"Are you going to tell me, Kenny?" Cranky asked, forming a fist with his free hand, the other wrapped tightly around the youth's head. "Or am I gonna have to noogie it out of you?" He tapped his knuckle lightly on Kenny's skull.

"Okay, okay, I give!" Kenny surrendered, his voice breaking with fear. "I'll tell you, just let me go!"

Cranky released him as per Kenny's request and placed his hands on his hips. "Now out with it," he ordered.

The youth stole a glance at Cammy, who released Wagner's ear. Her brother brought his hand up to it, now red, and began rubbing it against the side of his face, wincing. Wagner looked at Kenny and shook his head, trying to change his mind about what he was about to spill.

"Not here," Kenny said to Cranky, and then more quietly, "not in front of her." Cranky looked over his shoulder to his girlfriend and gave Kenny a questioning look. He continued, "You'll thank me later. Right now, we need to take a walk."

"What's the meaning of this?" Cammy cried, not quite expecting that kind of answer from Kenny.

Cranky's mind was swimming with worry. As far as Cranky could recall, there was only one thing he felt uncomfortable discussing in front of Cammy, and that was Juli. But he had made it a point never to tell anyone about Juli, not even his own adoptive brother. Kenny had no idea she even existed, so that couldn't be it. But what else could he know that couldn't be mentioned in front of both him and Cammy?

"Wagner," Kenny called, "I'm taking him upstairs. Join me as soon as you can."

"Hold on a minute!" Cammy demanded, still not quite yet understanding what was going on. Wagner and Kenny were good at speaking subtly to each other, like some sort of code, and it was frustrating to her that even as a member of Delta Red, she couldn't figure it out.

"Hang on a minute, babe," Cranky said to her, holding up a hand. "Let Kenny tell me what he will. I'll talk to you about it later … whatever it is."

Kenny let out a chuckle. "Yeah, my ass you will."

XXXXX

The tournament organizers wasted no time in throwing Guile right into a fight. He had only just landed in Las Vegas and the first thing on his schedule was to face the first warrior. He was only given sufficient time to stretch before the match. Upon getting off the plane, he was whisked away by a tournament official in a limousine holding up a sign with his name scribbled on it in black marker and forced to endure another hour of transportation. It was in that hour that he got some sleep.

The fighting grounds consisted of a roped off section of a busy street. It was just a section of road and sidewalk, with a crowd of people gathered around. The city's elaborate lights flashed all around him in the humid desert air. Sweat was already collecting on his forehead, the back of his neck and his chest and he had only just gotten out of the car.

A large form stumbled into view, an aboriginal man from Mexico or South America. But it didn't take Guile long to figure out who he was, given the trademark denim outfit with sleeveless vest, and the feather sticking straight up from a band wrapped around his head; T. Hawk, the man Cammy faced in battle back in Osaka, the same man who forfeited the match with her for some unexplained reason.

T. Hawk stumbled from the ring, the fight completely beaten out of him. Blood stained the front of his denim vest and ran all over his face. His eyes looked into the distance, not registering anything in his immediate surroundings. Somebody yelled for a doctor in the background and a team of paramedics dressed in dark colors despite the night's heat came running, yelling orders at each other. They carried a stretcher between the four of them, with another two large police officers beside them to help in case they needed any assistance with the lumbering, injured warrior.

"T. Hawk," Guile said, approaching the giant's side.

"C…careful," he advised, before collapsing into unconsciousness. The paramedics rushed up with the stretcher in their hands, and caught the fallen warrior. His weight took all four men down with him. The police officers ran up to help get the big man strapped into the stretcher and into the awaiting ambulance.

Guile noticed a stationary ambulance next to the one T. Hawk was about to be loaded into, with another team of paramedics ready to leap into action. "They're waiting for my turn," he said quietly to himself.

Guile turned to the fighting "platform" and looked at the warrior standing there, crashing his red-gloved knuckles together with an evil, toothless grin spread across his dark features.

This opponent had short hair braided into cornrows and dark skin. His upper body, clad in a light blue sleeveless wife beater, was astonishingly built, veins popping from every bulge of muscle. His legs were proportionately thinner, calves narrowing into skinny ankles that disappeared into brown boots. A large belt that, from this distance, didn't look unlike one a pro wrestler would have, was strapped around the man's waist.

