Tielwal's forces gather as L and the detectives consider their next move.

I don't own Death Note.

16 - The Gathering

"And then, I turned seventeen-"

The bartender set down a clean glass angrily. "Are ya quite finished?!"

Mello Glared at him. "You got a problem with my story?!"

The bartender leaned forward and glared at Mello. When he yelled, his accent was mysteriously gone. "No! I got a problem with you!"

"Is this how you treat all your customers?!"

"No! Just you!"

Mello drew his gun. "You bas-" Wesker suddenly collapsed on Mello, sending him and several drinks to the floor. "Fuck!" Mello crawled out from under an unconscious Wesker, soaked in random beers. Suddenly, another drink lands on his head. He looked up angrily. "What the hell was that for?!"

The bartender held a dripping glass upside down over Mello's head. His accent suddenly returned. "Buhcuz, yar an ass."

"You..." Mello raised his gun.

The bartender responded by taking out a shotgun. "Whut?"

Mello stared at the bartender's gun for a while. He sighed and eventually put his own weapon away. "I'll... just have another drink..." He sat back down.

The bartender put his shotgun away. "Gud." He refilled Mello's glass. "That's whut I thought ya sayd."

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There was a loud knocking on an apartment door.

It stopped.

After it received no response, it resumed. Airam's voice accompanied it this time. "Ollem! Wake up! It's almost seven!"

A sleepy voice answered from inside. "Ugh... In the morning...?"

"NO!! It's almost seven o'clock at night!! Wake the fuck up!"

"Give me another hour or two... Better make it three... I make it a point not to get up before 10pm... Come back at eleven..."

Airam's eye twitched. "You..." She clenched her fists. "You... BASTARD!!" She side-kicked the door. It shattered and she walked in. "WAKE UP!! Wait... What...?"

Her eyes fell on what appeared to be a man in his late teens or early twenties. He sat on a beanbag chair playing video games.

Airam decided she wanted to be anywhere but here. She turned and walked back out of the door. On her way out, she left a piece of paper on a desk.

Ollem looked at the paper, suspiciously. "What's that?"

"Just meet us there in a half hour! And put some clothes on!"

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"Show... then..." Mello took another drink. "The naxt yar... I..." He stopped talking and stared forward with look of drunken realization.

The bartender. stared at Mello. "Sar...? Ya a'ight?"

"Ye- No. No, I'm nawt."

"Oh... Why?"

Mello lurched forward. "Why...? Why?!" He glared at the bartender. "'Acuz, I'm tawkin' like ya are! ... Wait... ''Acuz?!' AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"Sawry 'bout that... 'Nother drank?"

"Sare." He reached for the drink the bartender was offering. "Ugh... Goin' dawn..." He suddenly collapsed and fell on top of Wesker.

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Raen was in the back alley of a bar. He looked over a list and sighed. "First, Reksew... Then, DY... This won't be easy..." He knocked on a rusted door.

"Wut?! Doe ta same cumplacations, we a' clused!"

The knocking continued and the bartender opened the door. "Wut?"

"Drop the act, Reksew."

The bartender smiled and his accent disappeared again. "Why are you here, Raen?"

"We have orders." He took out a piece of paper and handed it to Reksew. "They are explained here."

Reksew took the paper and read it. "I see. Care for a drink before we go?"

Raen walked away. "Can't. I'm busy." He disappeared into the shadows.

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A wrench hit the desk. "Well, that's it. I can't fix it, L."

"L-sama." Maria glared at Asher.

He took off his goggles and tossed them to her. "Yeah. Whatever." He walked over to a beat up couch, where Kat was playing with her cat, Reese.

He sat down next to her. "So, Pretty-Lady. What do you say? Will you go out with me yet?"

Kat giggled and blushed. She shook her head, sending her hair flying back and forth in her face.

He put a hand on her thigh and she blushed more. When she didn't pull away, he leaned in. "Why not?" He looked at Maria, who was rapidly approaching him with her hand raised. "Did she turn you against me?"

"No... I-"

"I didn't do anything!" Maria was standing in front of them. She slapped Asher so hard he fell to the floor. "She never liked you! Get over it!" She rounded on Kat, who cowered in fear. "And you! What the hell do you think you're doing?! You don't like him! I thought I taught you better than that!"

"Well... I dunno... He isn't that bad..."

"Ugh! I can't believe what I'm hearing! I-"

Asher was standing in front of her. He leaned in. "I thought you said you didn't have anything to do with it."

She punched him in the face.

L grabbed her hand. "Relax. All of you. Get ready. We're going back."

Asher stood up, holding his bleeding nose. "I thought that we were going to wait until it was over."

"Yes."

"How do we know if it's done?"

"Don't worry. It's over. We're going back."

He walked away. Asher, Kat, and Maria looked at his receding form. Something was off, something they couldn't quite explain.

Maria looked worried. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. "L-sama..."

L and his detectives return to The Agency and Tielwal begins preparations for his next move. Thousands of miles away, DY chases after BB.

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