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A year had passed. A painfully boring year. A painfully irritating year. Prison certainly did not have the same mental stimulation as Wammys House provided. The environment certainly felt more of a home than Beyond Birthday had ever experienced. He was surrounded by those he once thought he would be enlisted to condemn.
Pity how things turned out. Pity he knew nothing of his own numbers. Of course his plan failed. Had he known his own destined end, well he could have planned a little better. Bitterness seeped into his mouth. The ever familiar taste of bile coated his tongue. He was upsetting himself to the point of sickness again. How annoying.
He couldn't sit idly by, would not. Prison is holding him back. Of course like any sane individual, Beyond needed time to come to terms with his loss. Staring at the empty walls, calculating and counting the atoms that made up his surroundings. Well that certainly helped him to feel relaxed. Numbers. He needed numbers. Inmates were not allowed mirrors. A criminal of his caliber would certainly not be the exception.
The pathetic guards wore face masks. He couldn't help it. He simply had to inform the guards their numbers. Choosing at his discretion to tell them what it meant. Unfortunately for him, word spread quickly after he so helpfully informed one particular guard of her rapidly approaching death. Why should he be punished for being right. The face masks quickly became part of the uniform after a sombre funeral.
Beyond kept counting.
Imprisonment could be tolerable if he could just see. This was no way to live. His visage was pathetic.
Spine curved in a way that was no longer enjoyable.
Skin marred and twisted. In all the wrong places.
Beyond wouldn't be so disappointed in his appearance if he had just died as he should have.
But no. He never gets what he wants. All of his hard work. Wasted. Wasted.
He could barely take solace in ways of pain to bring him back to reality. Beyond could admit, he was slightly hasty in the removal of the majority of his fingernails. Of course he knew with the damage caused in the first few layers of his dermas that they wouldn't come back. He was not an idiot. Still, he can't help but feel bitter about his past actions.
He just wished he could see.
Beyond barely had any feeling left in his fingers. The skin, while healed, still looked like American pre-sliced sandwich meat. Draping over his body in a way that was wrong. He looked wrong. All that work. All that planning to be the perfect vessel. He was not above cheating. He could make L match him. L. Hmm.
While it's true Beyond kept L in the back of his mind, he didn't want to dwell on what was. Rather he had to keep his sanity. Thinking of L certainly would not help. Or maybe?
Maybe.
Who was this? This pathetic husk. Sitting in a prison cell. Doing nothing. This is what Beyond was missing. A goal! Yes! This is what he needed. No wonder he was losing his mind here. He had no goal. No drive.
Using what little facial muscles he had left, Beyond gave the facsimile of a smile.
Oh this was just perfect! Why hadn't he thought of this? Oh, right, he was sulking. Escaping the prison was simple. Child's play. Of course he could have done so at any time he chose. Beyond just needed a purpose. Better to stay where he was than move without aim.
Getting across the ocean would be even easier. That is, Beyond just had to find someone with a similar eye color. All too simple. He didn't only have the skill to replicate one face. Beyond was a master of disguise if he truly wished. He did however, need to use more makeup than previously on account of needing to fill in the majority of the craters and divots on the scar tissue that made up his face.
L had offered skin grafts, reconstructive surgery, the works. However, with the stipulation that the surgeons would recreate his own face. If Beyond wasn't going to be remade in Ls visage with donated skin to match, he did not want it. Why insult his hard work with resetting him? No, no, this was far better. It certainly helped his ego to know he would no longer need to shave his eyebrows.
He certainly didn't miss flying. He slightly wished he had boarded the plane where all the passengers had the exact same numbers. He smiled to himself fondly. No use thinking of the past now that he once again had a purpose.
Now the truly fun part would be finding his detective. Beyond certainly hadn't let his mental faculties deteriorate in prison. What a fun puzzle it would be to sniff him out. L had never been able to hide anyways. The biggest case anyone was talking about was taking place in Japan. Or at least that was Beyonds guess. It would only be logical that his detective was here as well. Sorting out which hotel would be even more fun. L was so paranoid it almost worked to his detriment. Well in this case, it would lead Beyond to his quarry.
How he longed to see Ls face, longed to see how he had changed if at all. More so than anything Beyond was frothing at the mouth to see his numbers. Had they changed? That rarely happened. But he needed to see.
Beyond was pulled out of his reverie by the slight pain on his tongue. He had bitten a fleshy chunk from the outside of his tongue in his fervor. How wonderful it is, to have such excitement again that he lost track of his own actions.
Once he was sure he had located the correct hotel and better yet had all of his necessary supplies, Beyond began the walk up the many flights of stairs. He had far too much excitement, getting out some of that energy would help him to be rational when the time came. Still, he couldn't help humming to himself on his ascent. He was so clever.
He dragged his fingertips against the metal railing as he continued to climb.
