A/N I am going to try my best to post regularly on this. Life has been insane. Since the last chapter was posted I have driven nearly 7,000 miles for work and dealt with some personal drama. I have several thousand more miles to go this year and hopefully no more drama. Thanks to those who have started reading this story. Please read and review. Reviews feed the plot bunny.
Mello was on the computer reading through articles from headlines around the world. The Shinigami King wasn't kidding when explaining the potential severity of all of the notes in mortal hands.
"Matt…I think I see a pattern in France…. Look at this." He turned to glance at the redhead who was also watching videos from news stations.
Matt got up and stood beside the blond. His eyes traced across the headlines and cities. "It's another Light Yagami. He tested the waters in one town and then started dropping criminals in a larger area. The crimes are all similar. Murder, Rape, violent crimes and crimes against children. You know…I get why they do this…I really do, but…"
"But it isn't their job to be jury, judge, and executioner." Mello growled.
"I know. Some of these people may very well be innocent too."
"Exactly. Have you found anything promising?"
"Well…I think so. It is really hard to tell. There are a series of mysterious deaths across the United States, but there isn't a clear pattern. What I am finding are obvious clusters in certain cities: Detroit, New York, Cleveland, St. Louis and Los Angeles. Besides being in the same cities there is nothing tying them together. Some are business people, others are stay at home moms. We can probably eliminate some of them as actually accidental or medical deaths, but how can we tell?" Matt pinched the bridge of his nose.
Mello snapped a piece from the corner of his chocolate bar. "Is there a common age?"
Matt flipped through his notes, "Actually, they are all between 27 and 31. With the exception of a few outliers anyway."
"So a four year gap? See if they went to high schools together or even just in the same city maybe college perhaps?"
"I already did that. Some of them have educational connections, but that's it. Maybe three out of the two dozen."
"Hard to believe there would be that many accidents. There has to be something else." Mello went back to staring at the computer.
So far it had been a few days and they were dedicated to their research. Pizza boxes, take-out and candy wrappers littered the apartment. Tatana had managed without explanation to funnel money to them so they could operate as needed. With all bills paid there wasn't much of a distraction besides the human need to eat and sleep.
"I need a shower. I smell like a yak." Matt got up and went to the bathroom.
"I wasn't going to say anything, but…." Mello teased.
"Oh shut up…you smell like a month old burrito wrapped in leather. You need one too."
Mello only rolled his eyes and stared at the screen. On a hunch he did a search for the word Kira. The search engine popped up several new blogs and social media accounts with reference to the pseudo God. He knew damn well that word was never released about the death of Kira so he could ignore most of the ones pleading for Kira to take out someone who had wronged them.
Then something interesting popped up on the search. An internet chat room called, Kira's Faithful with nearly a million members after only existing for a week certainly caught Mello's attention. He created an account and joined the server. In the chat was a structure of subchannels where people could talk to each other based on categories. Some were obviously Kira related such as kill requests and judgement discussions, but other were simple gaming chats or music conversations.
Mello watched the very active chat which was rather hard to keep up with. The kill request channel went the fastest. He was able to pick out a few.
Dear Kira, please kill the man who killed my parents. His name is Thomas Fredricks and he is currently in prison at High Dessert in California. -KJ
Dear Kira, my neighbor ran over my dog last week. Kill the fuck. Her name is Cherrie Andrews. -Rachel age 7.
"What in the actual hell? Tell me that is not an actual seven year old posting this crap!" Mello slammed his fists on the keyboard. "Where are these little bastards' parents?!"
Matt returned wrapped in a towel and still damp from the shower, "Do what now?"
"There are either children or adults pretending to be children posting on a chat dedicated to… Wait…"Mello stopped when a series of repeating messages appeared to fill the chat.
Starting in five minutes join your Lord and Savior KIRA on Youtube Live. Click the link!
The account posting was obviously official to the server since its username was red instead of black and in the users list it took the top spot. The user name was of course…KIRA.
"Click the link." Matt put his hand on Mello's shoulder.
The blond did so and when the page loaded there was a cacophony of speeding chat messages next to the video screen. The screen was black as the stream had not yet started. Together they watched the online viewers grow in number. First it was a few thousand but within two minutes it grew to well over a quarter of a million.
"This is insane. Do you think they realize it isn't the real Kira?" Matt watched.
"Doubt it."
