Author's Note: First and foremost, I would like to apologize for a brief mistake I made when I first 'uploaded' Chapter 6. I believe I accidentally uploaded a file from my Alice in Wonderland fanfiction by accident. So, I'm sorry Jillian Briggs for any confusion that may have occurred.

Next, I would like to thank Sharnii Brooke. Again, you're an avid reviewer and I appreciate your enthusiasm and glee for my story. Teehee. Also, thanks to other reviews I'm familiar with for my story as well. You've all been a wonderful help and influence. With your helpful questions and inquiring suggestions I can continue my story. Thanks so much!

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takashi Obata.

Disclaimer 2: The idea of the Life Script belongs to me. Please do not steal. Thank you. Any Original characters, Keegan Phelps (no relation to Michael Phelps), belong to me. Thanks

"K-Kuro?" Matsuda sputtered in shock. "Is this some kind of a prank or something? I mean, Kira's been quiet for a while but this is…this is a whole new level, don't you think? What if it's a trick to lure us into a false sense of security?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Aizawa muttered something about Matsuda needing to get a hold of his conspiracy theories. "Calm down, we don't know that for sure. There are a lot of sick people out there that do these kind of things. Do you not remember all of the Kira imitators that proved to be fake just to get some recognition?"

Hushed murmurs debated whether 'Kuro' was either good or evil. All the while, Light gazed at the blank screen and replayed the message to listen closely. This wouldn't be easy to trace.

What kind of person in their right mind would be belligerent enough to even think of challenging Kira without any backup? Fool. Light frowned, focusing on trying to lift fingerprints from the disk; there were none. This messenger was thorough, leaving no trace for evidence.

"So who do you think sent it? Couldn't be the Second Kira turned on the original, could it?" Matsuda pondered aloud, concern evident in his voice. As if worrying over one mass murderer wasn't enough, now they may have had to worry about a "challenger?" Another imitator on a more serious level?

"It might be a bluff by N and the SPK; however, N wouldn't be that crazy to challenge Kira out of hiding." Aizawa argued, watching Light's puzzled expression as he played the message again.

"Somebody must have sent it to us by mistake. Why send it here, to us?" Matsuda, trying to exert simpler possibilities seemed skittish about the whole issue. Who knew what this 'Kuro' character was? "I mean, it sounded like the messenger was speaking directly to all of us. It wasn't to the world as whole. It was personal, concise, to the point."

"That depends really." Light attempted another fingerprint dusting on the disk. Still, he got nothing. This was absolutely bizarre; a person must have made this disk. "If we do have yet another 'Kira', a fanatic, or even a con-artist on our hands we'll have to take extra precaution. Won't we?"

He was always best as concealing his thoughts from the others, but this "Kuro" already made his blood boil. The nerve! Who would be stupid enough to challenge my power? Do they not realize whom they are dealing with?' His eyes were darkened again as he gazed over the disk. Kuro…just who do you think you are? Proclaiming yourself as a God? There is no way to give life. How would that be possible? Unless you possess a Death Note of your own and plan to use it on me, you're nothing but a fake.

For the rest of the day, the Task Force spent it analyzing the disk. There were the occasional debates about Kuro that came with it, but they were lackluster at best. The final alternative was waiting to see how it played out.

"It's the amazement heard around the world in this small town American Hospital where a young girl has been miraculously cured of her ailing disease." The television droned in the background. "8 year old Cameron Simpkins has undergone chemotherapy for two aggressive forms of cancer but test results declared it was not the chemo but an unspecified "miracle."

The sound of the news report had Light perking his head up at the television. No it can't be…that's ridiculous. This Kuro is no God. They're a fake and this is just a hoax to lure me out of hiding. He was a bit baffled when the little girl mentioned angels talking about her dying. While going over the disk again, Matsuda found another separate file loaded onto it, cleverly hidden the "zipped" folder where the first audio was played.

