Night 49: Home World: Streets near NHN, Tokyo

[swornandbroken]

[from here]

Mello stepped through the door, and the world spun crazily around him. Oh, god, what now? he had time to think, before it righted itself, and he found he was grinning, halfway to a laugh, even before he consciously identified the familiar tightness of his proper clothes, and the reassuring, much-missed press of the Sig against the

Comments

[gamingsostfu]

As soon as he stepped through right behind Mello, Matt froze, eyes widening when he felt the familiar roughness of the denim on his legs, the fur of his vest against his jaw. He could still feel the gun against his back, the pack of cigarettes in his back left pocket. Coughing, he stumbled away from Mello, taking a few steps toward the car - his car - staring at it the entire time. Trying not to let his horror show on his face, Matt inspected the left side of the car, which was riddled with bulletholes; the soles of his boots scraped against the pavement as his feet dragged him forward, and he stopped close to the open driver side door, picking up one of the spent shells

[swornandbroken]

Mello didn't take his eyes off Matt as he inspected the car. The silence was all the answer he needed to that half-asked question. No wonder Matt had seemed about two seconds from decking him when they first met up. This happened because of me. The thought had the weight of simple truth to it, and brought none of the self-recrimination he'd half braced for. I haven't done it yet, and how the hell did we get here, anyway?

He caught the gun reflexively, his jaw tensing. "I didn't mean for it to go down like this." He didn't know the details of the plan, but he could speak for his future self enough to say that much.

"This can't be real." Mello walked a few paces, away from the car, back to where the hallway had been moments ago. The leather creaked as he moved. A marquee on one of the buildings was still scrolling, and a faint breeze brought the scent of the cigarette to him. So it was a good trick. He wasn't about to forget the Institute was capable of those.

[gamingsostfu]

He didn't smile, and he didn't frown; Matt didn't really do anything. He just settled with his back against the side of the car, slumping a little as he sucked on the cigarette. He blew a couple smoke rings before popping his neck, unintentionally shrugging at Mello. "Oh, but it is," he mumbled; it was weird, how loud that sounded in the silence. He shook his head, staring off into the distance

[swornandbroken]

Mello tucked the Beretta into his coat pocket, and continued around the circle marked by the cars. Some of them were still running, for fuck's sake, and the empty city went on as far as he could see, traffic lights changing exactly as if there were still traffic to regulate, windows picking up the sunlight now. Finally out of that place, only to land somewhere that looked like a movie set where they hadn't bothered to hire any actors or extras. He'd buy that it represented reality; his scrutiny of Matt's initial reaction had convinced him of that. But Mello was far too suspicious of how easily they'd walked out--not even trying-- and of the bizarreness of this place, to think it could be real.

He came back around to face Matt. Way to make me sound like a kid breaking his toys to avoid sharing. "Is that what I did?" he asked, his tone flat and cold. He'd die, and gladly, if that was what it took to end it. All or nothing, but not like some spoiled brat. To claim the win he deserved.

God, it felt good to think that again.

[gamingsostfu]

Matt turned his head at that, fixing Mello with a firm glare. "Yeah," he shot back dryly. "That's what you did." He didn't much care if he was being a total prat about it; he honestly felt that was his right.

He took another hard drag on the cigarette he already had lit, feeling better as he kept the unlit one close at hand; he'd need it after just another minute, he was sure. "That's exactly what you did."

For some reason, it actually felt good to stand here, in the same spot his life had ended. It didn't make sense; he just knew that he was glad to be out of that fucking asylum, no matter how short or unreal the trip was. He glanced at Mello after another moment of pondering. "How'd you think it ended?" Now he was just plain curious.

[swornandbroken]

"I didn't," Mello pointed out, his voice rising. "I haven't done any of this yet!" He gestured with a sweep of his arm that took in the whole intersection and the streets beyond. "And I'm not going to."