"Man, I dunno how that last guy made it to the finals," the warrior said to Guile, as if the two were discussing the weather, in that kind of casual manner. "Yous betta be more of a challenge. Cuz if this is all Bison's gonna pit me against, or Balrog here is gonna get real disappointed."

Guile didn't say anything. He just ground his teeth and stared the opponent down, trying to determine how to fight him in a brawl based on his stance and posture alone. But Guile wasn't as good at telling these things as Ryu was, so he decided to leave the deciding for later in the match.

A pair of women who appeared to be twins from a distance were each clad in a two piece bikini suit, one red and one blue. They stood within the roped off area, where the warrior and Guile were scheduled to have their match and entertained the crowd between rounds, prancing, showing off their smooth, shapely legs, thrusting their hips, and meeting the gazes of hungry men who drooled at them from just underneath the brims of their matching colored top hats.

Guile and Balrog paid them no attention, however, focusing on each other. Guile couldn't believe the boxer had just come out of a round with T. Hawk and had barely suffered a scratch. There was something amiss …

"Hope ya practiced real good, pretty boy," Balrog taunted, "cuz the Shadow Technology's workin' pretty well today." He tapped his chest with a gloved fist.

Guile tensed and looked at Balrog with distaste, and a hint of concern. Did this moron even know what he was talking about? If he had the Shadow Technology within him, did he know what that meant for him? Guile remembered the war with Shadowlaw in the Alpha three tournaments, thought about the kind of suffering the technology did to Kenny. But it'd been a long time since then, and Katarina had contributed her expertise to the work, probably changing so much that it wasn't anything like it used to be. Perhaps it was a more controlled version of the work as opposed to the prototype introduced to Charlie and Chun Li?

The bikini women removed their top hats suddenly, bringing Guile back to where he stood, in the hot, dry air of a desert city, in the middle of a street surrounded by people and flashing lights. And in front of him stood a man, armed with the Shadow Technology, ready to beat the stuffing out of him. Out of the hats flew a flock of doves, and the crowd burst into oohs, aahs, and applause while brilliant camera lights flashed.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the women announced through megaphones pulled seemingly out from nowhere, "the second rounds are about to commence! Are you all ready to see a fight!" The crowd roared, their energy directed towards the two long figures standing off in the middle of the fighting surface. "I said, are you ready to SEE A FIGHT!"

The crowd exploded into cheers, hollers and whoops as the brilliant lights of Las Vegas flashed rapidly in the background, as if they had been timed to correspond with the battle about to take place. Balrog narrowed his eyes at Guile and raised his fists. Guile turned slightly sideways and leaned on his forward foot. He was going to start out on the offensive just in case he had a chance to get the upper hand, but not too much, just enough to get a feel of Balrog's fighting style.

"Round One …"

XXXXX

The elevator's doors closed, cutting Kenny and Cranky off from Cammy and Wagner, who still remained behind in the lobby. Kenny felt his stomach lurch as the elevator began its ascent into the upper reaches of the hotel, where Juli was when they last left her. According to what she told him about her relationship with Cranky, he wasn't so sure it was a good idea to take him to see her. Kenny was planning on having a long talk with Cranky, not just about her, but about everything in general, a talk that was long, long overdue. And that's what he had planned when he told Wagner to meet in him Juli's suite. Wagner would show up, take care of Juli, while Kenny remained on the rooftop with Cranky and scolded Cranky on the roof for being a dick. He wanted to pat himself on the back for such an elaborate plan cooked up in less than a minute.

"So?" Cranky asked, getting impatient. "We're alone now. I want to hear everything you've got to say."

Kenny swallowed hard before realizing he was about to open an old can of rotten worms, one that he wasn't supposed to even know about. He was careful to look straight ahead when he spoke, avoiding eye contact with Cranky at all cost. "Who's Juli?" he asked innocently.

Though Kenny's couldn't see it, he felt Cranky's face drain of color. The air in the elevator suddenly got extremely tense; so tense, that he was afraid to make a movement, in case Cranky was getting furious with the sudden surprise.

He nearly sighed with relief when Cranky showed extreme nervousness instead. "W … what … um … I don't know what you're talking about."

