As Cranky headed down to Juli's suite via the elevator, his heart thumped in his chest, hoping he wouldn't have to run into her, though it was unavoidable. Kenny and Cammy were waiting for him down there. The guilt of having Juli try to kill herself over him was unbearable. But he was so desperate to leave the past as it was, he'd decided it was better off for her if he'd completely vanished from her life. At least it would make it that much easier for her, without him there to complicate things. He hoped whatever it was Kenny and Wagner had planned, that they had her taken care of. It was irresponsible for Cranky to rely on others to clean up his mistake, but again, it was better for Juli. Better for him and Cammy.

Cranky thought about what Wagner and Julian had told him the night all three of them went to the bar together (the same night he had decided on opening up a bar of his own.) They'd tried to encourage him to shed the overprotective impulses over the people he cared about, an impulse Cranky never really took notice of in the past. But upon hearing what they had to say, he realized they had a point. He put himself in Cammy's shoes, wondering how he would react to the one responsible for taking away someone he cared about. Well, all those years ago, it was Ryu who had taken Kenny away, and Cranky still held a small grudge against Ryu, though it was nowhere near the kind of suffering Bison and Vega had put Cammy through. Then he thought about Kenny, who had lived independently and suffered his share of bullshit, and learned to take care of himself and enjoy the freedom he'd earned because of it. Cranky imagined that freedom abruptly robbed from him, by a complete stranger, no less, and realized that Kenny had kept it together far better than Cranky would have. Kenny had bit down, swallowed his pride and put his trust in Cranky.

Funny how he never realized it before. And it took a long lecture from Wagner and Julian, and fights with Cammy and Kenny to get the concept of letting go, and trusting those who trusted him to take care of themselves. It took all of that to drill it into his thick, short-tempered skull. And he only understood it now.

Now it was time to put this new understanding to work. Cammy was due in Bangkok – and hopefully not Madrid, tomorrow. She was scheduled for the battle of her life; a final, potentially life threatening feat that she had to accomplish before she could move on with her life, before she could move on with Cranky. All he had to do was wait for her. Just wait. Surely he could accomplish that much.

But as much as he wanted to continue on with Cammy, a part of him hesitated. Cranky didn't want to leave Kenny alone, not after he suffered for all those years not knowing whether he was dead or alive. Not after risking his life going into Raccoon City to pull Kenny out of that viral hellhole. True, they both had the skills to survive on their own, but nine years of separation was more than enough. Kenny was back in his life, and Cranky wouldn't let him get taken away anymore.

But yet, that was Kenny's point about him. Cranky didn't want to let go. When he had, Kenny was abruptly taken away. But this time, it was too late to make up for that mistake, given that Kenny was now a blooming teenager starving for independence. What was he to do? What would be the right thing to do? What would Mei have done? Well there was no way of knowing what Mei would have done, but he had a pretty clear idea of what she'd have said.

"Things aren't the same as they were," he told himself. "He's not six and you're not sixteen. We've grown up. Grown up." Grown up … That's right. Being physically apart didn't necessarily equate to separation, as long as they were in regular contact. What were they? Kids? It wasn't as if Cranky didn't trust Kenny to take care of himself. He knew he could. So that settled it then. Cranky was going to be okay no matter how things turned out. And he wasn't, he'd see to it that he would be … somehow.

He walked into the corridor where Juli's suite was located and the sight that greeted him made his vision go red with fury, but only for a second. Issei had his hand on Kenny's shoulder, trying to get on the teen's good side while Kenny leaned away with disgust. Wagner stood by looking shocked, and ready to pounce if the Shadowlaw Admiral tried anything funny. Ryu stood a few steps away observing the situation casually, with no emotion registering on his face.

"What the hell is going on here?" Cranky demanded.

"Saying goodbye," Issei replied, walking back towards Ryu.

"We were just explaining the current situation to Kenny and Wagner here," Ryu continued. "We're heading to Thailand for the final rounds with Bison and Sagat, and to get Katarina back."

"Shadowlaw has her?" Cranky asked.

"Yes, and it looks like they want both the twins back. Whether it's to fight for them or to torture them, we don't know. But we're not taking any chances. That's why I'm going with them."

