(Matt P.O.V)

It had been close to a month before Mello called me up to see him. I didn't hesitate to jump in my car and rush to his side either. Like I had told Near, I would do anything to be beside him, no matter how much he'd changed in the years.

I guess I really didn't know how much he had changed.

Near had warned me about Mello having changed in the years we'd been apart. I didn't believe him though, since the last time I'd seen him he was the same as ever. Just a different wardrobe. Besides, Near knew nothing about Mello. I had been his friend since the beginning, since before I was even at the Wammy house. I knew the blonde better than anyone. Didn't I?

Before my car came to a stop at the edge of the Mafia grounds, I could already see the leather clad blonde just a few feet away lying on a discarded bench. He hadn't noticed my arrival until I'd fully stopped and stepped out of the car. The moment he had noticed me, I was almost tackled to the ground from his hug. It didn't matter what Near saw in Mello, because I knew he was still there. Like he always was.

How blinded I was.

The hug didn't last long, sadly, and right away the blonde grabbed my hand and started dragging me somewhere.

"Matt, you won't believe what we've uncovered! Ross would have a fit if he knew I was showing you this!"

His voice was… different. It didn't sound right to me. It sounded as if he'd lost a part of his mind, making him look like a madman. But I followed anyway. I was intrigued as to what it was he had found.

"What is it, Mel?"

"You'll see, just keep following!"

He dragged me all the way to the outskirts of the Mafia headquarters where I could see the building in plain sight. Feared for someone seeing me and Mello together, since this Ross guy didn't sound like someone I'd like to meet, but I was assured that we would be alright.

We finally stopped at a nearby fence and Mello let go of my hand. He then dug through his coat and pulled out a black notebook. It didn't exactly look too special to me, until realization kicked in and I back away from him.

"Mello, are you crazy!? Jesus, put it away!" I demanded. I really did not want to see the very device that may have killed L himself.

"Just touch the book, I swear to you that this is incredible!"

His voice made my stomach flip in a grotesque manner. This voice wasn't his, but it sounded so similar. Like something was controlling him.

When I wouldn't move, Mello took my hand and forced the notebook into it. At that moment I fell back in terror at the monstrous… thing in front of me. It stared at me with its small, yellow eyes, like it was reading my soul. Its teeth sharp but small, and its hands… claws… whatever they were, were making small scraping noises against each other. Dear lord how this thing struck fear into my heart.

Mello helped me up then. "Don't worry, Matt. It's on our side! He came with the notebook, he's a shinigami!"

"Shini…" I breathed a bit. "M-Mello, are you insane!? A shinigami!? A god of death!? It's a disgusting, unholy, beast!"

"Oh, thanks for that."

I jumped the moment it spoke to me. "Oh great, and it talks too! Jesus Mel, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Matt, relax! I can use him to my advantage! Even more, you can study him if you wanted to. You always liked creepy stuff, so I thought I'd show it to you." He looked back at the monster. "No offence, Sidoh."

"None taken."

I blinked. "It has… a name. You named… a shinigami."

"No, it's the name he goes by. Come on, I thought you'd be happy! I mean, not only can we use him to get back at Near, but he can help us sneak away from the Mafia afterwards…"

"Get back at Near?" I interrupted. "For what?"

"Duh, for telling that fake L where I was. Even more, after I'm done with Near, I'll find that fucker 'L' and kill him with the same notebook. You can help too, Mattie! C'mon, with you at my side, we can get shit done around this planet! People will remember us, they'll praise us, worship us!"

"Mel," I tried. He didn't seem to hear me as he continued to prance about with his ideas.

"The States will bow to us, will kneel to us, and the rest of the world will see how truly pathetic the US is. We'll make them fear our names!"

"Mello," I tried again, hyperventilating. Everything he was saying… it wasn't him.

"And Near?" He looked at me then, a new wickedness I'd never once seen in him before. "Near won't live to see me become number one. Not him, not his little SPK, or Kira. I WILL be the best!"

"MELLO!"

