Okay, I know a lot of you have been looking forward to this, and I'll warn you all, the posting may be slower at first, as my finals are coming up in a couple of weeks... but I do have a few chapters written. Chapter two, sadly, won't be posted until next week. Sorry. But at least I warned you, okay?? Anyway, we've got the thing basically mapped out, so... uh... yeah... We got a sequel. A whole sequel. Be proud. Be very very proud. And review honestly, please. If it sucks, we want to know so's we can do something about it, a'ight?? Got it? Good. On to the sequel!!!

Cool!! Now that we've got that down... about the story itself!! This story was hard to categorize, cuz it includes a bit of everything: mystery, action, suspense, romance (hey, L and Keiko are still central characters), friendship, hurt/comfort, family... yeah. It's got a lot going on. And y'know? It may end up being fifty chapters. A plus for you guys. Anyway, L and Keiko are obviously together; Mello will have an OC, as requested; Near will also have an OC. As to how close they'll get, well, you'll have to find out. This isn't gonna completely turn romantic on y'all!! XD No, I think we had enough of that in Jizen. There will be some, but not a ton. Rating might go up later, too, but currently, it's all T-rated. But there will be a tick of language smattered throughout; probably some innuendos as well... just be forewarned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.

Coauthored by BlueHarpy! Aided/abetted by Madeline Cullen!! THANKS SO MUCH, GUYS!! YOU BOTH ROCK!!

CHAPTER 1 - IN THE REALM OF THE SHINIGAMI

"Ryu-u-u-uk-sama, please let me have my notebook back!" Sidoh whined as he continually tapped the darker shinigami on the shoulder.

Growling, Ryuk finally relented—this had been going on for a week, and Sidoh refused to leave Ryuk alone. "Fine! Take your damn notebook. Don't leave it layin' around so much, you idiot…"

"Thank you!" cried the desperate shinigami as Ryuk tossed the notebook back toward him. "Thank you, Ryuk-sama!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't Ryuk-sama me, Sidoh." Ryuk rolled his eyes and stalked off toward one of the portals to the human world, where he could sit and watch Light sitting in prison. That was sure to bring him a laugh or two… or maybe he would see what the scrawny detective and his woman were doing… if they were eating one another's faces again, he could laugh at that, too. And thanks to Sidoh, he definitely needed a laugh…

Nearby, under the brick-and-bone arch, two shinigami sat sulking. They weren't the only ones, either—most of the shinigami realm was either sulking or raging at Akira, who'd won out on most of the bets on the outcome of the L vs. Kira battle. Neither would he let anyone live it down, either. Akira spent all of his time strutting around the shinigami realm, decked out in bangles, pendants, fancy clothes, and other paraphernalia.

"Look at him," snarled Deridovely, who was especially sore. He'd hated Akira for centuries—they were polar opposites. Well, that, and Akira loved teasing Deridovely, something he couldn't STAND. On top of this, but Akira had taken Deridovely's best scythe in the bet.

Presently, Deridovely gestured to Akira, who was parading himself around several yards away. "Wins one bet and he's king of the world…"

"How's come I can't win a bet?" grumbled Gukku, a more animalistic shinigami in appearance. He resembled a sort of tribal depiction of a god, what with his enormous bull's skull-head hunched down over his extremely shaggy body—like an African body shield-cum-mask of some kind—as opposed to Deridovely's thin, hunched, bandage-covered form.

Deridovely rolled his eyes—or rather, would have, if he'd had any eyeballs in his sockets. "You never win any bets, Gukku."

"Oh, yeah…"

No, neither of these particular shinigami were the sharpest tools in the shed…

"I swear, if I could find a way to get revenge on that no-good prissy queen…"

Gukku gave him a strange look. "Uh… what the hell you talkin' about?"

"It means he's gay, you idiot!"

"Oh…"

"No wonder you don't win no bets! You're too stupid!" Deridovely shook his bony head, but then, stopped. "Wait a minute… I got an idea! We need to get Akira back for nicking our stuff!"

