"Where is the Shinigami?!" L's voice was unusual. It was raised. It did not bode well, when L usually only spoke in a voice slightly above a whisper.

His mind raced, trying to reconcile Watari's death.

Then it came.

A sudden pain in his chest and along his left arm. A pain that he knew what it signified, though he had never experienced it before. You could only experience it once, after all. You didn't get two shots at dying. The pain intensified, but he didn't let out a gasp or anything silly like that.

A sudden spasm caused the spoon to fall from his nerveless fingers.

And he knew, finally, it had come. The reason the bells had been tolling so loudly that day.

His time had come. Someone had written his name in the Death Note.

He fell sideways, as if in slow motion. It seemed like his spare body took an age to hit the ground.

Meanwhile, all was silence. L was conscious of nothing else apart from his lack of a heartbeat. He knew in 20 seconds, lack of oxygen supply to the brain would make him unconscious and eventually...

Death.

This was the last 20 seconds of his life. He had to make it count.

His mind raced.

His swan song.

Who wrote his name in the Death Note? Obviously, Misa didn't, since she hadn't met him after-oh...

The realization hit him at the same time as the ground. Dimly, he was conscious of someone's arms wrapping around him, cushioning the fall slightly. Not that it mattered.

Rem.

Kira had used Rem to kill him. He, L was on the trail of the second Kira- which could only be Misa now.

Somehow, Rem could not allow Misa to die.

He stared at Light's eyes. And knew, finally.

Well, his 100 per cent record of solving every case was preserved.

At the cost of his life... Well, he did put his life on the line this time. And paid for it. It was ironic, in a way. And it would be the first and the last time.

As he stared into Light's eyes, he watched them slowly turn into Kira's eyes. The light gave a strange red tint to them. It was oddly fitting.

Light...

Turned into Kira before his eyes.

A demonic glare, a cold, cruel smile of someone who knew they had won.

He stared. Black eyes met red. One, with triumph. The other- wondering...

His only friend... his enemy.

Well, his legacy would continue.

Mello and Near.

They would be able to build on his work and finally unmask Kira.

L.

M.

N.

It would continue.

Justice would be served.

At that, finally he acknowledged death.

His eyes, slowly, slowly drew close.

The curtain fell on the man behind the world's top three detectives.

His last case, his final problem.

His swan song.

RIP the 'L'egend.

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