"You might be able to see right through my lies," Kenny said, a little more confident this time, "but don't think I can't see through yours."

"S … she's just someone I fucked around with for awhile," he said quickly, trying to shrug it off. "She's a part of my past."

"That's it?"

"Y … yeah," Cranky stammered, "that's it. A past mistake."

"Wow, you are an asshole," Kenny said, turning away.

"Hey!" Cranky yelled, shocked that he was being spoken to this way, by Kenny of all people. "Don't you ever use that kind of language with me! Juli and I were together once, and that's it. Are you telling me once I get together with a girl, I can't ever leave her?"

"Leave her, alright," Kenny replied. "But you don't leave her heartbroken. Not the way you did it."

"Kenny," Cranky said, struggling to suppress his anger, "don't go making calls on my life. All this bullshit happened while you were in Raccoon City, blissfully unaware of my existence while I worried every FUCKING day and night about you for nine damned years! You know nothing about what I went through. Don't start making judgments."

"First of all," Kenny retorted, stabbing a finger at him, "how the hell do you think I felt when you suddenly waltzed into my life less than half a year ago, telling me shit about myself that not even I knew about! Do you have any idea how violating that feels, when a complete stranger starts calling you by your name, knows where you live, and runs around with a fucking shotgun?"

Kenny paused to catch his breath, and continued. "At the end of that Raccoon City nightmare, my intuitions about you were right. I could count on you to back me up. You gained – no, REGAINED my trust and respect, after some supposed memory wipe I don't even remember going through. Then all of a sudden, my life on my own, my freedom was taken from me by an older brother I never knew I had. You still treat me like a fucking six year old child when you know damned well that I lived alone for a long time WITHOUT you! So the next time you decide to call me on making snap judgments, you'd better think about who's judging who!"

"Great job living on your own for nine years!" Cranky cried sarcastically, clapping his hands together in mock applaud. "And you've done a considerable amount of growing up from a cute little kid to a selfish, lazy, disrespectful, chain smoking teenager!"

Kenny winced at the hurtful comment, but the sadness quickly turned to rage. "Fuck you," he said in a low voice. "Who the hell gave you the right to criticize my life after being absent for more than half of it! You know abso-fucking-lutely nothing, yet you still act like you know what's good for me!"

"Don't make it sound like I'm trying to run your life, you little shit!" Cranky screamed. "It's called trying to keep you safe from Shadowlaw and you show your gratitude by running off, disobeying simple requests, and all of it for what? A smoke break? You have the worst priorities I've ever come across! You brag and brag about spending all these years alone, about how capable you are by yourself. Well why don't you fucking show it for once, and prove to me you don't need me to hover over you!"

"You think I need you to watch over me?" Kenny was so hysterical with anger, a crazed smile formed over his reddening face. "I may need someone to set my priorities straight, but it sure as hell isn't you! Boozing it up every night, fucking every pussy on two legs that walks by? That's why you hurt Cammy. That's why you hurt Juli. And I have every goddamned right to judge you when what I know about your relationship about Juli comes from the woman herself! If anything, you're the last person on earth I'd want watching over me - "

THWACK!

Kenny shot up an arm, barely blocking the back of Cranky's hand from delivering a sharp, powerful blow to his cheek. He'd stopped Cranky just in time, as his knuckle pressed into the skin, forming a deep impression there. "I can fight back now, Cranky." His voice, shaky with fear, betrayed the point he was trying to get across.

But Cranky was equally surprised. He wasn't expecting Kenny to have such quick reflexes. Even more shocking was the fact that he'd raised a hand to his brother. It never in their long history ever happened before, despite his short temper. And judging from Kenny's shaky voice, his reluctance to look him in the eye, the heavy breathing, the youth was struggling to keep his shock in check too.

Thankfully, the doors to the elevator slide open just then with a high pitched ding and Kenny thundered out, leaving Cranky inside with a shocked look on his face. Snapping back to reality, Cranky followed suit, yelling the whole way, trying to keep up the anger that burned through him just a few moments ago. But upon attempting to hit Kenny, the surprise of his actions killed any emotions he was feeling up to that point.