He jumped back a bit. The look in his eyes had changed to something that resembled worry. However, looking at them then, I could see exactly what Near had warned me about. It was like seeing an empty shell of complete nothingness. Like his will and humanity had been drained from him and killed mercilessly.

This wasn't the Mello I'd grown up with.

"What is it, Matt?"

Not even his voice had changed.

I put my hands on his shoulders, trying to make the real Mello appear. "Please, stop this. Can't you see that everything you're saying is wrong? Near is our friend, our brother! Why would you say things like this?!"

He didn't change though. "Why? Because I want to, that's why!" He smacked my hands away and backed up. "And Near will NEVER be my brother! He took EVERYTHING from me!"

"No, he didn't! He's tried to help you…!"

"HELP ME! BY TELLING KIRA WHERE I AM, HE'S HELPING ME!"

I raised my hands up a bit. "Mello, calm down…"

"NO, FUCK YOU! How could you POSSIBLY be on his side!?" He paused for a moment, looking into my eyes. "Unless… you've been speaking to him."

I didn't look back. I guess this gave him the ammunition.

He grabbed me by my shirt and slammed me into the fence. "YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!"

I kicked him away in pure terror. I really hadn't meant to hurt him, but I could see now that this wasn't Mello. None of this was him. And it broke my heart to know I'd lost him. The monster had even hidden away at this point. It would seem Mello had even scared a god of death.

It started to rain at this point now, almost fitting for the way I felt at the moment.

I picked myself up from the ground and looked at the raging blonde who'd stayed on the ground after being kicked.

"Mello, please, just stop this. Leave the notebook here, or give it back to that thing, and we can just go home. Live at the Wammy house, forget everything."

The blonde looked up at me then, eyes filled with rage and hate. This was a look he'd never once given me.

And that made it all the more horrifying.

"Mail Jeevas." He said in a low voice, bringing out the notebook again, along with a pen.

My heart stopped at this. He wouldn't… he… he wouldn't kill…

He made for the page but I tackled him to the ground before he could write anything. The book went flying out of his hands but I stayed on top of him, making sure he couldn't get anywhere near it.

When he stopped struggling, he looked up at me. "Get off of me you bastard prick!"

I ignored him and all the profanities he threw at me, feeling the rain pour down my shirt… and my heart break in two. This wasn't Mello… this wasn't my Mello. It wasn't the one I'd fallen for. It was a demon. A blight that happened to carry the same name and face. Near had been right.

Once his breathing slowed down to a regular rhythm, and he stopped cussing at me, I let him go. Not caring what he did next.

He simply lay there, looking up at me. Those same eyes that I didn't recognize. All that humanity… all that love he once had… gone. I doubted he loved anything or anyone at all. All that mattered to him now, was power.

I looked away from him then. "Kill me, if you want. I won't stop you, and I won't struggle. But I hope that when you do, L is watching you from the other side and thinking how glad he was that he never picked you to be his successor!" A tear rolled down my cheek then. "I hope that everyone you killed, and everyone you want dead, sees the madness in you and pities you. Because that's all you are right now, Mihael Keehl! Pitiful!"

At the mention of his real name, a spark arose in his eyes. It was something familiar to me, but it was gone before I could even enjoy it.

Mello grumbled as he picked himself off the ground, collecting the notebook.

Looking back at me, his eyes narrowed. "You'd be a waste of a page."

I breathed out then. "Fine. Enjoy the solitude, because you will never see me again."

I turned away then and headed for my car. I didn't bother to look back at him. I didn't care what happened to him anymore. I just wanted to be out of there.

The moment I stepped into my car though, I began to cry. I cried and cried until I had no more tears to shed. Even then, my heart tore more and more whenever I thought about him. How he'd changed, how he'd become something I couldn't comprehend. This wasn't him, not by a long shot.

Unfortunately though… it was what remained.

I finally started the engine, watching the rain bathe the vehicle. I felt alone again. So very alone. But there was a difference in this loneliness than there was before reuniting with the blonde. This time, it was a crushing loneliness that simply meant the end. The end of an unbroken friendship. The end of something I once knew as beautiful.

The end of Matt and Mello.