This mini-file opened and another audio distortion played. "Good work, you've found the follow up message. Have you watched the news yet? There's a story streaming worldwide about little Cameron Simpkins and her miraculous cure."

"What the hell?" Aizawa muttered, getting up from his seat to lean over Light's chair. "There's not way…"

Light tensed as the message continued, his hads clenched on the arms of his chair and he swallowed hard. "Are you afraid yet Kira? It must be different seeing a completely opposite power than Death taking the media by storm. I would like to present this news report as a token of my power, and show you that I am good and I have nothing to fear from you. Now, come get me coward."

Matsuda glanced at the TV and at the smiling little American girl with her pink bunny hat and blue teddy bear. He bit his lip and Light was staring intently at the screen on the TV before he murmured. "Kuro…cannot be a god." He hissed through his teeth. Logically, he knew he could not send the Task Force out to search for this "Kuro." They didn't have a lead and there were no prints in order to narrow down a list of suspects.

What if it was N and his crew? Light speculated this for a moment before he dismissed the idea entirely. No, the SPK wouldn't be that foolish to try something so…drastic and desperate.

"What do you make of this, Light?" Matsuda's gaze settled back on the news report as it continued on the screen. The network would have more on the story at a later date.

Clenching his fists, Light rose to his feet. "This is just another criminal trying something stupid to lure Kira out of hiding. This 'Kuro' is nothing but someone that is recklessly attempting to endanger themselves. The message could be a front for the real message: that they are Kira."

Skepticism marred Aizawa's features. His brows knit together firmly and he gestured to the televisiom. "But Light, you saw on the TV. Kuro saved that little girl. I'll play devil's advocate, but maybe they're not Kira."

Light scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I could care less about Kuro being good or bad. Think about it though, they're probably a suicidal meddler who plans to get Kira to kill them or worse join forces with him in order to further this power struggle in order to stop him. The idiot!" He exclaimed, but he couldn't just reveal that the display of power had him nervous.

"Jeez, you're shaking…" Aizawa pointed out with concern, but knew this was not the first time he'd been wary of Light's behaviour.

Grasping his arm, Light sighed. "I'm…I'm sorry." He apologized, sincere in his words. "I just…I don't want us to have come so far in this investigation only for us to backtrack because another "Kira" comes into play."

Aizawa and Matsuda glanced warily between each other.

"I want a full on investigation, we should contact the SPK. Make sure they didn't pull this stunt to draw Kira out into the open." Light sighed, running a hand through his hair and nodding firmly. "If anything involving this "Kuro" happens again, I want to know immediately. We have to stop Kira…and his follwers at all costs."

The start to this investigation came up with nothing so far and after a long day, Aizawa finally urged Light to return home and get some rest.

As soon as he unlocked the front door, he noticed that Ryuk still hadn't returned from wherever he went. While it wasn't a concern to him, Misa noticed the shinigami's presence was lacking. Light dodged her questions and sought out his own private investigation into Kuro. Tapping avidly on the keyboard he glanced at the drawer where he put his Death Note.

"Kuro couldn't be using this. These notebooks don't restore life. Do they?" For a moment, he was skeptical of his own use. Was he wrong in the years he had killed so many criminals? Was there another way? He was stumped for once in his life. The only time he'd felt such a way was when L was alive.

"No…" Light uttered, lifting his head up and warily glanced behind him. L was dead. This couldn't have been him. While he certainly believed in Shinigami (had seen them for himself) a ghost was the last thing he needed right now.

Kuro, whoever you are, I won't let you stop the path to my New World.

"Oh yeah…" Keegan inhaled deeply and smiled in satisfaction at the browning crust in the oven. The scent of cinnamon wafted through the air in the kitchen. The pie was turning out nicely. The timer dinged when it was ready and she put on oven mitts to take her finished product out of the oven and sit it on the countertop.