As far as he was concerned, he'd more than bought and paid for the right to use everything he'd learned at the Institute without considering it cheating. He was thinking bigger than going home and proceeding from there, anyway. Landel and his lackeys were flaunting their ability to manipulate reality. They wouldn't keep that power for long. If Mello had to bust out of some abandoned offshoot of the real world, a bloody shared hallucination, or whatever this turned out to be, and make his way back there to take it from them, he would.

He glared at Matt a moment longer. "Stand here and pout or chainsmoke or whatever. I'm figuring out what the hell this place is about." He spun and headed back toward the cars.

[gamingsostfu]

Automatically resentful of that entire statement, Matt pushed himself off the car, stalking closer to his old friend, a glare firm on his face. "You think you can change this?" he demanded, his voice raising more than it has in recent memory; he didn't care how that makes him look or sound anymore. This was his life, and Mello was treating it like some fucking game. As he continued forward, Matt held both arms out to his sides. "Look around! What do you think this is? They're letting us be here - because they knew - those fuckers knew - that I wasn't gonna say dick about what happened - about how it all went down. They knew we're too fuckin' smart not to be able to figure it out

[swornandbroken]

Mello whirled, eyes blazing, hands clenching into fists at his sides. How dare you? He'd just gotten back to how he was supposed to feel, and here was Matt playing little black raincloud. Mello knew what it meant when the goggles came off--that much hadn't changed in five years--and it only made him angrier right now. Yes, Mello was paying attention to what he said; yes, Matt was standing in for the voice of bloody reason. Reason was useless here. "Fuck you, it's only been four days!" And I spent one of them sedated and one completely fucked in the head, but he wasn't going to say that.

"They don't run your life, and they sure as hell don't run mine. They're not infallible, either. It might be an accident we're here. So, are you going to waste time bitching and moaning, or are we going to see if there's a way out?"

He lifted his chin in challenge. Let Matt believe they could be beaten and jerked around, that changing things was hopeless. Mello had had enough of that for ten lifetimes.

[gamingsostfu]

Matt ventured further forward, pissed beyond belief. "Of course they don't run my damn life, you senseless prat! It's over! I'd just like to point out the fact that you don't seem t'be doing shit about your own! I mean, hell, it wouldn't have taken fucking Near this long to bust out."

Yeah, he knew that was a low blow, but Matt was feeling pretty low at the moment. It was true, though, completely true, that there was something Mello wasn't saying, that Matt could just pick up on, and it weirded him out that his friend wasn't spilling - especially if it affected Matt, which it so obviously did. The less Mello tried at getting away from Landel's, the longer they were both stuck there. He needs to just snap the fuck out of it, Matt thought, ready to stand his ground.

He needed the real Mello fighting the establishment with him again, not the tempered, worn-down jerk-off that'd been screaming at him for the past... hour? Half-hour? Shit, time got hard to keep track of when one was dead.

[swornandbroken]

Mello was going to keep talking, he really was; had opened his mouth, even, to make Matt see what should've been obvious to him: he'd died, but it wasn't the end. Those assholes who ran the Institute had cheated death for him. It was practically his duty to take full advantage of it.

And then Matt pressed the big white button you never wanted to press when Mello was already pissed, and said out loud one of the things he'd spent the entire last day trying to shove away, or shout down, or do anything to make stop. It wasn't even true.

Mello didn't argue, he didn't think, he just swung his right fist hard for Matt's jaw.

[gamingsostfu]

His eyes widened for a split second, pupils dilating rapidly as his gaze focused on the knuckles coming forward at a ridiculous speed - one that he already knew he couldn't dodge. He froze, unaccustomed to fighting, and it was surprising, the jolt that seemed to run throughout his entire body. He stumbled back, blinking several times before his sight focused on Mello once again; when it did, he just managed to gawk, dumbfounded, at his old friend.

