Chapter VII: Revelations
A/N: Tekken still belongs to Namco. So, so,so sorry for keeping you waiting, faithful readers. So here goes, and don't feel pressured to write reviews this time, since I went back on my promise :(
Interpol HQ, Seoul
"Obstruction?! You can't be serious!" Lei yelled in outrage.
" I've never been more serious, actually," the auburn-haired woman replied, adjusting her glasses. " That boy knows something, and he won't leave here until he comes forward with it."
" But you're going too far, Lana! First you drilled him like a seargent, and now this! He's just a kid!"
Lana eyed him frostily. " Desperate times call for desperate measures. We need to catch those people, and fast, before anyone else gets hurt."
" And what about Hwoarang?! He's at risk here! Those people want him silenced so badly, they dared to infiltrate the Interpol!"
Lana sighed. " I won't have you interfering, Lei, or pulling petty little tricks to try and discredit me in front of my superiors. You may be one of the best field agents out there, but you're still expendable as far as I'm concerned." And she pushed past an incredulous Lei.
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Hwoarang was stuck in a cold little holding cell on one of the lower levels of the Interpol building. He had screamed himself hoarse, punched and kicked at the door, all to no avail, and he was now beginning to resign himself to his fate.
The sound of approaching footsteps stirred him from his morbid thoughts. He sat up in bed, listening to the series of metallic clicks that followed, and then the door swung open, revealing a harassed-looking Lei Wulong.
"Well, hop up, kid, unless you'd like to hang around here some more."
"They're releasing me?!" Hwoarang croaked in disbelief.
" Correction: I'm releasing you, kid, or rather, busting you out, whichever term you prefer."
" But you'll be in for a load of crap."
" Yeah, well, I'm doing what's right." He suddenly grinned," and besides, it'd take them ages to figure out I did it, 'cuz when you've been in the system for the past thirteen years, you tend to master how to get around it. Now come on, there's someone you need to meet."
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Baek Do San Residence
Baek met Lei and Hwoarang in the hall, and the boy was surprised at the sudden grimness that settled in the air.
" What's going on? And where were you when I was a nano-second from being murdered?" he shot at Baek.
" Never you mind," Baek replied briskly and then led them to a small storage room adjacent to the kitchen. It was cramped, but Hwoarang could make out a trapdoor concealed among the junk.
" I've stashed him down there, like we've agreed," Baek said.
" Stashed who?" Hwoarang interjected.
"You'll see," Lei said, as Baek opened the trapdoor and led them down a narrow flight of stairs into what seemed like a cellar. The interior was cold and damp, and a man could be seen sitting at a low table, reading by the light of a single candle.. Lei approached the stranger with Hwoarang in tow, while Baek preferred to lounge against the wall, arms folded.
" Hey, Doc," Lei greeted the man, who looked up.
" Good evening, Detective," he wheezed. Even by the dim light, Hwoarang could tell that he was very old, with a stooped, skinny frame, withered features, and a few patches of grizzled hair on his otherwise bald scalp. His eyes, though sunken, shone with an extraordinary intelligence behind the wire-rimmed glasses he wore, and he spoke in reasonably good Korean, albeit with a funny accent.
"I'm glad you managed to crack the encrypted message I sent you earlier, Detective," the man continued. " I know that by bringing me here, you're putting yourself at great risk, and I tell you from now that you're the only one I've trusted since the day you rescued me from that god-forsaken lab, thirteen years ago, and that the information I'm about to reveal has everything to do with the mess around this young man." He nodded towards Hwoarang, who blinked, startled.
Baek stirred in his dark corner, waving his hand nonchalantly. " You're quite safe here, Doctor. Even if the people after you tear this house apart, they'll be hard put to find your hiding place."
Hwoarang looked from Baek to Lei and back at the stranger. " Um, just who the hell is this old man and what the hell does he have to do with me?" he demanded.
Lei managed a small smile." Hwoarang, meet Dr. Boskonovitch, Russian Professor of Biogenetics and Biochemistry, and three-time Nobel Prize winner."
Hwoarang raised his eyebrows." Another foreigner who happens to know Korean?"
The old man chuckled. " I was in hiding in this country for the past six months. The least I could do is learn the language!"
