Author's Note: I hate this chapter. Too much dialogue, not enough description. Definitely not enough sarcasm. Very much transition-y

Interpol

A thousand voices clamoring to be heard…

"—Fifty-two in the last week!"

"—every single one from cardiac arrest—"

"—that's just those that we know about—"

"—whose whereabouts are unknown, have died—"

"—all of the victims are criminals—"

"—the death toll could be well over a hundred—"

…but only one that matters has yet to speak.

"Good afternoon. This is L." An immediate hush echoed through the room like a gunshot. L took this silence as an invitation to continue. "The case before us is unprecedented in scope and difficulty…

…and is a monstrous crime of mass murder that must be stopped at all costs!!"

"In order to solve it, I request the full cooperation of police worldwide, with a resolution to that affect passed at the Interpol meeting today."

The silence waned.

"Everything is going exactly as planned, Ryuk. Those with clean consciences are cheering Kira in silence while the guilty live in fear." Light smiled like a satisfied cat that ate the canary and drowned the family dog. It didn't last.

"We are interrupting the program to bring you a live, globally televised broadcast from Interpol." Light turned the computer monitor off and faced the television, not yet overly concerned. A young man appeared on the screen dressed in a suit with long hair. The name plate before him read Lind L. Tailor. He began to speak.

"My name is Lind L. Tailor, more commonly known as 'L' and the sole person able to mobilize police in every country worldwide." Light's mouth opened in shock.

What the hell!?

"Criminals have been the target of a killing spree which has turned the into the biggest mass murder case in history." L, or rather Lind L. Tailor continued, ignorant of Light's shock and disbelief. "This monstrous crime must be stopped at all costs. 'Kira' as the perpetrator is commonly known, will be caught. I guarantee it."

Light felt a pang of annoyance at being addressed as 'Kira' but squashed it down. She didn't appreciate being called a killer but that was no reason to allow emotions to cloud her judgment.

"How can he catch me? There is no proof! No evidence! I could be anyone, anywhere!" Light said out-loud, more for her own benefit and comfort than Ryuk's.

"Kira, I think I've got a pretty good idea of why you're doing this. But what you're doing…" Light momentarily forgot to breath.

"Is evil!"

What!? Me? Evil!? I'm making the world a better place! How can that be evil?

Light made a small, displeased hissing sound. Her fingers itched to wrap around a pen and write this fool's name down.

Goodbye Lind L. Tailor. Maybe if you had been smarter you wouldn't have died.

The sound of the pen scripting across the Death Note's blank pages replaced Light's fury with a sense of contentment. She didn't even notice she had just killed a man of the law. Someone she had sworn to protect. By all intents and purposes, an innocent.

In fact, she was counting the seconds to his death.

"Three. Two. One. Zero!"

Lind L. Taylor clutched his chest as if in pain and, after a few gasping breaths, died. Light should have known it wouldn't be so easy.

"I…I don't believe it…" Kira choked on her own giggles, her eyes glued to the TV. "This was an experiment to test a hunch I had but I never really thought…" She wasn't laughing now.

"Kira…You can actually kill people without direct contact. You'd have to, of course. It didn't make sense otherwise…" The voice mused to itself, seemingly forgetting that this was a live broadcast.

"Listen to me, Kira. You just killed Lind L. Tailor, a condemned criminal scheduled to die—"

"Ryuk," Kira's voice was so quiet the Death God had to bend down to hear her words, "I think I made a mistake." Ryuk nodded in agreement.

"He got you there." The shinigami pointed out helpfully.

"—had no way of knowing about him. But I, L, do in fact exist." A pause. "So come on! Kill me if you can!" Light shot the television a startled look. Was this guy crazy?

"What are you waiting for? Come on! Go ahead and kill me! I'm still here. Can't do it, Kira?" He's taunting me! Light thought angrily, the pen bending in her grip.

"Evidently you aren't able to kill me."

"Betcha L is breathing a big sigh of relief right now, huh?" Ryuk murmured in her ear. Light couldn't help but agree.

"So there are people you can't kill. That's a valuable clue. Now I'll give you some information in return." Light raised a feminine eyebrow, waving one hand in a gesture for Ryuk to hush. "Although it was announced that this was being televised globally, actually it was broadcasted only in the Kanto region around Tokyo." For the second time in less than a week Light felt like she was going to be sick.

"You are in the Kanto region of Japan!"

"Smart kid." Ryuk sniggered; Light wanted to strangle him.

"And, although the police have missed this, your first victim was the Shinjuku killer who took eight people hostage in a nursery school." Light could feel sweat sliding in between her scapula. This wasn't good. "I knew, Kira, that you were in Japan! And that your first victim was nothing but a guinea pig for testing your powers!!" Powers? Light mouthed the word, tasting it, wondering how accurate it was and how much L could possible know. Hopefully not too much more.

"—Now, I dare say, it may not be so long before I send you to die."

Kira froze.

"It would interest me greatly to know how you carry out your murders but that's something I can find out after I catch you!!"

"Send me…to die…He said…" Light mumbled in quiet horror. Her mind became a maelstrom of thoughts and fears, each wanting to be examined and tested. To be proven wrong.

To die? Do I deserve to die? How…could he know so much already? I didn't do anything worth dying for…did I? I can't let him win. I have to find L before he finds –and kills—me. I have to win.

"I'm going to find you first L. If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to find you!"

"Till we meet again, Kira."

I don't understand.

"Until then L."

Send me to die? Why?

"So, let me get this straight, whoever is found first is dead?" Ryuk asked, laughing.

"Do me a favor, will you Ryuk? Shut up!"

I'll find you first L and then I will kill you.