Chapter 4

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Second to None

Wild and Wired

Beyond Birthday POV

Mello led me up a stairway to a room that had an artificial green glow coming out of the bottom and video game noises and curses coming from the other side. "Matt are you dressed yet?" Mello called.

"Yeah" came the muffled reply.

Mello opened the door then pushed me back out shutting it and I heard yelling. "Matt we have a guest otherwise I wouldn't care if you were naked! So for the love of God put on more than just some goddamn boxers!!!"

"OK sheesh. Drama Queen."

*SMACK* "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"Hey don't hit me with that! It's a collector's issue!"

"Just hurry the fuck up and get dressed. He's important so don't make him wait."

"OK. I'm dressed now give me that back."

"I swear it's like porn for you. You better not be jerking off to anything but me!"

"But Princess Peach is sooo sexy" I heard as a mocking reply.

*RIIIIIPPPP*

At that point I broke down laughing and collapsed to the floor. "Kyahahaha hca hca hca!" The door opened to a disturbed Mello and I wound down my laughs and wiped tears from my eyes. "You guys are like a bad sitcom!"

"Your laugh is as freaky as ever I see" Mello said to cover his unease.

"What the hell was that?!" a frightened Matt asked peering out from behind Mello. "B? Is that really you?"

"Long time no see Matt" I responded. We had never been close but for Mello's sake we were cordial.

"Well come on in Matt's dressed now as you can see" Mello said as he walked into the room. It turned out to be a lounge with a huge black leather sofa and a flatscreen TV with countless gaming systems hooked up to it. Cartridges and their boxes littered the area and there were three overflowing ashtrays on a glass coffee table. That explains the smell. The wall to my left was completely covered in different types of guns and knives except for the lone door in the middle. To my right there were more mounted weapons but these also included grenades, smoke guns, tazers, and such. In the center of that there was a door as well with a sign that said "If you hear sex sounds from inside either enjoy until we finish then die, or leave." A smaller note was added advertising "Tickets $35" which had "I'm shaving your head in your sleep Matt" scribbled at the bottom. The wall in front of me had a large amount of screens and computers displaying various sketchy urban settings. Between the light from the various monitors and the television the whole room was glowing like the inside of a UFO in a bad alien movie.

"Tell Matt what you said to me" Mello said and normally I would have yelled at him for bossing me around but I knew he realized Matt had to hear it from me not him to be sure.

I repeated what I said then finished "we're considered second best but I say we become second to none."

"Hey I like that. It's catchy. I herefore decree that our mission shall be named 'Second to None'" Matt said imperiously.

"You watch too many medieval films" Mello muttered.

"Hey jousting is awesome you have to admit. Besides I haven't seen one in years I just find it fun to talk that way" Matt replied. He then looked over at me. "Uh B? Are you OK? You look like you're going to pass out. Have you had trouble sleeping?"

"I took a bus from Sacramento to here I've had plenty of sleep."

"Sacramento?! Damn that must have taken forever!" Mello said in surprise.

Not to be deterred Matt asked "what have you eaten?"

"A Frappicino and some Poptarts" I admitted sheepishly.

Mello went up to me and smacked the back of my head hard. "Idiot! You need to take care of yourself!"

"Well I'm sorry I haven't had time what with being on the run and tortured!" I snapped at him.

Mello looked like he wanted to yell at me for snapping but Matt pointed out logically "he's hungry Mello of course he's short tempered."

Mello went up to an intercom box on the wall facing the entrance door and pushed a button. A staticky voice asked "yeah Boss?"

"Get the usual Chinese for the whole group along with…" I mouthed 'sesame chicken' knowing he could read lips "two large orders of sesame chicken. Get some of those big soda bottles and some good beer too. We're having a party tonight! But don't invite anyone extra. Got that?"

"Sure thing Boss will do."

"Party?" I questioned at the same time as Matt.

"Hell yeah our friend has not only escaped from prison to join our group he's gonna help us take down Near! And L." He added the last bit as an afterthought.

"You know the 'escaped from prison to join our group' is more literal than you would think. I heard some of the inmates talking about your conquer of their territory landing them there."

"And thus I've unintentionally used the bastards again" Mello said with a nod and a smug grin. "But seriously you left prison just to find my gang? I'm touched."

"How did you find out where we were?" Matt asked.

"Wammy's database. They upped their security a lot so I just barely managed to get in."

"Yeah they stepped it up a bit but they've still got nothing on my system."

"You know the same inmates mentioned your hacking skills and knew who you were" nevermind the fact they thought your name was 'Max'.

"Really?! Sweet! I am too a legend Mello."

He snorted but otherwise didn't comment. He turned to me and asked if I wanted to watch a movie with them then sat on the couch and turned the TV to the auxiliary channel before I had even begun responding. Matt went to get one but Mello shook his head "let him pick; it'll be the first mind-numbing television since he's been out of prison."

I considered then decided "something recent. I want to know if action flicks have increased in quality over the past 3 years."