As she turned to place it down, Ryuk's looming figure appeared in front of her. Her peripheral vision hadn't registered him so when she looked up, her heart jolted and her reflexes sent an oven mitt flying at his face. "JEEZ!" Keegan gasped and sighed in relief that it was only him and not an intruder. "Ryuk, don't do that!" Stomping her foot in annoyance, she ran a hand through her hair. "You scared the shit out of me…"

"Ow." Ryuk's growl was muffled underneath the warmth of the mitten. "…What's cookin'?"

Keegan caught her breath and wiped sweat from her forehead. "Pie. I wasn't expecting you back so soon." Reaching forwards, she removed the mitt from his face and set it aside. "What took you so long? I thought you'd been held up because someone saw you. I made two of these things because I was anxious waiting around for you."

Ryuk, being much taller than the human, could see well over her shoulder and his hungry eyes fell on the pie. "Ooh! It's done?" He purred excitedly. "For me? You shouldn't have." Pushing past her, his hands immediately grasped the pan. Heat slowly crept its way through his palms before the temperature got the better of him and he set it back down with a loud "clunk" on the stove. "Yeowch!"

"Oh no. Please don't, it's hot." She droned into the air after the fact. A smirk touched the corners of her mouth but she turned to start cutting the pieces. This poor soul needed to learn some common sense. "Here, let me." Plating the piece, she held it out towards him. "If you don't like it, we'll just stick to regular apples for right now and ween you onto applesauce. Otherwise, knock yourself out." Waving a hand at the slice, she pointed at it while warning him. "Look, the bits are hotter on the inside than the outside. Okay? Don't burn yourself."

He slinked over towards the plate with the slice on it. Gooey apples were oozing out of the slice and he licked his blackened lips. Poking at some of the gooey substance with his finger, he lifted a bit of it up before suckling on it to taste the flavour. IT wasn't long until he lunged for the pie and made a mess on the table.

Keegan winced as crumbs flew everywhere. He was hopeless sometimes. "Easy there tiger save some for later." Shaking her head, she leaned against the countertop and held out her arms for recogniton. "So, how about that disk? What'd they think?"

Licking his fingers, Ryuk spoke with a mouthful of pie. "Light's pissed, probably crapping himself on the inside. He's got no clue. He told the Task Force that you were some suicidal nut job trying to lure 'Kira' out into the open." He pointed for another slice of pie. "Is this the apple butter?"

Her gaze settled on the pan and she crossed her arms, giving him a stupid look. "Does that look like butter to you?"

Tilting his head, he swallowed and made a face at her. "No…"

Sighing, Keegan lifted up the knife to cut another piece for him. "It's pie. Apple pie, Ryuk. If you want another ask nicely."

Gritting his teeth, the shingami strained his "plea." "…May I…please have another piece?"

"Aw, you are capable of manners." Reaching forwards, she gave him a pinch on the cheek teasingly. "Why, yes. Yes, you may."

Snorting, he batted her hand away and took the plate from her with a gruff snort. "Gee, thanks." Sarcasm laced his tone as he stuffed the other piece into his mouth, but ate at a slower pace. "So, otherwise, he's just wondering what nut job is dare challenging his power."

"He saw the news cast then?" Taking the broom, she swept around his feet and dumped the crumb bits into the trashcan. "It didn't take the doctors or police long to figure out that little Cameron wasn't cured by modern medicine. Next thing you know, we'll get a slew of radical Christians saying that "prayer" actually works and that modern medicine isn't needed." Keegan mocked.

"You have a problem with your own faith?" Ryuk was of what he was feeling when he asked this question. Was it curiosity or skepticism? He hadn't seen this side of the girl. It was almost…bitter.

"I haven't had much faith since my parents died. So I base it all on logic." Shrugging her shoulders, she didn't find it that important to discuss. "It's not a big deal. Was there anything else?" She changed the subject, not wanting to stray on the topic of religion for long.

"Matsuda thinks you're for the good of the world. He's gullible and an idiot. He tried to argue the logic of Kuro being in league with Kira."

Quirking a brow, she didn't know who he was talking about at first. "You might have to give me some names here. Matsuda is…?"

