Dexter

Silence. Almost complete, apart from the deafened sound of wind striking my car as it speeds down the highway. The afterglow of a motorcycle's lights on the horizon is the only indication of where I'm headed.

"You're rushing in without a plan, you're going to get yourself killed." I can hear Harry speak through my conscience inside my head.

"Kira knows who I am." I reply aloud. "It's a wonder he hasn't killed me already."

"Exactly, it's clear he's leading you in to a trap. You should fall back, spend the night with Rita or Debra, the people who care about you. Then tomorrow you can figure out how and why Kira is trying to trap you if you're still here."

"I know it's a trap, but Kira's putting it into action now. If there isn't a reason for that, if he's just toying with me, then if I don't fall for it I'm dead anyway. There's no way I'll survive tonight, so all I can do is try to somehow gain the upper hand when we're face to face."

"It's impossible."

"I know it is! But what else can I do?"

"Ignore him! That way if you turn up dead your loved ones will have deniability. But if your body's found at the scene it will only help prove that you were Kira's target."

"Kira has powers though. Powers that would allow him to make me reveal myself as the Bay Harbor Butcher before dying. So it doesn't matter."

"It's just..." Harry sighs, "I trained you to be who you are so that maybe, you would die with your secrets intact. Now you're headed down the opposite path."

"For the last time there's nothing I can do!" I yell. But Harry's presence has left me.

Silence again. My only company is the glow on the horizon, which seems to be getting brighter. Is it slowing down? Am I speeding up? Neither. There it is, a motorcycle parked by the side of the road, next to a path into the trees. But the headlights are still on. They must have wanted me to notice this. It's almost definitely a trap, but maybe if I'm lucky it's only someone wanting to bargain. Regardless I have to go, I just have to be cautious, and hope that's enough.

Light

I hide just behind the tree line at the back of a clearing near a swamp somewhere outside of Miami, it's not very dignified. But in a few minutes it will all be worth it. And that time has come one step closer, as evidenced by the arrival of a man to the clearing, who heads straight for my hiding place.

"Mikami, you made it. Is that the proof?" I whisper, grabbing the camera off him.

"Yes master. But I think he followed me. He kept a safe distance the whole time so I couldn't be sure it was him."

"It was probably him. Dexter Morgan is a smart man, smart enough to make it this far at least. And after all, I want him here. This clearing is the perfect place for the police to find the bodies."

"Bodies...master?"

"You'll see what I mean Mikami. "

Ryuk floats slightly above us, as though he's lying on his side. "Ooh, I can't wait to see what you mean Light. I mean its a little dark here, but still should be fun to watch. The grand arena, Kira vs. the Butcher. Two enter one leaves. No offence Mikami, but you're really more of a weapon than a contender."

"It doesn't trouble me. "

"Good, then take your position at the entrance to the clearing, in need Dexter to see you first."

As Mikami leaves, Ryuk lunges downwards through the air at me, stopping short, as if he's been waiting for this moment.

"But I'm not a weapon or a contender, I'm a spectator. In fact I'm the only spectator. So maybe you could explain the rules to me before the games begin."

"Very well. Mikami will be Kira, and he's been instructed to identify himself as Kira when Dexter arrives. He has the DeathNote with him to help prove his identity, but as part of my plan I've kept a few pages. From there Mikami will act as Kira until Dexter until he kills him. I would tell him, I'm sure he would make the sacrifice in my name, but there's that chance he might not."

"And why is Mikami going to act as Kira? Ooh is it to lull Dexter Morgan into a false sense of security?"

"That will help, but it's mostly for my colleagues' sake. Dexter Morgan turning up dead doesn't do me any good unless it comes with proof that he's the Butcher. And if I just bring him in the question becomes how did I discover his secret as L? Mikami showed up at every Kira related event in Japan, who his presence here will make it easy to prove to everyone that he was Kira. So when Dexter shows up, he will kill Mikami, and I, who will have been following up on this lead, will step forward to late to save Mikami, but with the bug I planted on him, from whatever they say, I will have substantial proof that he is Kira and that Dexter Morgan is the butcher. Tomorrow Dexter will be arrested, and a week from now they will find him dead in his cell – a heart attack – and a message written in blood reminding them that Kira can pass on his powers to another. The next day, the rate of criminals dying of heart attacks will skyrocket in another country, and the world will remember whose name they worship."

"I...wow...you've got it all thought out haven't you? Another country though?"

"Going straight back to Japan may seem a little obvious. And what can I say; this has been fun, almost a challenge even. Now seems like a good time to track down all the other serial killers whose identities have yet to be uncovered. I may be Kira, but I'm still the world's greatest detective as well."

Ryuk looks stunned, like he's looking straight through me, surely he knows me well enough to know I have everything under my control. "Well, I can't reveal your secret, that's my rule. Even if this means the end of my game. Go ahead, I can't stop you."

"What are you talking about, Ryuk? Why would you stop me? And why would you think you're game is ending, it will never-"

I feel groggy...and numb. I can't feel my body, at least not yet. Even my eyes won't open. I can tell though that I'm lying down. I remember talking to Ryuk, waiting for Dexter...and...and feeling the tiniest pinch on my neck, less than a Mosquito. A though stirs in the back of my slowly awakening mind about where I might be, it's impossible though. I can open my eyes now; once my vision focuses it will prove that thought wrong.