The chat ran so fast they couldn't read anything. "It's fucking sick is what it is. These people are out of their minds."
Soon loud music began to pulse from the speakers. Mello turned them down with a growl. The screen remained black through the entire unrecognizable rock style instrumental song. As it faded away Mello watched the chat to see that everyone was typing KIRA over and over again.
"Do you think this guy is legit?" Mello glanced over his shoulder to Matt.
"I doubt it. He is probably playing off the Kira hype to get famous or something." Matt lit a cigarette as he waited for something to happen.
"My faithful, welcome to the home of Kira. I have heard your prayers and it's time to start answering them." The screen remained black. "I personally, hand selected some prayers to handle live on the stream. First up we have a request from Danica Saint Clair of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Danica said that the man who killed her husband in a drunk driving accident was on his fourth offense and this wasn't his first vehicular murder." The voice was deep and obviously electronically altered, but creepy none the less. "I did a bit of research and discovered that in both incidents his dirt bag lawyer got him off nearly scot-free. So despite him having four charges of driving while intoxicated and two of those resulting in deaths he continues to drive. Oh, sure his license was suspended, but come on…that's a slap on the wrist."
"Well…when he puts it that way…." Matt chuckled. "Perhaps he should die."
"Shut up."
"Now, just for you Danica I want to share with you the demise of your husband's murderer but don't fret…there will a bonus just for you too. Watch!" The eerie Kira voice spoke with obvious glee.
Suddenly the black screen displayed a video of a man sitting on a porch in a bathrobe. He was sipping coffee and reading a magazine. The quality of the video was a bit grainy, hinting that it was a security camera.
"Does he look familiar Danica?" The voice spoke over the video. "His dirt bag lawyer enjoying a lovely morning. His house paid for by the countless clients he helped get away with murder. Watch and enjoy."
After a minute or so a car could be seen from the corner of the screen. It barreled over the manicured lawn and smashed right into the lawyer. Glass, blood and smoke covered the viewing area. The camera shook violently as the car finally came to a complete stop only after it struck the house.
"Let's zoom into the driver." The voice chimed in as the image showed who was driving. "My my… Danica, is that the man? I certainly believe it is. Now for the moment you have waited for all this time."
The driver seemed dazed and confused. He looked around as blood ran from a gash on his head. The image zoomed back and a red circle appeared to highlight something flowing from the car.
"Is the car leaking gas?" Matt squinted to see better.
"Y-" Mello started to speak when the image suddenly shook and the car along with its occupant exploded.
"Holy shit…." Matt jumped back from the computer.
"Now you should be able to sleep a little better tonight, Danica." The voice almost sounded somber toward the end.
"This guy really thinks he is a God…and he obviously has a Death Note." Mello had unconsciously started touching his rosary.
"Next, my lovely followers, we go to Toronto where Lukas Garcia is on trial for petty theft. A very minor crime compared to the crime he got away with due to a technicality. Follower, James Hurly, contacted me to let me know Lukas had murdered his boyfriend. He most likely would have been found guilty if a juror hadn't spoken to the media and compromised the trial. Now I will get the revenge you so desperately deserve. This one won't be as theatrical as the last, but I think you will be satisfied."
The lawyers were talking while the defendant sat looking incredibly bored. A bailiff was slowly walking passed and without any hesitation Lukas jumped up and grabbed the gun from the holster. He shoved it to the bailiff's head and started shouting. There was no sound on the video but the tension and chaos was palpable.
After several long minutes of shouting and guns being drawn Lukas pushed the bailiff away and aimed at the judge. Before he could pull the trigger another bailiff shot him through the neck and he went down. The bailiff that had been held hostage dropped to attempt to give medical aide, but the violent flow of blood from the severed artery was too much and he quickly bled out.
"My wonderful followers this is what I can do just for you. This was only a preview. I will share answered prayers everyday right here for all to see. Until next time!"
The feed cut and the chat returned to rapid scrolling and followers repeating 'Kira' until the chat window was closed as well.
"Now check and make sure these events actually happened. See if the local news from those areas is showing anything and it wasn't all staged." Matt was still in a bit of shock.
Mello did a search and found live news feeds highlighting the very real events in both cities.
"I think we need to start with this one, Mels." Matt put his goggles over his eyes.
"Uh…yeah." Mello looked at Matt with a frown. "I think you're right."