XXXXX

Ken had made the mistake of forcing a Shadow Technology endowed Vega to take offensive action. He didn't know which was worse, wearing himself out trying to fight a quick striker, or trying to dodge one. Whatever the case, this was what he ended up with; a crazy effeminate man who loved himself more than he did women, armed with a twisted sense of beauty not just in a person, but in their blood. And Ken was seeing plenty of blood that night, most of it his own as he dodged and parried Vega's strikes. The painful slashes didn't come from his trademark claw, however. The weapon had since been kicked from his arm, and Ken could have easily lost his foot in the process. The painful bleeding cuts all over Ken's chest and arms were caused by Vega's cat like claws. And he had only withdrawn them after Ken planted knee strike after knee strike to his precious face.

That was what got the Shadow Technology to kick in – except Vega had allowed it to. Whatever improvements had been made to the work, the user now had more control over it, and Vega used it to his advantage. He hadn't stopped screaming, slashing and kicking in the last two minutes now. It was a short period of time taking the big picture into consideration. But in the small time frame of a quick paced fight such as this, it'd felt like hours, and Ken was beginning to lose his breath. Vega, on the other hand, seemed to be warming up.

"Come on, pretty boy!" Ken taunted. "Anyone ever tell you that you fight like a girl?" It took every ounce of strength in Ken to make sure his speech didn't sound labored in any way. He couldn't afford to show any sign of weakness, not now when Vega was getting all worked up. But who knew how long the Shadow Technology could improve his endurance?

"You've ruined my precious face!" Vega screeched, tucking his body into a ball. He rolled across the floor with a high pitched war cry and finished the final roll with a punch. Good thing the claw hadn't been attached at this point or it would've sliced Ken's lower leg off. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on such perfection!"

Ken jumped away, putting enough distance between him and Vega for retaliation attack of his own. He threw his open palms out and forward, releasing a concentrated ball of chi from them. "Hadouken!"

Vega took the projectile attack to the chest but it didn't slow him down. He continued running for Ken, the look of hate burning vigorously through his mascara smeared lashes. Ken took only a split second to gawk in surprise at how well Vega absorbed the attack. A split second it was, but it had been a split second too long as Vega elbowed him in the face, pulled back, and punched him in the jaw with the same arm. Ken stumbled backwards, clutching his face.

"You destroyed mine! Now I will rip yours apart with my teeth!"

"Shippu!" Ken pulled his foot back, and kicked it out with lighting precision to the back of Vega's knee. The blows to his head had disoriented him, and his arms were nearly out of commission having been slashed for more than he could handle. Not to mention the blood loss he suffered was starting to take a toll on his balance. He could no longer afford to doddle. It was now or never – before he lost complete consciousness in the ring.

Ken followed the kick with another, spinning around and kicked out again. With every successful kick, he spun faster and faster, until his leg appeared as a mere blur of red. "Jinrai!" The momentum with which he moved picked his body up from the ground, and Vega along with him, like a human cyclone of sorts until a the peak of the move, at which he performed an overhead axe kick, connecting first with Vega's bruised, broken face, and then the top of the matador's face, sending him spiraling towards the ground, and into the peaceful void of unconsciousness.

Ken's last thought before blacking out from blood loss and exhaustion was Vega, of all people, guilty of all the sins he'd committed against humanity with or without Shadowlaw, did not deserve that kind of peace.

XXXXX

When Chun Li had found out she was skipping both the first two rounds against Bison's bodyguard panel, it was as if something reached into her lungs and took the air right out of them. Dizzy and weak with excitement, she felt the sudden need to sit down. Only she was already sitting down, or more like crushed into her seat at ten thousand feet in the air. The blood rushed into her limbs suddenly, flushing her face. It was cold at this altitude but Chun Li suddenly felt like she didn't need the blanket anymore and took it off. She tried to calm down – watch a movie on the flight, read the magazines that she'd browsed over more times than she could've counted already.

Try as she might to distract herself, so that the flight wouldn't seem as long, nothing worked. One question kept repeating itself in her mind. What the hell was going on in the tournament circuit? The first thing she knew, she was headed off to Vegas, only to find out that her opponent had been disqualified from the tournament. The tournament official there explained to her that she'd be skipping the Las Vegas battle and that she was being redirected straight to the second round in Madrid. Upon landing at the airport, she was immediately redirected a second time to take the next transfer flight to Bangkok. Ken's plan was working better than she had expected it to. She had to give the guy some credit – he was no longer that headstrong young man she'd met in the Alpha tournaments all those years ago. Though his heart still motivated him, he was now thinking with his head.