"He's part of the Task Force. He's a good guy, he's just too stupid to realize that Light is Kira." Ryuk spewed crumbs from his mouth again and Keegan once more cleaned up after him.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, I'm assuming the people working with Mr. Yagami are very close to him. Sometimes it's the people you are closest to that find this stuff hard to believe. I can't believe they can't see what's right in front of them." She finished sweeping but stopped just in time to see him grab the entire pan where she baked the pie. "Put that back or I'll punish you!" She swatted him with the broom.

Ryuk ducked away from it, displeased that she had caught him in the act of theft. "Hey! That's MY reward. You told me it was for me!" He clenched his fists angrily and shook them as Keegan took the pan and placed it in the fridge.

"It is, but it doesn't mean you should just munch on it like a wild and unsophisticated animal." She gritted her teeth and poked him with the end of the broomstick. "You can have more later. Why don't you go and play some video games." She waved him off into the living room while she handled the dishes.

He floated into the air out towards the t.v. He wondered if he could disappear and reappear back into the kitchen.

"I'm not stupid, don't go phasing through the wall to get back in here." When she finished the dishes, she moved into the other room by the couch. Taking the Life Script from behind a throw pillow, she plopped down on the couch to watch the news again.

"It was an average day in the home of a young mother and her two children. The outside of the home was serene and calm, the inside was every parent's worst nightmare."

Her head perked up at the news report on the t.v and her gut churned slightly. "What the hell is wrong with people these days?" She shook her head, sometimes ashamed of the violence in her own country. Sometimes she wondered how America even functioned with all of its corruption.

"I'm Kelsey Jillons, here at the murder scene tonight where Maria Jovena and her two young daughters, Meela, and Jessica (ages 4 and 6) were murdered by Jovena's estranged husband, 47 year old Ronaldo Johnson." Wow, it was as if the report couldn't get any more morbid. Keegan shook her head in disgrace at the interviews with the neighbors.

"Tch." Ryuk scoffed, leaning over her behind the couch. Pointy elbows dug into the fabric. "Not much different here huh?"

"Domestic violence is prevalence in many countries, but society is still under the impression that women aren't people. So, when they ask for help it's apparently something that needs to be deciphered or people turn a blind eye." Keegan shook her head and pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Well…" Ryuk sighed, flipping himself over to lie upside down in front of her in the air. A grin crossed his jagged lips. "What can you do?"

Without hesitating, Keegan flipped the Life Script as Kelsey Jillons droned in the background. The picture of the family came up on the television and she didn't waste a moment writing their names on the pages. "This." She answered simply to the shinigami's question, even though she knew it was rhetorical.

The pencil in her hand scribbled rapidly. When she looked up from the Life Script, she watched the paramedics rolling the bodies into the ambulances. "Come on…" She whispered, rubbing her hands together. "3…2…1."

A commotion came from the back of the vehicle on the scene and in the background of the camera one of the men started shouting. Keegan watched as Kelsey Jillons head turned towards the commotion. "Oh my god, they're alive!" The expression on the newscaster's face was priceless. Immediately, the cameraman hurried towards the scene in the emergency vehicle as the paramedics unzipped the body bags and revealed Maria Jovena and her two small children.

Mouth hanging open, Kelsey Jillons had a hard time getting her composure together and stammered into the lens. "Th-This just in! We have just witnessed firsthand another miracle! All 3 family members have just been reported alive. Y-Yes, folks you are seeing this correctly. that is correct. From this tragedy, another miracle has sprouted. First, a cured cancer patient and now family members are coming back to life. If this isn't divine intervention, I don't know what is!"

Moments later, the report was interrupted and police were shielding the family to give them privacy as paramedics escorted them out of the ambulance. While he was certainly able to bring them back to life, it didn't clear them of the blood on their clothes and bodies. "Oops." Keegan hissed through her teeth nervously, biting her lip.

Sitting up, Ryuk's mouth hung open in shock at the situation. Next thing she knew, a stream of wild cackles escaped his throat. He somehow thought this was hysterical.