Then he smiled slightly. "Heh," he mumbled, holding his jaw and trying to stand up straight again. "Guess there's nothin' wrong with you after all." This was relieving, to say the least; now, with both of them working toward the same goal, they were sure to manage their way out of Landel's and back to the real world soon enough.

[swornandbroken]

Mello was tensed, ready to block a punch, or throw another of his own, until Matt cracked that unexpected grin, and he froze for a moment--you provoked me on purpose, what the fuck?--before deciding to let him get away with it. He relaxed his stance and dropped his arm, and couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head. "Wanker. You should've just believed me."

But there had been something wrong with him before, hadn't there? Not anymore. A whisper of suspicion tried to butt its way in: that had been too easy, too. Mello quashed it, easily, so beautifully easily, and returned Matt's half-smile with a smirk of his own. "Come on. Let's see what Japanese cop cars can do."

[gamingsostfu]

The truth was that Matt hadn't provoked Mello on purpose; what he said was what he meant right at that moment, and the fact that it had seemed to have snapped Mello most of the way out of whatever funk he'd been in was an unintended - though satisfying - side effect. That punch, however, was also an unintended side effect, and Matt hadn't been prepared for a fight with Mello in the least; when the blond had struck him like that, he'd backpedaled quick, knowing quite well that any fistfight he got into with his old friend would quickly result in an ass-beating. He still didn't believe that Mello was all right, but he needed him focused on the task at hand - figuring out a way out of Landel's grip. He was still certain that they were both stuck at the asylum; why they were teasing them with a taste of their "reality" was a little beyond Matt's understanding right then, but he was determined to figure out their motives

[swornandbroken]

Mello took it for granted that he was driving, and went to the driver's side of one of the still-running cars, most of his smirk lingering. Matt's silence now was more like what he'd been used to; he didn't sense any accusation in it. And why should he? He was himself again, and Matt could hardly blame him for something he hadn't done yet. The path they were on didn't have to end here. Wouldn't, if Mello had anything to say about it, and right now, he knew he had.

"What was the plan?" he asked. Matt could handle giving the details, he was sure. He thought he managed asking with an L-like detachment, in fact: I understand it killed us, that's exactly why I have to know everything about it. He obviously hadn't been with Matt, but couldn't guess what he would've been doing beyond moving on Yagami somehow. If four days was enough to lose his advantage--though he wasn't convinced anymore that he couldn't regain it--two months was a fucking eternity. Everything could have changed in that time frame.

[gamingsostfu]

Still maintaining his quiet show of calm, Matt settled into the front seat of the car, unsure of what exactly this little adventure would prove. When Mello's question sunk in, he blinked; no matter the tone or manner with which the blond asked him, it was still information that he wasn't sure he was ready to part with.

More stalling was in order, from his standpoint. He needed to know that he could trust Mello - since he was so obviously not the one he knew.

Matt was also still well aware that, though he seemed perfectly like himself right now, there was still something that he didn't know, some secret that he still wasn't in on. Until Mello showed him a little leeway, Matt couldn't see himself giving away practically the only currency he had.

"Can't you figure it out yourself?" he asked, keeping his tone teasing and cheery. He glanced over at Mello, offering a small smirk.

[swornandbroken]

"Don't be a smartass, Matt," Mello said, as he climbed into the car he'd picked. He knocked it into reverse and backed out of the circle. It looked like mostly office buildings around here. They'd have to find a place with better pickings. He chose a direction at random, and floored it, unable to hold back another grin. Felt like years since he'd driven.

If he'd had a chance to follow through on his plan, swapping the information about the fake rules for the photograph, Near would've used it to taunt the false L, or everything Mello knew about the little wanker was wrong. How would Yagami respond, was the question. Judging from what he'd done when the real L got too close... "Someone other than Yagami has the murder notebook that's not under lock and key at the NPA," he said. "I was moving on that person, and you were a diversion." He shot Matt a sardonic look, aware this was a test of sorts. "Tell me if I'm getting warmer