WD Rule seven is entitled 'Gang violence is something that eventually becomes everyone's problem.'

Previous rule six: Reunions are things that everyone looks forward to, though sometimes you may have to force yourself into looking forward to them.

Next rule eight: Fighting a lot for a little bit of information is part of a spy's job description.

Summary Page

-Short summary-

A fight against not Mugen becomes even more perlious when local 'talent' gets involved. Meanwhile Matilde makes a suprising move of her own...

-Long summary-

As an RPG enthusiast, Lukas knows the importance of doing battle. As such he never runs from a fight against mooks, and even when things are looking grim against the demon king, he still heads in to at least learn the bosses’ strategy. One could say that the notion of running holds absolutely no meaning to him in the world of games, and to some extent in the real world too.

That being said, if this were ‘The Theory of World Destruction: The Game.’ He’d be mercilessly jamming the ‘B’ button and frantically looking for the ‘run’ option.

Facts time: not Mugen is standing before he, Meifa, and Ruka (the latter of whom is safely in a limo, as unfair as that seems). He is outnumbered even if you don’t include Tariq who had gone ahead to look for him only moments earlier. In short, they have him outnumbered no matter how many times they go over the numbers and the facts. Not Mugen is also not looking to flee on foot since he had come back here to see if he could steal some wheels. Therefore the likelihood of a fight occurring here and now only rises as time marches on. Lukas is confident in his own ability, and that goes double for Meifa who had been looking forward to kicking someone’s ass for quite some time. Between the two of them, even without Ruka or her subordinate, they should be more than able to subdue not Mugen and walk away from this victorious and more importantly alive.

The problem? Not Mugen has a pretty big elephant on his side of the ring, and its name is the element of surprise. Don’t go knocking it just because it sounds implausible that one guy would be able to surprise a group of three to the extent that he’d be able to kill them, take Ruka’s limo and leave without a scratch, especially since it’s that element of surprise that had gotten not Mugen so far in his killing spree. Oh it goes without saying that he at least has a few braincells as he did wait for Tariq whom from his outer appearance looks like he would have been problematic to deal with, and he had been smart enough to avoid Ruka’s guys and apparently kill a witness. Say what you want about not Mugen, but he certainly isn’t dumb.

Speaking of the literal devil, Lukas takes this chance to size up his enemy. Matilde hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with her info despite everyone in the sevens knowing she’s hiding something so this is the first time he is actually seeing not Mugen aside from photos. If one were to know the actual Mugen it would be laughable to think that they could get her confused for this enigma standing before them. He appears to be about 5’11, lanky but with no wasted muscle, apparently Caucasian and very much a young man despite people thinking that he is the real Mugen who is in fact a woman. Though to be fair, no one conceived that Matilde could be the purest evil known to mankind so Lukas is willing to cut the Govt some slack.

The silence is deafening as not Mugen stands and simply looks at his target; the limo, almost as If no one in the alley is around except him and his escape vehicle. Not Mugen apparently has no regard for the human life around him, and it wouldn’t be an unfair assumption to believe that in his mind they were all already dead. He begins towards the car, but Lukas catches him off guard by yelling ‘Hey buddy! I wouldn’t if I were you!’ Not Mugen turns as if he just realized he isn’t alone, and it’s only a second more until Meifa is upon him with a kick to the torso, at a speed that almost seems as if she and Lukas had communicated this plan by telepathy. Not Mugen is almost caught by her sudden movement. Almost. He catches her leg in one swift motion, and holds her suspended in the air. Meifa growls and follows up with a kick, which he simply leans out of. Not Mugen then tosses her aside like an unwanted habit, which leaves him open for just a few seconds…..enough time for Lukas to try his luck with a kick of his own. This one catches not Mugen off guard and he takes a hit to the stomach, which Lukas follows up by sweeping him off his feet. Not Mugen stumbles a bit, but doesn’t go down instead opting to reach down with lighting quick reflexes to Lukas’s jugular. The re spy realizes that his opponent is going for the kill and quickly leaps back at an awkward angle to escape him. Not Mugen lurches forward courtesy of Meifa who has gotten behind him and delivered a kick to his side. Not Mugen reaches for her again, but she’s ready and grabs his arm, using his forward momentum to flip him forward, and the killer lands on the ground with a thud. Meifa puts him in a submission hold using her legs and prepares to give him a kiss on his lips with her fist when not Mugen surprises her and splashes the blood on his hands in her eyes. Temporarily blinded, Meifa relents and not Mugen manages to get out of her grip and jump backwards twice. Lukas lunges for him and the two grapple, unable to land a solid hit on one another, until not Mugen steps on a trash can lid, and using his legs in a series of quick reflexes lifts it in the air and sends it at Lukas. He again has to move at an awkward angle to escape not Mugen’s trap, but falls for another one as the killer kicks him hard in the torso, sending him into the wall of the alley. Not Mugen ‘2’ The Sevens ‘0’. Lukas and Meifa aren’t down and out yet, and prepare for round two but are stopped when they hear yelling and gunfire.