Hwoarang frowned." You were in hiding from the Triads?"
" Not from the puppets, boy, but from the puppet-masters."
" And who might those be?" he retorted.
It was Baek who answered. " The Streltsy."
"Streltsy?" Hwoarang echoed blankly.
" Yes, a covert Russian organisation." He tilted his head towards the professor." Tell them what you told me earlier."
Doctor Boskonovitch sighed and pulled from the pocket of his frayed labcoat a series of recent newspaper clippings. Hwoarang scanned them briefly; they were consistent with the news reports he'd seen on television, about people dying of mysterious causes in Russia, China, Japan and Korea. The old man rapped the clippings with his knuckles." I'm afraid I'm partly to blame for this..." he began.
" What, you're saying you killed those people?" Hwoarang scoffed, but beside him, Lei let out a sharp intake of breath.
" Thirteen years ago, when I was still in the employment of the Mishima Zaibatsu, my partner Dr. Abel and I made several breakthroughs in the fields of biogenetics and cybernetics, but the most important and successful of our joint projects was the synthesis of the most toxic drug on this earth, which we named LDF. So lethal is this poison, that one-thousandth of a milligram, when ingested, would be enough to kill a full-grown man in a matter of minutes. But when injected, LDF has a different effect. It kills more slowly, by increasing the metabolic rate of the body so much, that the organs begin to cook up, and death becomes inevitable. In both cases, once the victim is dead, LDF decomposes into harmless substances in the body, rendering the cause of death unknown."
Hwoarang grimaced." Why are you telling me this?"
The doctor ignored the interruption." The Mishima Zaibatsu planned to use LDF in their biochemical warfare, which was one step further towards their goal of world domination. Of course, as any other rational scientists, Dr. Abel and I had already developed an antidote to LDF, but this soon proved unnecessary, as an abrupt change in the management of the Zaibatsu put an end to these insane plans."
Hwoarang threw up his hands in frustration." But what has this got to do with the Triads hunting me, and that Russian organisation?"
"Quiet!" Baek hissed, and Hwoarang obliged.
Dr. Boskonovitch took up his story." Six months ago, I was approached by representatives from a tightly knit Russian ' fraternity', an extremely radical political group that endorsed terrorism and anarchy- the Streltsy. Dr Abel, for reasons I may never know, had made them privy to our invention, and had agreed to mass-produce the drug for them with my help, and so they sought me out, and attempted to coerce my co-operation, but I wouldn't have anything to do with it, and so I've been on the run ever since."
Lei attempted to continue from there." So they manage to produce the drug, with Abel's help, and to distribute it, and now people are dying left, right and centre, which fulfills the streltsy's desire for chaos, terror and anarchy, in preparation for world domination."
The doctor nodded." Exactly, the streltsy are following in the footsteps of the late Kazuya Mishima, and they are using the Chinese Triads, the Yakuza and their own Russian Mafia to mass distribute the drugs, but I believe they ran into an unexpected problem in Korea."
Lei tried to fill in the gaps." Kim somehow finds out what they 're up to and decides to take advantage of it, so he blackmails them, but they're no pushovers, and they send in their hired Triad grunts to take him out."
Hwoarang bristled with indignation at this conclusion, and was about to protest it vehemently, but Baek beat him to it. " Kim was no petty blackmailer. He would never have stood watching while a global conspiracy passed right under his nose. He would have wanted it exposed at all costs." Hwoarang nodded fervently; yes, his master had been an honourable man.
Lei waved his hand dismissively. " Either way, they silenced him." He sighed. " The doctor's testimony isn't enough to nail these people, and that's where you come in, Hwoarang." He gave the boy a solemn look." We need you to remember anything Kim might have told you, anything he might have showed you, that could point us in the right direction."
Hwoarang paused, mulling it all over. Finally, he said, " So you need me to testify, don't you?"
Lei sighed. " Aren't you willing to do all it takes to avenge your master?"
The boy thoughtfully chewed on his bottom lip as he paced around. He turned back to face Lei, Baek and the doctor. He had a determined look on his face.
"I'm game..."
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A/N: This isn't over, I assure you. Plenty of action to come!