Author's Notes: Jade queen of the Damned: I know *exactly* what you mean about the fear of you parents walking in to see what you’ve been writing. Though my mom actually praises it, being the huge Harry Potter yaoi fan she is with her colossal love for HarryxRon, as well as other pairings, my grandmother *was* unaware. One day a couple of months ago, I had just finished that BryanxLei PWP I mentioned, and forgot to lock my door while going to the mall, accidentally leaving it up on the monitor in the *prime* part of the lemon. Well, my grandmother came in my room to collect some laundry, and decided to take a little peek at what I’d been writing... She didn’t tell me she’d seen it until roughly a week later, and when I asked her what she thought of it, all she said was “Christina... that was... confusing...” Though she got over it. Funny how my grandmother likes Tekken, though she mistook the pairing I’d written as BryanxLee, rather than BryanxLei, which I thankfully corrected her on. Anyway, so now my whole family knows what I write, and they either praise me or don’t care. (Thank god)
**And I will state this again in the update to one of my other fics, but like I said, don’t like, don’t read. Some people have been reading my WDATGG? fic that only like one pairing, which surprisingly isn’t JinxHwoarang, and think the rest, or should I say other pairings, suck. I do *not* appreciate this. I doubt they are reading this, since it’s obviously not their favourite pairing, but on the slim chance they do, I just wanted to say some opinions are better kept to yourself... I’ve had enough with the pairings clash as it is...
Anyway, sorry about that, and read on! ^_^
The Past is the Past
Chapter 5
The events of one’s past are always there
always able to reveal the truth. . .
There may come a time when you may wonder
if they ever can or will catch up with you. . .
Lei had just taken a seat in the back of the police car which Mao Ziyang and Kita Okura had arrived in. Thankfully, the rain had lightened up a bit, though considering how Lei’s hair was still rather damp from the shower he had just taken, it really didn’t make that much of a difference to him either way.
This is so strange... Lei thought to himself as he looked up at the sky through the crystal clear glass of the car window. Tokyo isn’t known for this type of weather so frequently this time of year, and yet, since the day of the fourth tournament’s end, the sun has still yet to so much as shine...
Lei couldn’t help but feel rather uncomfortable in his current location, which was the back seat, A.K.A ‘criminal’ segment of the police car. It filled his mind with unsettling thoughts of if he should be forced to sit here again in the future for serious charges; the so-called crimes he had committed the night before with Bryan Fury.
“Hey, Lei?” Mao asked from the front seat as he roared the car’s engine to life.
No answer.
Mao turned around slightly and looked through the plate of wires that separated the front and back seats of the car, only to see Lei’s glance seemingly frozen out the window.
“Hey, Wulong Lei?” he asked again, a little louder.
“Oh, huh?” Lei replied as he replaced his stare to Mao.
“So, why don’t you tell us more of what you can remember of last night,” Mao outwardly questioned, though it sounded more like an order.
Lei thought briefly on how he should word everything. “Well, like I already said, I don’t remember much due to the narcotics, but it seems to me that this person, or persons, may have wanted me dead, but then decided I wou-would be of more use to them alive...” Lei trailed off in painful realization, comprehending how much sense his off-hand words really did make.
Kita looked at Mao and nodded, before speaking up herself, “That’s the same thing I thought, Lei. The question is; who was it?”
“It sounds to me like you may have your own little fan club going on, Detective Lei,” Mao jokingly spoke.
“I more than likely doubt that,” Lei replied with a sigh, “My name has been one only spoken in shame or ridicule for the past few months now.”
Kita decided to change the subject, another one quickly crossing her mind. “Oh yes, and we have also uncovered more information on Heihachi Mishima’s connection to Bryan Fury.”
Lei’s glance all but shot straight from the glass window, and back to Kita. “What did you find out?”
“We found out the secret lies with Dr. Abel, who as you know is the head of Mishima Labs. Fury either has, or knows something vital to their work, and whatever it is, Heihachi is nothing short of desperate to obtain it.”