Gukku thought about this for a second. "Oh, yeah, great idea!"

"But how…?"

"Oh…"

"What're you boys doing?" came a snide voice above them. They both looked up to see Daril Ghiroza perched on the arch above their heads, sneering down at them. "Did I hear something about revenge on Akira?"

"Uh… hey, Daril-sama!" exclaimed Gukku nervously. As the third-ranking shinigami in the realm, she was definitely someone to be feared. Only Armonia Justin, Nu, and the king were over her. (1) "N-n-no, we weren't… planning anything!!"

"I see…" Sighing, Daril leapt down to land between the two shinigami, cracking her neck nonchalantly as if she'd not just eavesdropped on a conversation at all—as if she didn't even know Gukku and Deridovely were even there. "Hm. I suppose you won't want my help, then," she commented casually as she began to stalk away.

They paused. Finally, Deridovely gasped. "Wait, Daril-sama!"

She stopped and turned, smirking. "I see…"

"What are you doing?!" Gukku hissed. "She'll report us and kill us!"

"Idiot! The old man doesn't care! And she's got reason to hate Akira, too! He's got her red cape, remember?"

"Oh, yeah…" Deridovely's fist came down between Gukku's horns. "Ow!!"

Daril squatted down beside the two. "Now, what's the deal, boys?" Without removing her gaze from either of them, she began dealing a pack of cards.

"We don't know! You ain't told us what you're playing!" Deridovely snapped.

"No, you imbecile. What are you planning?"

Gukku nodded in understanding. "Ohh… we wanna get Akira back for doing Nicholas!"

Deridovely smacked his forehead. "No, nicking is slang for stealing, not Nicholas."

"OH! That makes so much more sense!"

"Idiot…"

Daril sighed again. The only reason she was cooperating with them was because she could help them formulate a plan in which they did all the dirty work; there would be no consequence to herself in the gaining of vengeance upon the shinigami who'd taken her favorite cape. "You want revenge on Akira, yes?"

"Uh-huh…" Gukku nodded. "He took my wooden necklace…"

"Tragic." She rolled her eyes again. "All right, boys. Bets in."

"We ain't bettin' nothing!" Deridovely hissed. "You think we crazy or something?"

"No, you fool. We shall pretend we are gambling. I wouldn't be caught alive with you, otherwise." Daril shook her head. Really, they were such idiots… "We shall talk quietly of what we are planning. How far are you going in your pursuit of revenge?"

"We off 'im," snarled Deridovely. "That creep's been getting on my nerves for too long…"

"Okay with me," Gukku agreed. "But… is that possible?"

"Death," Daril remarked as she set a metal belt buckle in the center, her bet. "Now, do either of you know how to kill a shinigami?"

Gukku shrugged, but Deridovely cocked his head. "I heard somethin' about that, but I don't remember no details…"

"I see. Suffice it to say that I do…" said Daril softly.

Deridovely smiled cruelly. "Excellent."

"Are there any humans Akira has any sort of feelings for?"

"Oh, oh," Gukku said excitedly. "I know! That L guy and his pregnant lady!"

"Fine." Daril discarded absently as she thought. "Are you sure of this?"

"Oh, yeah!" He nodded vigorously, shedding several yellowy-brown hairs as he did so.

Daril's nostrils flared at this disgusting display. She was a shinigami, but she did like to be clean—or at least well-groomed. "Hm. You need to find someone who has ample reason to kill either one or the other—or both. And someone who's not Kira. Akira will be watching Kira, as will Ryuk. Neither can it be the blonde girl who was involved—Misa, I think her name was… Rem will be looking out for her. You must use someone unknown to Akira. That will require a great deal of searching…" Deridovely's and Gukku's faces fell. "But, think of how good you'll both feel after going so far to gain revenge. The shinigami king might even see your intelligence and regard you both more highly."

Deridovely and Gukku exchanged glances. They were interested, now!

Daril smiled wickedly. "Once you find someone, come and find me. We will then see how to further act…" Smoothly, she stood, collecting her cards and belt buckle. "Nice playing with you, boys."