He kept his pace steady.
Climbing up and up.
It was a simple guess. Of course L would be in the most rational of hotels. Five star was too obvious, and he was too good for three. 4.2 now that was the lucky number.
Beyond placed his hand on the door handle. The front desk had even given him a key. Such a sweet young man couldn't possibly be any trouble.
The door opened, Beyond only wished it wasn't silent.
The detectives owner wasn't here.
Pity.
Beyond walked towards the master bedroom of the suite.
There he was. His detective. His reason.
L didn't even bother to turn around. Of course he wouldn't if he heard Wammys signature gait approach.
Crouched as he always was in front of that screen. L reached out his hand, intending to take whatever snack Wammy would be offering.
Oh his sweet, sweet detective. So paranoid and for what? To not even have the nerve to be frightened. To not even consider that even Wammy could be replicated.
Beyond took no pleasure in injecting L with his signature sedative. Enough to keep him awake, but unfeeling and silent. He wasn't cruel. He wouldn't dare bother the neighboring hotel guests with Ls whining. They paid good money for their stay.
L lay flat on the ground. Eyes shining, staring at what Beyond had become. Like looking at a stranger.
Beyond trailed the back of his hand against Ls face. Almost sad he couldn't feel it as well as he used too. That hardly mattered now.
"I've missed us" Beyond smiled softly at Ls petrified form.
Turning to his bag he pulled out what he would need. A scalpel with a plethora of backups as well as a curved medical grade needle. Beyond looked down at L again, then to his numbers. He wasn't sure if their stagnation delighted him or not.
He carefully picked up the scalpel. Being sure of his grasp on it. He set to work. Holding Ls right ear down he made a small but firm incision below the ear lobe. Dragging the scalpel down just to the beginning of Ls jawline. Blood seeped from the wound. L stared at the ceiling. Unmoving.
Beyond worked carefully, separating Ls skin from his skull. Drawing an outline of Ls face with precision. Blood steadily oozed from the fresh incisions on the detectives face, pouring into his hair and onto his neck. Beyond made sure to slice accurately into his hairline, wanting to be as precise as possible.
Blood flowed in heavy rivulets down into the hotel carpet.
Lifting the scalpel, Beyond directed it at the top of Ls eyelid. Seeing as the outer later was finished, he could take his time with the more intimate details.
He slowly lowered the scalpel down, enjoying the glint of surgical steal reflecting off the detectives glassy eye. Quickly deciding he lifts the scalpel higher, to the bottom of the brow ridge. He pushed in, being as gentle as possible. The skin was impossibly fragile. He needed to be careful.
Slowly, he made Ls eyes really pop. Exchanging the dark circles for deep red, watching as it flowed into Ls still opened eye. Beyond always thought he was pretty.
This part didn't need delicate. In fact, he would ruin everything if he wasn't quick and confident.
Curling his fingers under the loosened flap of skin under both of his ears on either side of Ls head, Beyond gripped and pulled.
It was amazing how easily his face peeled from the carnage. It reminded him of how easy it was to peel a dragon fruit. To watch as it fought little to remain attached. The sound was most intriguing. Without L to voice his complaints, it sounded wet, he likened it to the sound of fresh honeycomb being crushed. Well, L certainly looked pretty now. A real head turner.
Suddenly Beyond was cut with jealousy. Burned flesh was certainly not as alluring as the beautiful glimmering of Ls newest look. One eyelid remained on, well, can't really call it his face anymore can he? Beyond smiled to himself. The air of the hotel felt humid, the entire room smelling of viscera. What mostly fascinated him was that he could not see numbers anymore. Nor his name. L was nothing.
L was nothing.
Beyond made a sound that was certainly meant to be a laugh.
Nothing continued to stare straight ahead.
Looking at his prize, Beyond quickly took his trophy to the suites bathroom. Carefully washing off the remnants of severed blood vessels and collagen until he had a somewhat clean mask. He offhandedly wished he had studied up on tanning hides. No matter.
He left his mask in the bathroom as he went to retrieve his kit. Beyond washed all of the makeup off of his face. Careful to remove every layer. Now the real work could begin. He lined up the mask onto his scarred face. Being sure of his placement.
He threaded the curved needle and set to work. Slowly, ever so carefully he pushing the needle into the flesh of his own face while he added his new one. In and out, in and out. He sang it like a mantra in his head. He was so clever, this was unbelievably easy, with a lack of nerves in the majority of his face, he hardly felt it. He was almost sad he wouldn't get to feel his transformation.
He was the prettiest doll on the shelf. He should be on display. Beyond had never had so many emotions in his life. He looked into the mirror. Admiring his own suturing skill, he quickly disinfected the ridges of where flesh melded into flesh.
Beyond stared at his remade image.
For the smallest of moments, the name above his head flickered.