“Well let’s just say I have the key to putting a halt to all of this, and Heihachi wants it to forbid its use in this happening.”
“The bio-weapon...” Lei stiltedly muttered in a barely evident voice after having the brief flashback of Bryan’s words.
“What was that?” Mao unerringly asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Lei hurriedly assured. If no one else knew this information, then everyone else would obviously want to know where Lei had gotten it from. He figured he could bring up the issue in a more casual, and questionable matter later on, perhaps after doing some more research on the issue himself, though he knew all too well where this usually seemed to get him in the end...
“Ah yes,” Mao began after remembering something himself, “This case just keeps getting stranger and stranger...”
“How so?” Lei asked.
“Julia Chang disappeared last night from her hotel after you did from the hospital around 4:00 a.m., only she didn’t turn up.”
“What?!” Lei exclaimed.
“Uh huh,” Mao nodded with a sigh himself, “We’re still pretty much clueless on this issue for the moment, but we can more than likely bet Heihachi has something to do with this too... She did, after all, do temporary work in the Mishima Labs.”
Lei’s eyes had yet to cease their widened appearance. Had Bryan done this? And even more so, if he had, what had he done to Julia? Lei did not want to even consider this... But wait, there was no way it could have been Bryan who was responsible for this, for Lei specifically remembered being with Bryan at, well, wherever they were at the time. Thank god for that...
But still, what was going on? What was Heihachi up to? The mystery just kept mounting, seemingly by the hour at this rate. First Kazuya and Jin vanish right after the tournament’s end which in turn, had no announced victor; then Lee Chaolan disappears after never making it to the airport, and now Julia Chang? Come to think of it, no one was ever able to track down what had become of Nina Williams following the tournament, either...
“I don’t like this, not at all,” Lei murmured.
“And I assure you that no one does,” Mao replied as the car came to a halt in front of the International Headquarters.
Lei abruptly tried to open the door, anxious to take a look at the case reports, when he realized the door wouldn’t open, obviously due to the fact that he was in the unlawful part of the car.
After exiting from the car herself, Kita opened the door for the uneasy Lei who seemed to be pretty apprehensive on doing some research of his own.
“Well,” Mao spoke up in a sigh, “Here we go...”
Bryan Fury stood in the abandoned department store, hovering over yet another fallen Tekkenshu. He had taken down so many of them he couldn’t even convey it to a count. He then bent down and removed the radio device from the head Tekkenshu’s belt, abruptly bringing the contrivance close to his face to speak into it afterwards.
“You’re so fucking pathetic, you know that?” Bryan mockingly roared into the radio, he already had a pretty good guess as to who would be on the other end of it.
“Well done, Bryan Fury,” Heihachi all too calmly replied, “Though I nevertheless don’t see why you still refuse to join us in our research.”
“I’m not an idiot old man,” Bryan rudely hissed, “I know you want me dead, otherwise what the fuck do you call this trash you’ve been sending after me ever since the fourth tournament ended? I know what you want from me.”
“Yes,” Heihachi efficiently said, “But I don’t see why we can’t come to some sort of agreement? You know what I want, and I know what you want. Why not make a trade? I assure you, I am a man of my word.”
“Like hell you are,” Fury retorted to the scandalous man, “You don’t think I haven’t learned of what you’re up to by now? Why so many fighters have just vanished so suddenly?”
“Hmm, you really are a lot smarter than I thought,” Heihachi replied in an amused tone, “Wulong Lei underestimated you, didn’t he? It should please you that he shall be meeting his own appointment soon enough, eh?”
No reply.
“That’s what I thought,” Heihachi snickered to the silence. “See, in joining us, you will not only get what you want, but will also have the chance to finally see the man responsible for your own death put to his. Lei Wulong never listened to you, what makes you even think it would be any different now?”
“My life is none of your damn business,” Bryan growled.
