here it appears the entire sky is covered in ominous cloud cover, which I'm fine with. Personally I like it when the sky looks like the world is going to end.

'I'm a re-' *Beep*

If there's one thing I miss about not being the leader of the mafia, it's the fact I'm no longer able to listen to any of my ringtones before picking up the call. That one was Polaroid by Imagine Dragons, by the way.

'Hello?'

'The opportunity has arrived. Begin operation fifty-five.'

With those words I immediately jump onto my desk and turn on my computer, quickly going through all the fingerprint, hand-print and retinal scans to start up the desktop.

'You have the target?'

'Indeed. I'll send you the coordinates right now, along with the optimal times for the operation to commence.' I must say, for someone who I didn't even know existed before the start of February, this individual sure seems motivated.

After a few seconds I receive a file with a series of very precise coordinates written into it. Said numbers are a little different from what I expected them to be, but I'll trust that this person knows what they're doing, at least as far as targeting is concerned. As for actually pulling this off…

'Listen, are you sure about this? Once I send these orders to Chongjin there's no going back, and if anything goes wrong, all we'll succeed in doing is pissing off both Kiras.'

'Hey, once I decide something, I move straight towards it. That's how I am. Besides, I can't think of any better chance we'll get to pull this off. Unless you're too busy with that "Covfefe" thing you're doing.'

'Oh, no, that's not a problem, in fact I just came back from there yesterday. It's kinda funny, "they" still hired me even though my background check came with a warrant for my arrest. Of course, if they knew about what we're doing… well, let's just say that waterboarding at Guantanamo bay sounds really fun if you don't know what either of those two things are. But don't worry about that, there's no way they'll ever find out.'

'I don't know. Sometimes you can be a wild card with your emotions. Mostly the emotion known as anger.'

'And that's been a helpful trait more often than not. After all, it's led my family to victory in every war we've fought in since the American Civil Jihad. Listen, if I get started now, the fun should begin in about twelve hours. I may even have time to head down to Vegas to watch some of the fireworks. What matters is, no matter how great the defense, a stronger offense will break through eventually, and if this works we'll be one step closer to securing victory.'