"And what the hell were you doing with Juli? How do you even know about her?" Kenny headed for a random door and pulled it open and stepped into a room with a flight of stairs leading up another level to a door. Cranky continued ranting. "As if you haven't done enough damage with Cammy, now you're sneaking behind my back and trying to backstab me with some vengeful ex-girlfriend of mine who it was a mistake being with in the first place! What the hell motivates you, Kenny? Why are you turning the women in my life against me?"

The adoptive brothers reached the top of the stairs and Kenny kicked the door there open in anger. It flew violently open as he stepped through, then swung back to hit Cranky in the face, but he drove a bricklike fist into it, creating a massive hole in its wooden surface, the splinters flying toward Kenny who promptly ignored him.

Kenny walked over to the edge of the roof and pointed at a narrow ledge beyond the guard rail. "I'm not doing anything to your love life," he said, a little calmer now. "I want you to be with any girl who will make you happy, Crank. But you don't seem to get that while the girl has your heart in her hands, you also have hers in yours. You threw Juli's back at her, and last night, she jumped after it … from this ledge."

XXXXX

Guile felt Balrog's first crushing blow against his jaw line, the boxer's pinkie knuckle just scraping past his bone. That was the result of Guile dodging the uppercut as fast as he could, but despite his experience in the combat field, his opponent was equally, perhaps more trained than he. Guile stumbled backwards and managed to regain his footing. But Balrog wasted no time in letting him do that. He continued coming for the airman with a barrage of punches that hit hard. The boxing gloves were designed to deal maximum damage without sacrificing the protection of the puncher's fists.

Guile glanced down at his own fists, bulging knuckles that have seen their share of street fights. But they were bare, vulnerable, naked to the world. That was a weakness he could not afford to let Balrog exploit. Guile's feet were clad in combat boots, designed with excellent traction and armored on the outer layers with thin steel plates to prevent the thing from falling apart. Balrog's boots were made for indoor gyms. Now that was an advantage Guile had.

He continued the match for the next two minutes analyzing his opponent as Balrog came at him with a smorgasbord of punches and no kicks, like the true boxer he was. Five minutes into the fight and already, Guile had a pretty basic idea of what he was up against. He'd already established that the boxer fought purely with punches, and thank goodness for that. If he possessed as much skill with his legs as he did with his arms, Guile would be hard pressed to leave the fight in one piece.

Weak lower body power explained Balrog's inability to jump very far. He was as graceful in the air as a pregnant elephant, jumping up high, and landing barely over two feet away from where he pounced. But he made up for his lack of reach with incredibly long arms. Guile took full advantage of this, somersaulting forwards and backwards in the air, gaining distance only when he saw fit, retreating before Balrog could punch back.

The boxer had caught onto Guile's tactic a little sooner than expected. After the second repetition of his pattern, Balrog realized that leaping this time wasn't going to do the trick. Instead, he feigned an attack, and waited for Guile to counter attack. And it came in the form of a "sonic boom." Guile hooked his arms around his body with such speed, he'd released a burst of chi in the form of a pair of twin spinning blades that sliced through the air towards the boxer.

That move would've effectively stunned any opponent, rooting them to the spot with fear and confusion until the blades smashed into their bodies before they even realized what was going on. But Balrog was not fooled. Only the best street fighters made it into the tournament, and if a fighter couldn't even control the smallest amount of chi, well, that was a testament to their skills as a warrior and usually ended up in defeat in a battle against someone more superior. That's what the preliminary rounds were for; to separate the amateurs from the experts.

With Shadow Technology enhanced focus and concentration, Balrog waited until the projectile attack was about to make its mark on his ape face. Time slowed down to a crawl, and it was as if he could see the spinning chi blades in every detail, waiting for them to come closer, until he could feel the heated air surrounding it. Then he spun, barely dodging it, charging up a counter attack of his own. The blades sailed by, and that was when Balrog threw his turn punch, throwing the weight of his entire body behind the blow.

So quick was his attack that his body moved a good six feet forward, rapidly closing the distance between him and his opponent. Guile was caught unguarded and ate Balrog's Gigaton Punch, the boxer's glove driving the air out from his stomach and lungs. Guile desperately tried sucking in more air even while he flew through the air, too disoriented to catch his balance, but it hurt his lungs to move. He ended up crashing into the pavement, almost sailing through the platform boundaries.