Ruka immediately recognizes one of the voices as Tariq’s, and this catches Lukas and Meifa’s attention long enough for not Mugen to dart past them, onto the limo’s hood, and up a fire escape ladder to the roof of a building. He looks down at them with a look of half contempt and half amusement, then disappears from sight. Lukas is surprised by their enemy’s sudden disappearance, as he seemed to have the upper hand. Why throw in the towel now? Moreover, doesn’t he need the wheels to escape? If he could have just run away from the start, why bother toying with them? He could have been long gone from the scene by now if he had just left. Meifa gingerly touches her wounds and Lukas asks if she’s okay. She spits back that he got away, so she’s really fucking pissed, but she’ll live. Ruka steps out of the limo and informs Lukas that they’ve got a problem. They’re in an area known for its gang connections, and if that yelling and gunfire is any indication, they may be getting wrapped up in a nasty situation.

His mind starts unfurling the possibilities of this new revelation, and its now Lukas starts to understand not Mugen’s sudden actions. They had been wrong to assume that not Mugen had just returned from adding another to his list of Govt worker deaths….he had just killed a gang member, and set them up to take the fall. Not Mugen doesn’t even see them as a threat enough to kill them himself, but that makes no sense. All the other guys he had dealt with weren’t exactly powerhouses, so why would he do something so roundabout now?

His thinking is interrupted by the appearance of Tariq who is nursing a wound on his arm. Shoving Lukas out of the way, Ruka goes to him and asks if he’s hurt. Tariq assures her that he only got grazed by gunfire, but the local gang is pretty pissed about one of their capo’s taking forced retirement at the hands of not Mugen. They’re looking for blood now, and they don’t care who it gushes from, since they had opened fire on him despite his explanations that they’re actually after the guy who did this too. Seems gang relations here had always been at a slow boil, and this was exactly the kind of thing needed to push them over the edge.

Ruka helps him to the limo and then asks if Lukas and Meifa are going to run on foot or take a ride? Either way is good for her, though she’d prefer them be alive for the deal she has to make Lukas. Lukas grimaces and gestures to Meifa to take the ride. For now at least, they’d better just go with the flow and avoid becoming another gang violence statistic.

Meanwhile back at the base, Heike impatiently flips through TV channels trying to mask his worry for Lukas and Meifa. Whether the mission failed or succeeded, they should have been back home by now. Nolan had surprisingly almost finished cleaning up even without Chiaki helping the whole time. He finishes spot mopping one area and asks Heike if he’s heard anything about Lukas or Meifa…or even Mo for that matter. She had disappeared after the whole information stealing debacle, and while he’s used to her leaving for days at a time to do whatever it is she does, she seemed overly strained this time. Heike shrugs off his worries, and comments that this is her way of detoxing. As a professional double agent, the worst thing that can happen to her is to be caught by the Govt, be it the US one or any one. She probably hadn’t gotten that close to being caught in a while and he figures she’s going to need more time to get over it. As for Meifa and Lukas, he hadn’t heard anything from them either….though he’s sure their fearless leader may have something to say about it.

Heike addresses the last part to Matilde who sits on the level above them chewing on a lollipop stick and looking into a computer screen. Wargle eyes Heike from above, and asks Matilde if he should address his concerns. Mizuki lies face down on a couch and mumbles something about being hungry for blood, and that she’d take care of it. Matilde looks up from the screen and tsk-tsks her subordinates. Are they going to do their work once they’re dead? If the answer is no, then they should put an end to this ‘killing them’ talk immediately. ‘Sides, she doesn’t really know where L & M are either, and even if she did Lukas had promised her results. She’d like to appear that she trusts him at least, since it makes dealing with him that much easier. Mizuki comments that Lukas’s girlfriend left earlier, and she was acting somewhat suspicious. Should she have trailed her? Matilde shakes her head and smiles. Whatever extracurricular activities she has going on for her boy toy are the least of their worries. ‘Sides, she isn’t a part of the sevens anyway. Which means she has no reason to watch over her or watch out for her. Matilde adds the last part with a twinge of sadistic glee, as she prays that Lukas remembers this should there be any misunderstandings about her status.

The door to the hideout suddenly opens as Lukas and Meifa make their entrance. Heike sits up as Chiaki and Nolan come to greet him. They don’t verbalize it, but their eyes all ask how the mission went, as does Matilde’s from the upper level.  Lukas grimaces, shakes his head, but then points up at Matilde, and orders her to explain everything. If she’s going to hide information that’s fine, but then she shouldn’t expect her job to get done. It’s all or nothing, and she’s either in or out. He then flat out asks if she happens to know more about not Mugen than she’s letting on?

Matilde grins and replies that he never asked. He shouldn’t assume that she’s not going to tell him something just because she doesn’t come out with it outright. That’s rude! Though it wasn’t cool of her to keep it from him either, so she’ll make it up to them.

The group eyes her incredulously, and she stands up and places her arms on her sides and with a big smile says she might know where not Mugen is going, and may be able to head him off. As such she’ll be joining the team on the field for their next excursion? She tilts her head cutely and asks if that’ll make up for her little oopsie? Lukas glares at her and replies that it is a start.