I still can't see anything, there's a light shining in my eyes. I'm not where I think I am, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! But as I realise that the numb feeling around my body isn't just the drugs, it's the plastic my body has been tightly wrapped in, the voice in the back of my mind says "Well, there was always the chance that it would come to this." Before my mind goes blank with screaming, white hot rage.

RYUK

This day had to come eventually. Light would either win or lose, but regardless, the game had to end. But that was always his flaw; he never accepted his own mortality. King of the New World? Still would have had to die. I never pictures that it would be in an abandoned rest stop in the middle of a swamp though. I always assumed it would be more dignified for some reason.

"Sorry, I feel like I might have distracted you there. Or did you not consider that he might not take the take the path and check his surroundings first?"

"RYUK!" he screams finally noticing me. "LET ME GO, I AM YOUR MASTER, YOUR KING! YOU HAVE TO FREE ME!"

"I know you're just making a last ditch effort, but how many times did I tell you Light? I don't take orders from you. But if you'd like to beg someone, I think he's the one you want to talk to." I laugh, pointing to Dexter Morgan, patrolling around the bench, almost indistinguishable under his mask and apron.

"It won't do him any good. He's killed thousands of people chasing his own delusions of grandeur, because he wanted to rule the world. But he's just scum. I've killed people who you would consider not worth your time in this very room. Not too long ago there was a man, Mike Donovan, killed a couple of kids here, but somehow no one took any notice. I became very familiar with this are investigating what he did, that's how I knew there was a clearing, where you must be waiting, and how I was able to sneak up behind you."

"YOU'RE LYING! YOU MUST BE THIS IS A SHINGAMI TRICK SOMEHOW! OR ELSE MIKAMI WOULD BE HERE!"

"You're friend? He confessed to everything once I knocked you out. He's already been taken care of."

I chuckle at his confession.

"And you," he says directed at me, "You may pretend not to be involved, that you're only an observer, but you're just as responsible as he is. I'd kill you too, but I doubt that's possible."

"IT IS! IT IS POSSIBLE!" screams Light. "I CAN TELL YOU HOW! JUST LET ME GO AND I'LL TELL YOU! AND THEN I WONT KILL ANYONE EVER AGAIN! I PROMISE! I"LL EVEN GIVE YOU MY DEATHNOTE TO PROVE IT!"

"SHUTUP!" he yells, turning back to Light, stuffing a rag into his mouth, and raising his knife up to his cheek.

"Wait!"

"What is it?"

"I didn't think of it until he said it just then. Why don't you take his DeathNote? You could even kill him with it, kind of ironic don't you think?"

"Excuse me? Why would I do that? I already have one and once this is all over I'm going to destroy it if I can...but I suppose you're right, I need to think about his...I'll make sure I destroy that one too."

I almost shiver at the words. "But, you can't do that! If you knowingly get rid of a DeathNote, you'll forget everything! The existence of Shinigami, Light being Kira! You could be a hero! If you're the one that killed Kira, people won't care if you're the Butcher. Hmmm? What do you say? To be honest I wouldn't mind sticking around a little longer. Watching you humans react to Kira's death, or at least getting one last apple. It would be fun."

His hand lingers with his knife to Light's face for a moment, before he sets the knife down. Right before picking up a larger one and holding it straight above his chest.

"Well then, let's call it plausible deniability."

The blade begins to fall, the game is over. I don't wait around to see it land. All that's on my mind is getting to the nearest fruit market and feasting as much as I can before he destroys the DeathNotes. It's been fun.

Dexter

Two months ago Kira killings ceased. Around that time Light Yagami vanished. No one knows what happened to either one of them. The hopeful are sure that they managed to take each other out. The more wary suspect that maybe Kira finally got his adversary, and that he's just bidding his time. I don't see why he would be doing that, especially with the state of the world.

Chaos, rioting, record crime all over the world. It started slowly, a couple of big name crimes were committed, and everyone sat waiting for Kira to take out the perpetrators, but then he didn't. And bit by bit, the world came to believe Kira is gone. People became slightly more daring until...anarchy.

Working for the police, the workload is...overwhelming to say the least. Everyone works 12 hour days, six day weeks until the crisis is over. I'm not so sure that will be soon, people from all over the world all believed in the same thing, they had something to fear, consequences for their actions they could not refute, now that's gone. I never thought too much about Kira, just that he was another reason to keep my hobbies well hidden. And sure, given the chance I would have like to make him pay for his crimes again humanity. But I can't deny he kept mankind in check and that the world was safer, though sometimes I feel the only thing separating him from me was his god complex. But that's only sometimes, the rest of the time, his very existence made me feel like less of a monster. So to hold onto that feeling, I make sure I spend my one free day with Rita and her kids, my dark passenger is oddly sated for now. It must be the thought of all the new potential playmates I'll have once the storm has passed.

Still, god help them if they've looted the super market again. Rita's asked me to pick up some chocolate pudding on the way home, something about cravings...

THE END.