"Shut up!" She whacked him with the notebook. "That's not funny! That family is gonna need therapy, they're severely traumatized because of what happened to them. Damn it Ryuk, don't you have any kind of sensitivity?"

His laughter died down and the gangly Shinigami plopped back in the seat beside her. "Hm. What does it matter Keegan? You don't have to pay for it. They're alive and now they can testify and that dad can go to the electric chair."

Her brow twitched and the corner of her mouth turned into a sneer. "If only they still had it for cases like his…"

Taken aback by how cold the girl sounded, he turned towards her and tilted his head in amusement. "I thought you were against death, Keegan. Bit of a hypocrite aren't we?" He snickered.

"I'm merely expression an opinion," She was quick to defend herself. "While the idea of him getting the chair would serve a vengeful purpose and prove a point, it wouldn't fix the issue of domestic violence." She gestured to the t.v. "Also, realistically it's barbaric and back then if they didn't kill you on the first try sometimes they went through more." Keegan glanced at him. "The death penalty is actually more expensive to deal with if you consider taxpayer money. While, on one hand it houses criminals it takes years for the actual process of the death penalty to take place. Besides, a guy like him will probably get some vigilante justice in his cell block." She pointed out but she was still a bit uneasy with this conversation. It was like he was looking for some kind of fault to find in her.

"Prisoners aren't especially fond of child killers, rapists, and pedophiles in the penal system. Someone will probably slock him while he sleeps." Sighing, she put the notebook down. "My point is, if the death penalty is used, it doesn't taint me because the blood will not be on my hands." Her fists clenched and she shook her head. "It's not fair that we humans get to play as God and take lives." She changed the channel. "It's almost 11:30. I better get to bed." Standing from the couch, Keegan brushed her sweater off and pointed at him. "You…make sure to find out about that response tomorrow from Kira. Otherwise you don't get the rest of that apple pie."

As she turned, he reached forward to draw her backwards, hearing her huff in annoyance. "Hold up, short stuff. I've got valuable information for you. So, I suggest you live stream your message out there to Kira. Maybe…send him on a wild goose chase." He offered suddenly before placing both hands behind his back.

"Why…are you helping me so willingly?" She quirked a brow at him suspiciously and crossed her arms. "Explain."

"Well…it's…just…because. I want the apple pie ya know?" Ryuk didn't like to resort to sinking to Keegan's level of bribery, but she was really working him with his apple addiction. She was able to manipulate him to her advantage with her sweet treats.

She turned her head slightly to look at his glowing yellow eyes with her lips pursed. "So, live stream it. How do you suggest I do that?" Moving towards the kitchen she hesitated at the refrigerator door and nodded to it. "Hm?"

Damn it, she was good. "So, you got a friend you want to keep out of it. Do the work yourself. Get him to teach you how to livestream. You mentioned him last night."

Oh no, he didn't mean TJ, did he? "You want me to call him? No, no way." She shook her head. "No, I already said I don't want him getting involved."

"Listen to me, human!" The Shinigami snapped and his eyes glowed red.

For a moment, Keegan jumped back at bit at his raised voice and she tensed slightly. Her arms crossed in front of her and she frowned. "Don't yell at me…" She warned him calmly.

"Then stop being difficult" He hissed, contorting a bit in his place. "Light's not gonna find out it's you so early."

Well, this was news to Keegan. She blinked at him, wondering what the big deal was now. "So…you do care if Mr. Yagami finds me, eh Ryuk?" She asked, brow cocking in interest.

Ryuk clicked his teeth together, attempting to find an excuse. He was a clever Shinigami. "I just don't want to lose that free trip to that apple orchard."

"Right…"

Author's Note: Had to cut it short this time. Sorry guys and gals. You'll have to find out next chapter what happens. Does Keegan take Ryuk's advice? What does Ryuk REALLY want to gain out of this? And who is this TJ? Thanks for reading!