“And it’s also irrelevant,” the older man mocked once more, “We’ll have Boskonovich soon too, and when we do, your life as you know it will all but depend on your compliance with Abel and I. You can either gain something from this, or not. Either way I shall triumph in the end, as I always do, so it’s your call?”
Lei Wulong sat at the finely cut hardwood desk of what was now his office; while he remained in Tokyo, that is. On the desk there laid stacks of paperwork and other various things such as picture profiles of the Tekken Tournament competitors that were available, as well as any information relating to Heihachi Mishima and his inexplicable labs.
Lei had just had one wonderful time in questioning, and felt like he could take no more... It was all too clear to him that hardly anyone, rather on the Japanese Force or his own, believed him. Especially after his recent failures of the like.
He looked up from the folders he held as the telephone on his desk rang. According to the flashing light engraved on the phone, this call was from inside the headquarters.
“Hello?” Lei asked into the base of the black office phone.
“Lei, this is Ziyang Mao. It looks like this case is still getting bigger.”
“What do you mean?” Lei asked in curiosity.
“It seems we have yet two more competitors from the past Tekken Tournament that have disappeared.”
Lei’s eyes involuntarily widened in tune to this declaration. “Who...?”
Mao sighed into the phone before speaking up. “Steve Fox and Hwoarang.”
“I don’t understand this,” Lei agitatedly replied.
“Yes, and it seems these fighters keep vanishing before they even have a chance to leave Japan, for none of them have, and those who have attempted are the ones who seemingly disappear first.”
“We both know Heihachi Mishima has to be behind this,” Lei declared, “Damnit, we have to do something about this...”
“And we’re going to try, that’s what we’re here for. This is why we’re notifying the remaining competitors from the fourth tournament what we know of, and hopefully we’ll find that there are indeed some remaining at that...”
Lei didn’t reply, he was frozen at the possibilities... there were so many, most of them terribly horrid...
“And you also know what this means, Lei,” Mao continued, “This means whoever this is will be after you as well, and probably is. This could really explain a lot...”
“I understand,” Lei assured.
“Well, guess I’ll see you at lunch,” Ziyang replied.
“Bye,” Lei then hung up the phone, still in a daze.
He then continued to look through the various papers somewhat hurriedly shortly afterwards. Lei had a terrible feeling; a feeling like this colossal mystery was one big countdown; a clock that was indeed winding down with a deadline... one closing in dangerously at that... He jumped faintly at the sudden phone ring in his office, only he came to realize shortly afterwards that it was actually not the headquarters’ phone on his desk, but his personal cellular still strapped to his belt. Lei quickly looked through the office windows, noting immediately that anyone who had this number was present in the building...
“Hello, Detective Wulong Lei speaking,” Lei hesitantly asked.
“Why, hello my Lei.”
Lei gasped, nearly dropping the small silver plated phone in his grasp as he restrained a startled jump. “Bryan...”
“That’s right.”
Lei was at an utter loss for words, though he sure had plenty of them he swore he would say earlier that morning. His brows quickly narrowed as he turned away from the transparent glass so as not to be seen by anyone else. “What the fuck are you trying to pull?” Wulong harshly whispered, unconsciously afraid of what the reply would be.
“You have all the questions; I have all the answers. Meet me tonight at seven sharp at the old inn outside downtown, you know which one I’m talking about. Don’t even try to tell, or bring anyone along, or I will know, and Heihachi will get you first...”
“I don’t—” Lei stopped as he heard the sudden dial tone. “Shit...”
“Well well well, how’s it going, Detective Lei?”
Lei abruptly turned toward the office door to face Zhang Han, who had just entered.
“What do you want, Zhang?” Lei sighed, his eyebrows still narrowed like before, though they always remained this way in Han’s presence.
Zhang smirked in a deviously rude manner, “I want the truth.”
“The truth?” Lei replied causally, “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“Oh I think we both know the answer to that, Wulong. You’re up to something, and you’ve been up to something for quite some time. I know it, and everyone else does too, even those who don’t have the guts to accuse you.”
