Fanfic / Death Note Chaotic

Death Note Chaotic is an ongoing 2021 Death Note What If? Fanfic by Gordian.

Ryuk is bored, so he decides to drop a Death Note into the human world and see what happens. But in order to better assuage his boredom, he gets four other Shinigami to drop notebooks with him, and bet on who will be the last human standing. Chaos ensues, as many active Death Notes force Light Yagami, Ryuk's choice, to contend not only with the world's greatest detective known only as L, but several other shadowy figures who attempt to manipulate events to their own ends while avoiding the punishing eye of the serial killer Kira.

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Tropes specific to the work:

• Absence of Evidence: L notes a lack of planes taking off at an airport, and deduces that commercial flights have been grounded.
• Added Alliterative Appeal: L notes he does this when stressed.
  L sat in the chair (well, more like ‘perched’) and perused the provided printouts presenting proof of Yoho Industries’ participation in the Yotsuba plot. L shook his head; he must be stressed, that always led to alliteration.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Mikami's ultimate fate. It's hard not to feel sorry for him.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Calikarcha offers a series of questions to Teru Mikami in order to persuade him to kill Kira. The turning point comes when Calikarcha asks "Are you loyal to Kira, the man, or to the world he is trying to build?"
• Armor-Piercing Response: Anthony Rester is asking pointed questions of the SPK agents regarding who is running the SPK:
  “[Giovanni] is the current head of the SPK, is he not?” Rester demanded, clearly trying to walk the agent through the reasoning.
  “No, he is not, sir.” Came the answer.
  Rester’s eye opened in surprise, and he actually took a step back, as though the unexpected rejoinder had physically smacked him.
• All Deaths Final: As the story takes place in the Death Note universe, no one comes back when they die.
• Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: Like in canon, L seems to have unlimited funds to work with. Additionally, early in the story Russell Thorne inherits $572,980,534 from a distant relative who died after the Death Notes began getting used, and points out how suspicious the timing is.
• Asshole Victim: Most named characters in the story. It would be a shorter list to name the victims who weren't assholes.
• Awful Truth: A lighthearted example occurs when The Masked Man meets Misa Amane and realizes what her motivations were.
  The Masked Man: Miss Amane was trying to use the Death Note as a dating service.
• Batman Gambit: Attempted, to varying degrees of success, by all Death Note users at one point or another:
  • Mikami tracks down L, assuming that doing so will help him find Kira.
  • Yoho sets up an elaborate trap, figuring that someone will eventually begin investigating Yotsuba Group and provide a heads up that it's time to be more careful.
  • L realizes, after the death of the Yotsuba Group conspirators, that someone would be able to predict that outcome and figures out what that person would do next.
• Battle Butler: Watari is shown to be comfortable handling weapons, as in canon. He also demonstrates an ability to escape being tied up and hacking through defenses he helped design.
• Battle of Wits: All Death Note users are trying to outwit the others.
• Being Watched:
  • L concludes Light is a likely suspect early on, and places cameras in his house to gather evidence.
  • The Yotsuba Group conspirators have hidden cameras in the conference room they meet in, unbeknownst to them.
  • When Calikarcha tries to help Teru Mikami escape from captivity, he notes a security camera in the room. It's quickly replaced after he tries to destroy it, leading him to believe it's actively monitored.
  • As Watari is describing the defenses of the Task Force Headquarters to Mogi and Soichiro, he points out that if the SPK were still in the security room, they'd notice their escape attempts and would have come to stop them.
  • When Misa confronts Russell Thorne, he mentions he knew she, L, and Light were approaching because they had placed state-of-the-art hidden cameras around his property.
• Big Bad Ensemble: As the story progresses, there are SIX Death Notes in operation, all held by people with different motives. This is in addition to the Yotsuba Group and the related conspirators, who operate much as they do in canon.
• Big Bad Friend: At one point, L looks at Light and considers that in another life, they could be friends. In canon, he says this out loud and was lying. In the context of the story, he thinks this because he's already under the influence of the Death Note and needs to have friendly feelings towards Light.
• Cliffhanger: Most chapters end with a cliffhanger of some sort.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: The ultimate fate of Mikami. The Masked Man explains some of his torture techniques made to get information. Though it is never shown, the aftermath is described.
• Crowd Panic: Present in Tokyo after the bombs go off.
• Dead All Along: Light begins to make moves against the head of the SPK, only to later learn the person in question was dead long before he discovered their identity.
• Dramatic Unmask: After meeting with Light and Misa, the Masked Man gets in his car and takes off his mask to reveal his identity as Alex Yu. This turns out to be a double bluff - Alex was the one who met with them, but the true identity of the Masked Man was Russell Thorne, who would control people to act as his alter ego.
• Karma Houdini: Russell Thorne wins the Shinigami Game and has positioned himself to be powerful enough that no one can stand against him, despite unequivocally being the most evil of the characters.
• Life Isn't Fair: Deconstructed. After Mikami complains about the unfairness of his position, The Masked Man furiously argues that the world isn't fair for anyone, which makes it fair for everyone.
  The Masked Man:You don't get it yet? The only fair thing in this world is how unfair it is for everyone. It just so happens to be your turn.
• Mind Control: One of the abilities of the Death Note, as in canon. Anyone whose name is written in the Death Note can also have their actions and behaviors controlled leading up to their death.
• Shout-Out: The Masked Man uses his Death Note to force Shuichi Aizawa to answer any question preceded by the phrase "Would You Kindly?"
• The Bad Guy Wins: Russell Thorne wins the Shinigami Game, and is the most powerful person in the world.
• There Can Only Be One: The basis of the Shinigami game - only one chosen human can be declared the winner, after all others are dead.
• The Reveal:
  • The Masked Man was Russell Thorne.
  • The event that was going to kill millions of people at the same time was a series of nuclear bombs detonating at the same time all around the world, made possible indirectly due to the Death Note.
• The Watson: Lampshaded. As Gook and Nu watch the ICPO meeting, both are confused when people start talking about L, only for them to focus on Matsuda, who was also confused.
  The younger one had just asked the older one who L was. Convenient.
• Unreliable Narrator: Russell Thorne. All of his narration is technically true, but misleading - his investigation was meant to cover his tracks, not catch the Death Note user.
• You Are Too Late: When L and Light promise The Masked Man that they'll find a way to stop him from setting off nuclear bombs all over the planet, he tells them it already happened.