Hey, so this one-shot thing is a bit AU cause Beyond Birthday isn't dead or in jail. You could say that the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases didn't happen if you want. It takes place when L and Light are handcuffed together and the Task Force have quit their Police jobs.

A small WARNING, this story is a bit gruesome, I tried not to make it sound to graphic, but I don't know how queasy it might make some else, so I put the warning in case.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Death Note, nor do I own the catering company from which I got the title/idea from. And I apologize if any of the names of the victims resemble someone in real life, it is unintentional, I just picked random last names, and random first names.

Summary: A gruesome newscast about a new serial killer worries Matsuda

Genre: Death/Tragedy (sorta)

Characters: L, Light, the Task Force (though not all are mentioned), and Beyond Birthday.

L, Light, and the rest of the task force were watching the nightly news for signs of Kira, when a particularly horrible newscast came on.

"There have been a string of new killings recently that have been very disturbing. It appears this new serial killer takes pleasure in killing using household appliances. Based on the locations of the killings; it seems the victims were picked off the street not far from their own homes, and killed in the houses of various people that were away at work. The images we are about to show are not suitable for all viewers, as they are very graphic in nature. Viewer discretion is advised."

L's interest was caught and he grabbed the remote to turn up the volume. He leaned forward against his knees, and brought his thumb to his lips.

"There were three murders today. One person, identified as Takuma Makoto, was found shoved into a dishwasher after the dish trays had been removed. He died after receiving full body burns from the scalding water, and from inhaling too much water in his unconscious state."

The picture depicted the dishwasher, the man inside red with burns and dripping wet.

Everyone – but L – was murmuring in low voices about how horrible it was.

"The second victim, Taro Miyuki, was found inside a dryer, having been knocked out and then put through the longest, hottest, and fastest spinning cycle."

The next picture shown was of a dryer. The body was curled up with arms, legs, and head in unnatural positions, and blistered skin covered their body.

There were more murmurs among the task force, but L continued to watch quietly, seemingly unfazed by the gruesome shots.

"The last murder, being the worst so far, was of Touya Midori, who was cooked alive in a stove."

Everyone – still excluding L – gasped in horror when the picture of the charred person came up.

"At this point the police are not giving out any details on whether or not they have any leads, but we will continue giving updates as we receive them-"

L muted the TV.

The task force members froze; waiting for what L would say, having been silent the whole time.

"Interesting..." L murmured as he stirred his tea. Then he picked up his plate of cake and took a bite.

Light shifted to put a hand on the back of L's chair, the handcuff chain clinking softly. "What is, Ryuzaki?"

L looked up at Light with his wide panda eyes. "Did you not see the connections between the murders, Light-kun?"

"Besides the whole appliance thing?" Light sighed.

L nodded, taking another bite of cake.

"Well, each of the killings used an appliance that used heat," Light explained. "It would have been easier to freeze someone to death in their freezer than kill someone using a dishwasher. Also, each of the victims initials were M.T."

"Yes," L mused, "exactly what I thought. There aren't many other appliances that produce heat that could kill a person, so I believe that this killer will stop once he uses those appliances."

"We have to stop him!" Matsuda cried. "We must be able to trace people with the initials M.T. and then warn them to be careful on the streets."

L shook his head. "The initials M.T. are too common here in Japan so it would be impossible to warn them all."

"Ryuzaki is right," Light said. "As much as I don't want anyone else to die, there's only a barbecue left to use."

"Only the barbecue?" Mogi asked. "Couldn't they use a microwave to kill someone as well?"

"No," Light replied, "microwaves use radiation more than heat so I don't believe the killer would use it."

L licked the icing off his strawberry. "Light-kun is correct. I also do not think that a microwave would be used. The barbecue is the only option."

"So, what are we going to do then?" Matsuda demanded.

"Nothing," L stated in his monotone voice, taking a bite out of the strawberry.

Matsuda's eyes grew wide. "But-"

"But nothing," L said, cutting him off. He swallowed the rest of the strawberry and continued. "We have a much more important, and much more deadly killer to worry about; the police can handle this killer on their own. Now, I suggest you all go home and rest up, it's been a long day. Be back here at eight sharp tomorrow morning."

Everyone grumbled a bit as they grabbed their stuff, but exited the room without argument.

"Matsuda," L called just before he slipped out the door after the others.

Matsuda stopped and looked back. "Yes?"

"Be careful on the streets tonight."

Matsuda wasn't too sure why he was the only one to get the warning, but left without question.

Matsuda was almost home, just another block to go when someone stepped out in front of him, from a side alleyway. He was startled to find that the man looked eerily like L. He stood the same way L did, wore the exact same shirt and jeans that L did, had the same black hair, and the same dark bags under his eyes. However, it was those eyes that tipped Matsuda off to it not being L. The eyes were tinged red, and held an evil look in them.

"Touta Matsuda," the man said. A statement, not a question. "I've been a little hungry, would you like to have a barbecue with me?"

So, what did you think? Gruesome eh? Please R&R.

Sorry to all Matsuda lovers. This is the 'sorta' part to the genre 'tragedy' because I personally don't like him, he's too annoying. And, yes Beyond's comment made it sound like he was going to eat Matsuda, but he was just saying that for dramatics, he wouldn't actually.

Anyways, yes, I know there were more similarities to three murders; like how everyone could fit inside them, or how each one was slightly different(heat and water, heat and spinning, and just plain heat). However, that would make my one-shot too complicated cause then, because of the first point, the BBQ wouldn't work cause you can't fit someone into it, and the second point would mean the microwave would work because it's heat and radiation. So yeah, I just simplified it. :P