“I don’t have time for this, Zhang,” Lei declared insolently with sigh, “I hear this from you non-stop. You won, alright?! I admit it! You, Zhang Han, helped to ruin my reputation and taint my honour as I knew it. You also have Arisa, so what the fuck else do you want from me?!”
“Ooh, touchy now, aren’t we?” Zhang mocked, “And you know what I want. You’re a cowering liar, and that’s all you are. You’re a horrid excuse for a detective, and your life is just one big fuck-up like your career. You may have fooled everyone else at one point, but you never fooled me.”
Zhang instantly saw as Lei raised his hands, which had formed into sharp figures, the kind Lei was well known for striking with. “Nah ah ah,” Zhang laughed as he pointed to the glass, gesturing his glance toward the number of curious people outside who had their eyes on Lei, Masaki and Kita included.
After seeing this himself, Lei lowered his hands, growling as he walked toward the door and roughly pushed Zhang aside, who was grinning all too spitefully.
Kita watched as the angered Lei walked toward the front doors of the building, her glance then finding Zhang Han who still stood at the doorway to Lei’s office. She sighed as she made her way over to him in a flustered ample.
“What did you say to him this time, Zhang?” Kita ordered.
“Merely the truth; how his life is one big fuck-up like his career, you know, the usual,” Zhang smirked gloatingly before turning back around to re-enter Lei’s office.
“And what are you doing in here now?”
Zhang turned his head back. “I just want to have a look at whatever Wulong has been looking at, then I’m off to my lunch break.”
Kita simply nodded, not wanting to get him started again, this time on her, as she walked back over to Masaki who had a look of curiosity on his own face.
Zhang Han smirked with a grin while he shut the door to Lei’s office, locking the door as he pulled the blinds shortly afterwards. He whistled as he began looking around the confines of the office for any evidence that could be used against Lei. Zhang just knew there had to be something...
So this was what he did; he continuously looked around the room, in the desks drawers, in the medaled cabinets; everywhere. He even checked the record on Lei’s office phone which lay upon the main desk, but it had turned up clean. Zhang noted there were a few things he couldn’t get into without a key, and he figured this was where Wulong was most likely keeping what he wouldn’t want other eyes to see. He knew he had to hurry though, or everyone would start to get suspicious of what was really taking him so long in Lei’s office.
“Hmm, I wonder what’s in here,” Zhang spoke as he removed a small, steel box from the bottom row of the cabinet rack on the far side of the wall. Zhang chortled to himself, wondering how long it would in fact take Lei to realize that Zhang had gotten his keys off of him as he had last exited through the office door...
Han sat down at the wheeled-chair in front of the hardwood desk centered in the office room, crossing his legs at his ankles atop it as he opened the steel box in his lap. It appeared to be just a bunch of old papers, along with a few assorted items like an old badge, and pictures.
Zhang removed a few things, first taking a look at the pictures that were on the bottom of the collection of items. One was a picture of Lei receiving some award from when he was once the number one detective of his time. He was younger and apparently much happier back then... Zhang then looked at the next one, a picture of Jun Kazama. He couldn’t help but laugh at yet another one of Lei’s failed conquests of the like. He then came upon a picture of some African man that he didn’t at all recognize. He turned the picture over. “Bruce Irvin? Who the hell is that?” the detectives brows furrowed, for whoever he was, he was wearing a badge signaling he was indeed on the Hong Kong International Police Force at one time, or another. Come to think of it, there was something strangely familiar about this name...
Zhang then came upon a picture that definitely captured his full attention... “No fucking way...” It was a picture of Lei Wulong, with his arm around none other than Bryan Fury... Zhang turned the fading picture over to perhaps catch a date, or at least some form of information. “Twenty-five years ago...?” In the picture, both Lei and Bryan seemed to be youthful, and happy. Both of them wearing a badge, just as this Bruce Irvin had been.
“I don’t know what the fuck this is, but I sure as hell intend to find out.”
^*^*^*^*^*^
A/N: I guess I don’t have much else to say this time other than please review! ^_^;