A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 67

Ryuk's shoulders lifted in surprise at being addressed by L. "Eh?" he said. "Yeah, that's me. Heh." With a chuckle, he turned to Light. "Let's see you try to talk your way out of this one."

Light didn't acknowledge the shinigami, or look as though he'd heard him at all. Instead, he seemed frozen, staring at L with wide-eyed panic and hatred.

"In conclusion," finished L calmly, "You, Light Yagami...are Kira."

The colors within the haze around Light died. For a long, tense moment, the roiling black mass became horribly still. Light suddenly looked very small, like a little boy who was lost. He lowered his eyes.

Jubilee's heart pounded painfully. An ominous intuition made her uneasy about whatever was coming next.

Without warning, the blue and orange flames roared back to life around Light. They surged through the middle of his black haze, tearing it in two like it was nothing but a thin veil, as he bent over and began...to laugh.

It was an awful, maniacal sound. Light laughed long and hard, gasping for breath as he clutched his sides and threw his head back. Jubilee caught a glimpse of unearthly, malevolent red glinting in his eyes, and she took an involuntary step backward. The line over his head twisted and crumbled in on itself in a way she'd never seen before. Light laughed and laughed until tears ran down his face.

The sight made her stomach lurch. It was almost as bad as witnessing him take a life.

No one in the Task Force said anything, only watched him in uncomfortable silence.

At last, Light spoke. "That's right," he wheezed between bouts of laughter. "I am Kira." He straightened and turned to them, wearing a disturbing grin. "You've caught me. So...now what?" He spread a hand towards them in invitation. "Are you going to kill me?"

No one moved.

Light sucked in a sharp breath and dropped his hand. Then, he shouted, "I—am—Kira!" His voice echoed through the rafters."I am the god of this new world, I am the law, I am justice. I am the world's only hope. Are you going to kill me?" His voice lowered. "Is that really the right thing to do? To capture Kira...for your own satisfaction?" He brought a hand to his chest. "Judge me for yourselves! The world's worst criminals have died, the crime rate has gone down by over fifty percent, and even war has begun to fade. Do you really want things to go back to the way they were before that happened?" He swung to face Aizawa, Matsuda, and Mogi. "Admit it, you guys. This world is rotten. People are rotten. You three know that better than anyone else."

"Light..." It was Matsuda who spoke, his voice a tremor. "How—how can you say all that? Your father...he died because of—"

"My father died because there is no—justice—in this world!" Light roared, all pretense of reason gone. "Because evil is allowed to exist! If some people—" His gaze swept furiously over L and Jubilee. "Hadn't tried to stop me, hadn't taken it upon themselves to try and save the lives of dirty criminals, then my father might still be alive right now." Breathing heavily, he continued in a low voice, "There are some people who are better off dead, who deserve to be dead, for the sake of the rest of the world. Can't you see? I maintain order," he whispered. "I create peace. Only by killing off the vermin of this world is that possible."

"Somebody make him shut up," Jubilee heard Mello growl quietly behind her. "Before I follow his advice and kill him myself."

L gave the boy a imperceptible, warning shake of his head.

Light caught the movement and locked eyes with L. "Somebody has to do it," he snarled. "Somebody has to exterminate all the pests on the earth. If not me, then who? You obviously won't." Light's gaze passed to Jubilee, who suppressed a shiver at the insane gleam in his eye. He raised his voice. "Who then?!" he demanded, and she wondered if he was asking her. "Who will extinguish all the evil from this world? God?" He laughed, flinging his arms wide. "I am God! With the Death Note, I am God, me! Only I can do it. I'm the only one who's willing to cleanse this world, who can make it right, who will create a new world. A world in which no one will make a wrong move ever again, and anyone who tries to won't be allowed to exist." He raised a finger to slowly point at L. "If the rest of you are going to follow his version of justice, then that is folly," he spat. "The world will never be free of crime. Evil will breed more evil, and you will always be chasing after criminals, again and again, and it will never end. Is that the kind of world you want to live in?" Lowering his hand, he hissed, "Make your decision. Will you choose L and a future filled with crime—or will you choose Kira, the god of a new world?"