[Introduction] Last Laugh

[death_kl0wn]

The game is over. Nobody won, any more than anyone in the Shinigami realm really won those interminable rounds of gambling. As soon as he realizes the game was coming to an end, that Light's fascinating plan had fallen apart, Ryuk leaves the warehouse, leaving the humans to squabble among themselves and phasing through the iron roof before vaulting

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[johnny_rockfort]

This one's dead as dead. By which we mean, dead. And he knows it. And he's been dead for two years.

He's going to be poking at a guitar, actually, timidly. He hasn't touched that in a very, very, very long time. But hey, he's bored, and it was lying around.

[death_kl0wn]

He's noshing on another apple he's snitched from the kitchen, when he spies the kid with the guitar. Looks almost like one of those, thingummys, oh yeah, a rock star.

Horking the core of the apple, he comes closer to watch, and listen.

[johnny_rockfort]

He hasn't noticed Ryuk, at first. And then he does. And just. Completely. Utterly jumps, a meter high.

"What the!!!" And the guitar is dropped to the floor.

It might also be interesting for Ryuk's typist to know that Johnny's date of death is circa 2980, more or less.

[death_kl0wn]

"That part of the act, or did you just see me, kid?" the thing asks, inquisitively.

Whoa... :: Adds Starmania to the list of things to hunt for on YouTube, once she finishes watching Gormenghast -- which is not easy when one has a certain houseguest in headspace ::

[johnny_rockfort]

"--- you're kind of hard to miss," he replies, point blank. "I've been called a freak before, but dude ---"

It used to be dated circa 1980, but then, er, they re-did it in 2009, so the lyrics were changed to read "come year 3000, we'll all be forty" - or something of the like, and Johnny's assumed to be in his twenties, so. There we go. The musical is here, but alas only in French - there never was an English production of it to my knowledge. It did get translated and recorded on CD, under the name Tycoon. I have a complete translation of the plot on Johnny's wiki page, if it helps, and the translated lyrics are available here and here.

[death_kl0wn]

"Kinda like I'm... oh, how do they put it... rockin' the Goth look," the thing says with a grin meant to be somewhat humorous, but which is defeated by the thing's pointy teeth.

[johnny_rockfort]

.... "Pushing it a little too far, if you ask me," he replies. "Guess you must be from the end of the end of the twentieth century."

He's still totally freaked out by Ryuk, but trying not to show it.

[death_kl0wn]

"Well, we really don't measure time in my world, but I've hung around the human world at the start of the..." The thing pauses to count on its fingers. "Oh yeah, the twenty-first century."

[johnny_rockfort]

"I'm from the thirtieth. You're way behind. Should consider getting updated."

Still being in your face, but don't mistake him - that's how he handles his fear.

[death_kl0wn]

Whatever this thing is, it doesn't seem to mind the in-your-face-ness, since he finds it interesting. The thing laughs, and says, "Might be a little hard, since I'm so Goth, I'm a death god."

[johnny_rockfort]

"Ah." A beat. He puts the guitar aside.

"Well then. Guess I have a couple things to tell you, Death God."

And he is not looking happy. He has Major ComplaintsTM.

[death_kl0wn]

"Oh? What sorta things?" the thing asks, looking up, with almost a look of curiosity in its umblinking yellow eyes.

[johnny_rockfort]

"First, if you're the god of death, I'd like to know why I'm still dreaming of mine. It's been two years. I think I deserve a break."

[death_kl0wn]

"Wait, back up a bit: I'm not that kinda death god," he says. "I just shorten lives, I don't really mess with what happens afterwards. You want that kinda help, there's another sort of shinigami that takes care of that touchy-feely afterlife stuff. But I better warn you: there's wunna that kind here and he's a real wuss, from what I've heard."

[johnny_rockfort]

"I don't want help," Johnny replies. "I want to let you all know how annoyed I am. Besides, if you shorten, then you're my guy. You shortened me too, didn't you?"

[death_kl0wn]

"Well, the way it works, I'd have to see your name in order to shorten your life, and I've never see it till I looked at you just now," he says. "Musta been some other shinigami that did it."