Matt snorted this time. "The special effects have but the movies themselves have gotten worse" then fistpounded with Mello. "Pull up a seat" he said as he sat on the ginormous black leather sofa and turned on the movie.

I had missed the title sequence thinking so I didn't know the name but I couldn't stop myself from saying "I thought you said the special effects were better! These are all wrong. I mean that barely grazed the skin and it's bleeding like an artery was severed!" as a man seemingly bled to death from a minor bullet graze on his bicep.

"Maybe more grandiose would have been a better term" Matt admitted. "Besides we are watching this to get away from all of the things that led to your prison sentence. There is no stabbing or beating or burning alive in this movie so don't ruin our hard work." Mello snorted again at that.

Just then a staticy voice interrupted "Boss the party is ready. Oh and if it's the guy we were beating the shit out of earlier we didn't know you two were close or we wouldn't have done it."

"Tch. Kissups" Mello said then went to the intercom and pressed the button saying "we'll be there in a sec." He turned to me and said "you need an alias. I don't want those guys to know your real name. They would probably think it is –no offense- an alias but I don't want to chance it."

As we headed down a series of maze-like hallways I said "nor do I. I had actually thought about that on the way here and I decided I liked Rue Ryuzaki too much give up on it on it completely so I keep the Rue and add… Kataki."

There was a pause then to my utter surprise Matt said "ohh I get it. Nice choice it really fits you."

"What? What does it mean?" Mello asked clearly confused.

"Rue is 'L' backwards in Japanese and Kataki means rival, foe, or enemy and has a negative connotation. So it means L rival/foe. Pretty sweet huh?" Matt explained.

"Very good" I congratulated him. "How did you know that?"

"Yeah seriously how?" Mello asked in an annoyed tone.

"I read Manga in the original Japanese. It is used all the time."

"…I don't know whether to be happy someone gets it or sad at how they know" I said blandly.

"Both. Definitely both" Mello replied as we approached a door. "So Rue Kataki? I'll have to remember it… and get some fake IDs. In the meantime here's the party." He opened the door and said in a loud voice "Listen up bitches! This here is my man Rue Kataki a convicted serial killer so don't mess with him ever again got it? Anyway we're getting boozed up to celebrate him getting in from D.C. today." D.C.? Interesting choice of a fake starting point. Then again I don't have a local accent so they might buy it but still... He's lucky I've been there in case they ask questions at least. Mello continued "and no, despite the Japanese name, he isn't in the Yakuza sorry to disappoint." (a/n I do NOT think if you have a Japanese name you are automatically in the Yakuza but this is the Mafia so they tend to have that mindset!)

"Well that was nothing if not blunt" I mumbled. Mello handed me a beer and Matt snatched it away saying I couldn't drink on an empty stomach thus causing Mello to shove a heaping plate of sesame chicken into my hands in eager hopes to get me drunk.

A few hours later I was full, buzzed (or at least I didn't think I was drunk), and trying to explain how to amputate an arm properly at the joint to a complete imbecile. "No, no, no if you do that you'll hit bone! Then the work will be much harder and the blood would run faster thus causing them to die sooner!"

"But can't you just shoot 'em?"

"Amputation is done with slicing not shooting dumbass! Arrrgh I'm going to talk to someone else." I walked up to a blonde man with more muscle mass than I had body weight. I looked above his head Andrew Johnson .3 Damn his time was close. "Hey you what's your name?"

"Dicer."

"Do you know how to properly amputate a ligament? Because I seriously hope someone in this place other than myself does."

"You callin' us stupid?!" What the hell?! His lifespan is falling like a blizzard!

"Did I say that? I was merely questioning whether anyone here knew the proper way to sever someone's arm between the Humerus and Scapula. It isn't that difficult a concept really." I spoke that way to annoy him and was rewarded by seeing the rate at which his numbers fell increase greatly. Fascinating! I must use this if I remember tomorrow. The man roared and lunged and me and I used the Capoeira attack Misora used on me that I had practiced in secret to kick him back. He fell onto a glass coffeetable and shattered it cutting his throat.

3…2…1…dead.

There was a heavy silence then I spoke up "am I really such a bad conversationalist that I make people want to kill me to get me to shut up?" and Matt collapsed to the ground in tears from laughing.

Mello, however, didn't find it as funny as he dragged me into the hall, slammed the door, then slammed me into the wall, and hissed "the Hell was that Beyond?!"

"That, my friend, was the second biggest discovery I have made in my entire life which I have decided to explain to you and Matt once I'm sober. As it is you wouldn't believe me if I told you now. It is more than worth the wait I assure you. Now could you kindly step back so I don't ruin your outfit?" He jumped back and I threw up then swayed and my vision started to go black. My last thought before I passed out was huh. I guess I was drunk after all.

OK so the idea of B being one of those drunks who gets all wordy and thinks they know everything just happened but it totally works for him I think. I think L would be that kind too.

Also you know he would have practiced those moves. I would have. ;P