Balrog pounded his fists together, toothless grin widening of his face.

"Come on, airman," he taunted, "I'm not finished with yous yet!" Guile continued rolling on the ground for a second longer, trying to get enough air in his lungs so he could at least stand up. The lights of the Las Vegas city scene combined with the stars he saw in his vision to form a twisted mirage of stars, random alphabetic letters, and laughing human faces.

"Fuck it," Guile told himself. "If your vision's failing you, shut it out. Rely on your balance, your fighting instinct."

Balrog came at him with another punch. This one Guile was able to anticipate and crouched low, sweeping out leg in the process. He struck the boxer's ankle with his left foot once, twice, three times, and then switched - swept out with his other leg once, continued moving at the momentum he gained and kicked out with the opposing leg for a four hit leg sweep combination attack that knocked Balrog off his feet.

The boxer flipped upside down, his head falling towards the pavement after having his own feet kicked out from under him. But that was a punishment too merciful for Guile, especially for one of Shadowlaw's best fighters, for someone endowed with the Shadow Technology. A fraction of a second was all it took for Guile to take the chi surrounding his body and focus it on a single point on his foot. He somersaulted backwards, tucking one leg closer to his body while the other delivered a devastating kick that cracked Balrog's skull, the impact tossing the Shadowlaw boxer into the air. It was the same move he executed on Wagner, a super version of his normal flash kick. Normally, Guile wouldn't bother utilizing chi manipulation in fights, an ability that transformed his normal techniques into almost super-human ones. All the street fighters were capable of this feat, but Guile never found it necessary to use it against opponents unless they possessed some kind of unfair advantage. He'd used the move on Wagner back on the highway, when his adoptive son was still under the control of Shadowlaw, and it had worked. He could only hope that it would work this time.

Guile somersaulted a second time, striking Balrog as he flipped around uncontrollably in mid air, but on his third somersault, the one that would throw his opponent highest into the air, the boxer somehow managed to parry the blow and counter attack with a super attack of his own while Guile struggled to finish his.

The last thing Guile saw before completely blacking out was a clash of two concentrated chi sources – his, which glowed blue, and Balrog's which was probably red, but tainted black by the Shadow Technology. Guile's last conscious thought was a memory of Chun Li telling him once that the Chinese believed in the color of one's chi, one's aura. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember which color was good and which was bad.

XXXXX

Wagner thundered into Juli's suite with heavy footsteps, his lungs screaming for air, sweat dripping down his face. He burst through the unlocked door and dashed inside. He looked around the room that was built with the exact same layout as Cammy's, and similarly furnished. It was dark inside here. The drapes that covered the balcony door were drawn, shutting off the afternoon sunlight. The place smelled vaguely of cleaner and disinfectant, nothing to indicate that a human being had been in here without leaving for Lord knew how long. The counters and tabletops were spotless, suggesting that someone had either done a hell of a job cleaning up, or this place hadn't been used in awhile.

Cammy followed him from a few steps behind, gasping for breath. "W…what's the rush!" she wheezed. "Why are you bringing me here?"

"Where is she?" Wagner wondered aloud. "Juli, she's not here."

That caught Cammy's attention. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"Juli," Wagner replied, turning around to face his sister. And then he realized it was Cammy he was talking to, suddenly remembering their shared rivalry with each other. "Um, forget about it, sis, it's a long story."

"What are you and Kenny doing associating with her?" Cammy asked. Given the circumstances, Wagner had prepared for Cammy to be pissed after his little slipup with muttering her name, but she seemed more confused than anything.

"Well, you see, last night …" Wagner began, but was interrupted when the frail woman's form emerged from the bedroom, her hair in tangles, but at least she had changed out from her night robe from the night before, and into a white T-shirt and tight jeans that flared at the ankles, accentuating her feminine curves.

"Wagner," she said weakly. A smile was about to form on her gentle features when she suddenly noticed Cammy, and the half smile died instantly. "What brings you here?" she asked her, trying to sound polite, though her anger faintly accentuated her tone.

"I'm with Wagner," Cammy replied. "He's got something to show me and I certainly wasn't expecting to run into you here unless …" The women's agitated gazes switched from each other and onto tall, blonde, youth counselor standing between them.

