A/N: Hey! Dlvvanzor here! Mushi is writing from L's POV, and I'm writing from Light's POV.
Disclaimer: Dlvvanzor and I (Mushi-Mushi-Mushu) do not own Death Note.
Summary: In the year 2020, everything that was ever about Kira was long forgotten and had vanished. The crime rate increased year, after year, after year... everything had fallen apart with no one to fix the mess and the Authorities have became small groups of private investigators wishing for a big change. The crime rate has been at it's highest ever in history. People now live in fear and won't come out of their homes to see the sun shine, like they once did, a long time ago.
From Heaven, L learns that a new Kira is rising and decides to do something about it. The new Kira is a bit of a psycho and it seems that Ryuk has dropped his Notebook again in the post-Light chaos to see what effect it would have on this new world.
Crimson Justice
By Mushi and Dlvvanzor
Chapter I
(L's POV)
Abroad Changes
It's the smell of coal and mines in the breath of a little girl. She's dying; they just murdered her mother, right before her eyes, and got away with it. Now, she's the one destined to die, because of unrighteous justice and a knife. It took only one second to free a life into death, into the sanity of God. And yet children stumble within the boundaries of education and are kept safe from what is real. They- the teachers and the parents- try their best to set their kids in front of a beautiful, endless horizon, a hopeful future, a brave new world. The chaos seems unending as hungers rages and death tolls rise. Crime is an unforgivable sin.
The metallic taste of death, horrible. The sight you see right in front of you, before you die, will be your last. The last is not always the best, yet you go on into the afterlife: Heaven or Hell or maybe nothing at all. That last sight shows you that you were right from the start. He was guilty, but proven innocent or not.
After you die, you see yourself lying there motionless and helpless, as if your soul has been sucked completely out of your body. It's only a matter of time before you get dragged down to the Pit or rise up to the Light.
I stand, looking down on Earth, and know that the little girl will be joining us in Heaven, as many others have. Slowly into the gates of brightness and peace, she walks the clouds. As she comes through those golden gates, her mother waits, and gives her daughter a warm embrace. It's so pure and yet Hell is only a few feet away.
The world's three greatest detectives is here, witnessing all that is pure and all that is evil. I am L, or so I was. Now, I'm among the many people that come up to be rewarded with peace.
But I'm not fully satisfied. The world is rotten. Hopeless, or nearly so. And I know, deep in my heart, that I could change it. Instead of now, as an invisible observer. I could change it being alive.
I could have stopped Kira, also known as my first ever friend, Light Yagami. Unfortunately, instead of beating him, I had died in his arms. I knew from the very start: Light Yagami was Kira. Even without proof, I knew somewhere in my gut that it was him, and nothing but definitive evidence was ever going to convince me otherwise. Light met his fate soon after I met mine. He was exposed by my successor, Near. Then Light ran for it and died on dirty warehouse stairs. I know, because I was there, watching. I had won and Near was the new face of L. There really wasn't anyone better for the job.
Except I haven't seen him now in a very, very long time. "L's" sudden disappearance and the sudden loss of Justice is going to bring an end to this world. But maybe it would be for the best...? No, I can't think like that. It can't be.
I step beyond the Gates and wander around on the never-ending sea of clouds, wishing a lollipop into my hands. Heaven certainly was... Heavenly.
I head down to Earth, seeing the factory-lined streets and the cold, grey clouds growing. I'm in the air floating down to see my grave, like a ghost. I arrive like a feather as I stand to see the place where my now useless body decomposes. My coffin is just under the dirt, in layers of rock and soil.
"I had to go, didn't I," I say to myself. It's half a question and half a statement.
It's a strange thing, not to feel the cool ground under my feet. When you're dead and a semi-angel you can't feel anything. Nothing.
I look up at the sky and notice raindrops are falling. How does it rain? Scientific explanation aside, I wonder if it could really be God crying. I believe not. I had met him, and that didn't seem like something he would do
"What's wrong... Ryuzaki?" I hear a voice from a distance. As I look around, I see a dark figure approaching me. "How's it going?" I know this voice instantly. I know the calm yet mocking tone in a moment. I know it is him.
"Light-kun," I say heavily, staring at the shadow. The haze clears and the being that had once been the young man I knew was there, smiling.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," he says.
"What are you doing here?" I ask. Shouldn't he be in Hell or the abyss of Nothing?
"No reason," he says still smiling. Is he still alive or am I hallucinating?
"I see," I say monotonously. I'm have many ideas as to why Light might be here, and none of them are good.
"I suppose you know by now that I really was Kira," he says, his smile fading away to the blank look he had learned from me.
"I knew from the beginning."
"Interesting. So do you wish that I were alive?" I glare once again. "You've seen what this place has become. Do you wish that Justice was back to the world? I could have done it, you know. I could have gotten rid of all evil, with a little more time."
"No, Light," I say tiredly. It felt like we had had this argument a thousand times. "You were the one that was truly evil. To this day you are a murderer." I listen to the rain fall before I keep going. "A foul, evil murderer, who does not know real Justice. Your actions were just a mind game. You made yourself believe you were a godly force that could save the world with cruel judgment, but in reality you were just like any other criminal- waiting to get caught and to be sentenced to death."
"Sentenced to death? Me? No. I'm still alive in the memories of good and honest people who wished for protection in their everyday lives. I am God to this day! I'm no criminal. You gambled your life trying to catch me, you lost, and now you are here, maybe as an angel, but to me you are a dead loser," he spits out. Ah, so this is Kira's true colors.
"You're mistaken," I reply calmly. "I never lost. I lost my life, but I never truly lost. Like I said: I had won from the beginning. So I am not a dead loser, I am just dead." I smirk a little. "May I ask, what are you?"
"I am something beyond your imagination," he chuckles, and it grows into a laugh.
"That still doesn't answer my question," I point out as if he were dim.
"I'm a demon," he says delightedly.
"A demon," I repeat.
"No," he snaps. "Sometimes I can be much more than that."
I turn around to walk away from him. Then I suddenly hear wings flapping. I look up into the sky to see Light with thin angel wings, flying and landing on a grave, sitting on the headstone. I walk toward him. "An angel of death, perhaps?"
"Possibly more of a demon, but maybe a god of death. That sounds better," Light says. I reach the grave and read 'Yagami Light.' Then I look up at Light sitting on his own grave.
"Maybe it does, Shinigami," I say.
"Hm," he hums. Then, "I hope you're happy, knowing that I still exist." He is grinning.
"Perhaps, my good friend," I say sarcastically. "But right now, I wish to go back to Heaven."
"Do as you please. But I know we'll meet again soon," he says, smirking.
"Let us hope so," I say, and float back up and rise once more into the clouds.
(Beta Reader for this chapter: Dlvvanzor)
(Author of this chapter: Mushi-Mushi-Mushu)
Thanks a bunch, Dlvvanzor-san!
-Mushi