Future Written In Blood (Death Note)

Episode 19: Target

"What game is this, now?"

"A very, very fun one," the Shinigami said.

"Now, of all times? February, March, April, May. I just need more time."

"I have the rules written down, hero. Don't back out on me now."

"I won't. But I need to do this differently. This is going to…"

"What? End poorly. That's what's so fun about it."

"Not the word I would have used."

*******

"Darius, have you ever wondered what I'll do when this is all over?" Ryuk said. "I'll be so booored, and without even apples, if I go back to the Shinigami world."

Darius shrugged, "Sure, why the fuck not? It's not as if you deserve better."

"That's mean!" Ryuk loomed, looking genuinely hurt.

"It's mean, yeah, but if we catch them, you promised…"

"Yes, I promise. That's your conditions. But you can't even help, can you? They're keeping you away from the investigation. I dunno why."

"I know exactly why," Darius pointed out with a shrug. "But I do almost want to push that girl again. See what she does."

"That'd be fun," Ryuk said, with a laugh.

*********

"All I can do for God is kill," the figure said, looking up at the female Shinigami. "Surely you can understand that?"

"Duh. But how many times are you going to write my name in that book?"

"As many as it takes."

"There's a way to kill us, you know, it's really simple, if you wanted to find a way to get revenge on Ryuk, that bastard. But then, would he ever sacrifice himself?"

"It doesn't matter."

Episode 19-A

There were steps, and schemes, and wheels within wheels. It was all quite complicated, and James knew that Alex intended it that way. The challenge going out would have to be carefully worded indeed if it was going to work, and all of Alex's lying cunning and Ignatius' media genius was going to be needed.

The deaths were increasing rapidly still, and more than that, there was the fact that if the killer followed through on the threat, the Prime Minister would be dead within a few days if they tried. The Canadian government clearly didn't know what to do about it, and just as clearly, this was the only way that Alex was pushing their scheme through.

"I know," Hannah Tartinia said, "That this killer is against any and all Gods. Not merely is he a false believer, but he… or she… is an atheist deep down in their blackened heart." A somewhat well known pastor of a somewhat forward-thinking church, but one without an internet presence. That meant that there was no way to see her face without entering the church, and there were security cameras for that. Ways to lock it down. "And that is why I say: repent ye sinner, lest you face your sins and find yourself as wanting as all men know you are. Come here, Sunday, and confess all that you have done, admit all of your guilt, and perhaps your soul, if not your body, can be saved. I fear that you are too weak to ever come, let alone admit that what you have done is as terrible a thing as any man could do."

It was being pushed out on the airwaves, the challenge reflected and multiplied, and surely the killer wouldn't be able to resist it at all. But then, how would they attack? Would they come in through the front door, or try to slip around the back?

Alex and the others had run over the church building again and again, and they had a plan. It was really simple, too.

Hannah was going to hang back, but not so far back that someone in the audience couldn't see. But then, what would the killer do to get around that?

That was the real question, Alex said. And yet, they knew that the killer would have to try. Would the killer succeed, or fail?

They were too far away to watch directly, and yet it was true that the police were going to be there in plains-clothes. And masks. Everyone was wearing masks, nowadays, and yet it hadn't seemed to stop the killing.

Everyone, James reflected, actually didn't mean that many people.

*******

Hannah looked at the gathered assembly. She knew all of them, so could any of them truly be the killer? The police were monitoring the entrances and the exits, but she was monitoring the people.

She knew their birthdays, their hopes and dreams. It was part of her job, the thickset woman thought, wiping her brow as she began to speak the opening invitation to all there, both guests and old friends.

Not a single person was new, or at least, not new and unmonitored. Everyone had been talked to, so what did that leave? Was the killer here or not?

It was a small church, and without the stain-glass that so many people thought traditional. But God didn't need ornament. God just needed a space and a place to inhabit, and then only because humans needed it. They needed to gather into a community of believers, and then build it up, make it stronger. They needed to care.

The killer cared only about their lonely, vicious vision of destruction, that much was clear, and she talked about it, she let the choir go up and sing their hymns, and looked across the crowd of people. Some wore masks, and she wondered at that.

What if that was a way to hide something? Their clothes were right, but…

But she knew it was just suspicion. Who would do such a thing, and how? She knew that some investigators in the States all thought that the killer would be here, but maybe they would ignore it.

She had time to hope, as the ceremony ended, and people filed out, or filed into the back.

She had time to get backstage, to a small room that she used for changing in and out of her dark pastor's robes.

She had time to sit down. And then she clutched her chest, and had no time at all.

********

"Damn! Damn," Alex said. "How could I?"

"How could you what?" Jesus asked.

Nancy was watching, and so was Rick. Everyone was looking, and they had failed. They looked at the security footage and hadn't, hadn't them of all people, thought about it. "Look at it again. Right there."

They had Oliver pull back the footage to the right moment. "That's a wig."

Mrs. Stallings, a widow who went to the church.

Or rather, Mr. or Mrs. Killer #3, who had used the exact kind of trick that Alex would have used.

"It doesn't look like a wig?" Nancy said, frowning. "How logical would it be to dress up like… that."

"Yes. I should have thought of it. That's how they're avoiding suspicion. If they just changed cars, then someone would see them, sooner or later. But imagine if they changed personas. A different person, a different voice. We need details and we need them now." Alex began to pace. The baited trap had been bit down on, and yet survived.

"We could…" Jesus began.

"Could what? I convinced them to do it. I convinced them that we had a plan. We should have gone with arresting everyone who sat down in the church to start with. Now the trail's cold."

"Is it?" James asked, but Alex wasn't in the mood for the kind of optimism that would likely be indulged in. "Perhaps the killer killed Mrs. Stallings… or perhaps not. If she was found, that'd certainly be bad. Either way, she has children that she met, and she has people next to her. If one of them noticed even the least thing wrong."

"Notice? Anything wrong?"

"Not everyone is you," James pointed out. "Plenty of them might be merely apprentices of disguise."

Alex didn't think it likely, but tilting their head, they had to admit that it was the only lead they had. Of course, now they knew what to look for. Or rather, what not to look for. Changing personas with changing cars added up to a long and difficult process of travel, which meant that they could predict that it'd be… a while, to say the least, before they reached Mid-City. And once they did?

Alex nodded to themselves. It was time to use #1 against #3, that was for sure.

One of them was a psycho who would kill someone for disagreeing with them, and it wasn't Patricia.

First, what to do about #3? (Choose 1)

[] Try to convince the Border Patrol to really step things up.
[] Look into the con. Somehow, the killer fooled everyone. How? Is Mrs. Stallings alright?
[] It's time to go up the ladder. The United States government might be vulnerable to the same threats that the Canadian government might well give into.

And, #1? (Choose 1)

[] Confront her with Darius.
[] Start shadowing her, including secret guards at her house. Ultimately, Killer #3 promised to kill Patricia. And Rachel too, possibly.
[] It's time to haul one or both of them in for an arrest.
[] Get a search warrant.
-[] Of where?
[] Perhaps it's time to just be blunt with Patricia. Whether she'll admit it or not, she's Killer #1, and she has reasons not to want to die to Killer #3.

********

A/N: Sorry if this is a bit short.