She breathed a sigh of relief and let herself sink into her seat. The hard part was almost over with now. They just had to take out the remaining bodyguard and then Bison – her goal after all this time. It was becoming a reality. Chun Li knew the other warriors wanted a piece of the evil dictator too, but she was going to make sure she got the biggest piece. With Kenny no longer missing and safe back in Osaka, Chun Li could refocus her mind from the missing child who had become a teenager, and to avenging her father's death. She thought briefly about Katarina and Aaron Feng, Shadowlaw's wonder twins who now seemed to be turning over a new leaf. She wondered if they'd be able to get the scientist back and give her a second chance at life.

"Of course we can," she told herself. "All we have to do is destroy Bison and everything will turn out as it should be."

The seatbelt sign turned on with a pleasant ding, catching Chun Li's attention. The pilot's voice came over the intercom system.

"Attention ladies and gentlemen," he said in a calm, professional manner, "we should be arriving at the Bangkok International Airport in approximately forty-five minutes. We are beginning our descent at this time and are expecting some minor turbulence. Please keep your seatbelt fastened at all times. We ask that you please keep your trays and seats in the upright position and thank you for your co-operation."

Chun Li looked out the window and saw huge erratic island formations – lush green tropical vegetation giving vibrant color to the otherwise earth-toned slabs of rock jutting out of the deep blue ocean waters. Welcome to Thailand.

XXXXX

The plan that Ken Masters had concocted was working so well, its effects were being felt throughout the entire Street Fighter circuit. The remaining fighters who had yet to do battle with the bodyguard panel were all being directed to the final rounds. Vega and Balrog had simply been taken out. The third and final bodyguard scheduled to face the warriors was indeed Sagat, as Ryu had expected. It was a fateful battle for both warriors. For Sagat, it was a chance to redeem his title as the Muay Thai champion. For Ryu, it was to determine whether or not he had won through skill and endurance, or if had just been sheer luck. He was going to find out soon.

Issei sat beside Ryu in the back seat of the rental car, staring with a blank expression out the window, watching random vehicles pass behind them from Cranky's crazy driving. Cammy was positioned on Ryu's opposite side while Kenny had shotgun. Under normal circumstances, Kenny would've been in the back with Cammy in front, but she understood that the youth was quite a bit uncomfortable around Issei. First impressions hadn't been the best.

The car ride was spent mostly in silence. There was nothing to talk about that could potentially end in an argument. And right before such a series of important matches, nobody wanted to leave on a bad note. Kenny was just coming to terms with the fact that Issei and Katarina were his blood relatives, something he'd been wishing for his whole life living on his own. Yet the very family he'd always wanted worked for Shadowlaw. It didn't comfort him to know that one of his only surviving family members was a monster sitting in the back seat.

Cranky had separate issues of his own, not wanting Cammy to leave for her fight. Despite coming to the conclusion that Cammy deserved this more than anything in the world, his heart still grappled with his brain. He would lose Cammy temporarily and if she came back – no – WHEN she came back, he would lose Kenny. His multitudes of options always led to losing people he cared about.

Cammy was busy trying to figure out what was going through Cranky's head. She knew what he thought about her going to the final rounds in general, but there was no telling what was going on right now. She'd try to casually study his face from the various reflections in the windows and rear view mirror. But his facial expressions remained blank and silent, hiding anything he might be feeling at this point. After a few minutes of fruitless thinking, Cammy decided it was best to give up and enjoy the ride. Besides, she didn't want to risk stirring shit up again. Oh, how things would be so simple if he was as supportive of her as Kenny was.

Kenny understood what Cammy was feeling. He sympathized with her need to get Bison and she was willing to bet if he had the opportunity she did, he wouldn't let Cranky get in his way to tear Bison apart either. Upon finding out Cammy had been accepted to the final rounds, Kenny had leapt with joy right along with Cammy, the pair of them linking arms, dancing around the living room like kids. Kenny had been screwed around with by Shadowlaw, just as she had. Even worse, it was his own father, a Shadowlaw scientist, who'd brought despair and death to his family. It was the bullshit the both of them had been through, that understanding of ruined lives and opportunities that strengthened the bond between them; a bond that didn't take very long to solidify. Cammy was the pride of joy of the Doll Program at fourteen. Kenny was the first revolutionary Shadow Soldier at six. The suffering that came along with those roles needn't be mentioned between them. It was all in the eyes; a look of exhaustion they recognized in each other. He was fifteen. She was twenty-five. Both of them were so young, and already so tired of life.