It was several minutes later when Gukku realized he was missing his wooden bracelet and Deridovely noticed that his scythe-cleaning-cloth was gone.

"Damn that Daril!" Deridovely growled loudly. "We ain't trustin' her again!"

"But we're gonna need her help, Deri…"

"Shut up! I didn't say we weren't gonna use her smarts, I said we wasn't gonna trust her!"

"She has smarts? Can I have some?"

"Not Smartees, you idiot!"

"Oh…"

June 2008

Deridovely strolled casually through the shinigami realm in search of Daril, who was found over by the arch under which they'd last plotted against Akira. "You up for some cards…?" he asked casually.

She looked up and grinned evilly. "I wouldn't miss it."

She followed him over to the edge of the huge cliffs that towered over half the realm, where Gukku was seated, waiting his friend's return. Daril and Deridovely both were seated, and Gukku couldn't help but blurt out the news: "We found a guy!"

"So I assumed," Daril purred. "What is his name?"

"Ansel Alessandro," Deridovely supplied quietly. "He was gonna be L's replacement in case something ever happened to him, but he quit cuz it was too hard—even faked his own suicide. Now that he's older, he's in better control of himself, and he wants to get rid of L so's he can take over…"

"I see," said Daril, mulling over this new information. "And does this Ansel Alessandro have a way of taking over…?"

"Uh… no," Gukku pointed out, hanging his head more than usual.

"Not to worry," Daril assured them. "Deridovely, give Gukku your Death Note."

"Wha—?" he exclaimed. "No! That's against the rules!"

Daril thrust her dark, skull-like face up to his, her orange eyes gleaming dangerously. "Do it."

"O-o-o-okay…"

Pulling back, Daril composed herself. "I know this can work. It's against the rules, but there are no consequences for such a rule. This was evident from the dealings between Ryuk and Sidoh…"

"What'd they do?" Gukku wondered.

"Idiot, weren't you paying attention during the L vs. Kira battle?" Daril snapped. "Ryuk stole Sidoh's Death Note so that he could give a notebook to the Yagami boy. Sidoh didn't even notice until Ryuk returned. He survived for a whole year without it. If you need to, start building up a repertoire of kills right now. You will not be harmed by this."

"Um… I'm okay," Deridovely said. Gukku took the notebook and stuffed it under his mane of hair, concealing it. How it stayed there, neither Daril nor Deridovely wanted to know.

"Good. Now, I want you to give one of those notebooks to this Ansel Alessandro," Daril ordered. "Tell him that he can create a distraction for L, which will make it easier for him to draw L out, just like with the Kira case. Understood?"

"Uh-huh!"

"And that way, he can directly confront L and gain his name. Once Akira finds out that Ansel Alessandro wishes to kill L, he will attempt to save his life, thus killing Akira."

Silence greeted this proposal. "Really?!" Gukku exclaimed, in awe of the genius of the plot. "Wow… that's… that's… brilliant!"

"Y'know, it really is a great idea," Deridovely muttered, "but what if this Ansel Alessandro guy doesn't want to give up his notebook? I can't let him keep his paws on it forever…"

"Deri, humans don't have paws," Gukku pointed out, earning a smack from the shinigami. "Ow!!"

"He can't keep it, is that better?! Geez…"

Daril nodded understandingly. "Simple. You come to me, and I'll let you write names in my notebook. You can even kill off this Ansel Alessandro, if you wish. He is of no concern to us; he is merely a tool in this operation."

Gukku smiled broadly. "Wow! You're so smart, Daril-sama!!"

She gave a thin, cruel smile. "Yes, I know."

(1—Um... this is what it says in How to Read, I swear. I mean, she's third in the ranks, but apparently, the shinigami king doesn't count in those. Armonia Justin is 2, and Nu is one.)

Note: I don't own ANY of these shinigami, only Akira. Zellogi, Daril Ghiroza, Deridovely, and Gukku are actual characters in Death Note. You can look them up in Death Note 13: How to Read, or see them in the manga. I think they're briefly in the anime, too.