The first words spoken between the five of them since leaving for the trip to the airport came at the departure gate. There was no luggage to be loaded onto the aircraft. Ryu, living his life as a hermit had long ago grown accustomed to traveling light. Cammy had treated her tournament exploits as another mission, bringing only her battle gear with her in a duffel bag. She had since checked out of her hotel suite, and Ryu out of his. Cammy, Ryu and Issei stood in front of the passport inspector while Cranky and Kenny remained a few feet behind. Before taking the final few steps, the travelers took this moment to exchange their final goodbyes.

Ryu placed a comforting hand on Kenny's shoulder and spoke reassuring words to the youth. "It's almost over," he said gently, but with determination. "You've been brave in the face of Shadowlaw and the threat they pose. What started since before you were born is now coming to an end. And you will soon be able to live your life without looking over your shoulder. We all will."

"Be safe, Ryu," Kenny replied, hugging Ryu back tightly. "Thanks for everything you've done for me."

Ryu ruffled the youth's hair affectionately and stepped away. "He's an unbelievable kid, Cranky. Take good care of him."

Cranky looked up at Ryu from his tight embrace with Cammy. "You don't have to tell me twice, Ryu. I won't let anything happen to him. Look out for Cammy for me."

"We'll be backing each other up," Cammy assured him. She began to pull away from Cranky but her arms weren't cooperating, remaining wrapped around Cranky's waist. She whispered into his ear. "If everything goes according to plan, I'll be one saving his ass from Bison," she half-joked.

"And when you come back to me, you can tell me all about it," he whispered back, and pulled Cammy into a deep kiss. Ryu and Issei stared awkwardly at each other while Kenny rolled his eyes and tapped his foot impatiently on the ground.

After a few long, tense moments, after the two of them showed no signs of letting go of each other, Kenny finally stepped in and pried the two of them apart. "Enough," he said, annoyed. "It's my turn to say goodbye now."

That gave her enough incentive to part with Cranky. Cammy threw her arms around Kenny's shoulders and squeezed him tightly. "Keep him in line," she said, "and out of other women's pants for me."

"I will," Kenny promised, "as long as you keep your word and come back to Cranky. He'll never admit it, but I know – the big oaf can't live without you."

"Or you," Cammy said, brushing a lock of Kenny's hair from his eyes. "This fight with Bison – I'm not just doing it for me, Kenny. I'm doing it for us, for me and Cranky. But more importantly, for people like you, me, Juli, Katarina, Issei, Chun Li, Wagner, Julian, your Uncle Ken … everyone who's lives have been ruined by Shadowlaw."

"While I get to sit on the sidelines," Kenny noted with a touch of regret.

"I'd have it no other way," she said.

Kenny felt a strange warmth in his heart, when had these words been from anybody else, he'd have grown bitter with envy and resentment. It was the way she said it to him like she genuinely cared about his well being. She was resolute in her decision but gentle with her words, almost like … like … a mother, one might say?

Then there was Issei, looking uncomfortable standing amidst the emotional goodbyes. He looked sorrowfully at Kenny, wishing he could've gotten to know his lost brother under different circumstances. Cranky reactively threw an arm around Kenny's shoulders and pulled him to his side.

"I hope you find Katarina," Cranky said to Issei. "I'll be praying for her safety."

"If she's truly Dr. Feng's daughter," Kenny said, aiming to give the ex-Shadowlaw Admiral some hope, "she won't let some sick fuck like Bison defeat her. We didn't, right, Issei?" The battle-hardened soldier said nothing in reply, but a wide smile crossed his sharp features, and he nodded in full agreement.

The three of them turned around and walked towards the departure gates. Kenny and Cranky remained where they stood, watching their friends until their forms shrank into mere shadows and turned a corner, disappearing from view. Kenny felt a sharp squeeze on his shoulder. Looking up at Cranky sullen face, he could see a trail of salty tears falling from the corners of his eyes. It was excruciating for him, but he was starting to learn. Learning to let go …