"What's going on here, Wagner?" Cammy demanded.

"You leaked about what happened last night?" Juli asked, her hands balling up into trembling fists at her sides.

"No," Cammy answered for him, "but now that you mention it, I would like to know. Wagner, what are you doing with her?"

"Okay, time out!" Wagner shouted. "I didn't tell anyone about what happened to you last night, Juli. And Cammy, it doesn't concern you so you don't need to know."

"Then why the secrecy with you and Kenny?" Cammy asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Because it's about Cranky," Juli explained.

"That bastard! Don't tell me he lied to me again. He better not still be screwing around with you."

"He's not …" Juli replied, looking down sadly. "Don't worry about me, Cammy, I pose no threat to you and your relationship with him. He's gone from my life."

Cammy's expression softened then, suddenly feeling like a bitch for the way she was talking to a girl that shared a similar past with her in Shadowlaw. They should rightfully be supporting each other to regain their humanity after serving the crime organization as mindless dolls for seven years. Their recovery from such brainwashing would take a long time to complete, and they were going through the same things physically and emotionally. Why were they letting a man come between them and their relationship that they both needed from each other?

"Juli …" Cammy began, approaching the emotionally drained girl. "What happened to you last night? If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. But if you're hurting …"

"She tried to …" Wagner began, but Cammy shot him a look.

"Girl moment," she said.

"Juli?" Wagner asked her, and she nodded back at him, sniffing back tears.

"For a few minutes, please." Wagner sighed and made his exit from the room, leaving the two girls to … to … to do whatever it was girls did when one so much as shed a tear. So much for him watching over Juli like he and Kenny had promised each other. Now that he'd brought Cammy into the equation, his sister somehow was beginning to single-handedly take over the entire comforting process that he and Kenny took so much time to plan.

XXXXX

Cranky froze where he stood, the anger suddenly disappearing from his face. He knew he'd hurt Juli with his cheating ways, but he thought she'd hurt him more. He thought she was going to move on with her life after bidding him goodbye back at the cafeteria the other day. Cranky had no idea this was what she meant by moving on!

"How come I didn't hear anything about it?" he gulped. "If she died …"

"Better for you, right? After all, you said it yourself. She was a mistake."

"N … no," Cranky corrected his earlier claims. "I meant the way I handled it. That was a mistake." His eyes were beginning to redden. Kenny could see the tears of grief coming from the corners of his eyes. Maybe he did legitimately care about Juli. That was definitely some good news to tell her. She did have something to live for after all.

"She's not dead," Kenny said then, saving Cranky from a guilt driven breakdown. "I stopped her."

Cranky breathed a sigh of relief, his head sagging. Then he looked back up at his adoptive brother. "Thank you," he said, resting a hand on the youth's shoulder.

He shrugged in response. "Well, she took me off the ledge with her and then Wagner came and saved both our asses. But … we'll just leave that part out. It's better for my ego that way. After all, even selfish, lazy, disrespectful, chain smoking teenagers need something to be proud of."

Cranky smiled and sniffed back a runny nose. He pulled Kenny into a hug, and patted the youth's back roughly, saying, "I'm sorry, kiddo. I … I didn't really mean it that strongly. And back there, when I tried to hit you …"

"It's alright," Kenny said. "I know I pissed you off. I probably deserved it."

"When it comes down to it, blood or not, you're my little bro, and I love you even if you are the most aggravating little brat I've ever come across."

"I'm fifteen."

"Make that BIG brat."

"I'm not trying to ruin your life, Crank," Kenny said. "You gotta believe me. I … I'm sorry for calling you an asshole … and for saying I don't need someone like you watching my back. I want to be like anyone who's selfless and strong enough to take on the responsibility of a kid at sixteen years old. I'm almost the age you were when you took me in. And I don't think I can do now what you did for me then."

"Thanks, kiddo," he replied, honestly. "That seriously means a lot. But you were right about my faults. I was an asshole to Juli, and I know it. You're just a few days too late to tell me that. I already called it on myself first. She dumped me just a few days ago, just after I told her and Cammy about each other. I thought I'd see the last of her, and I thought she'd be okay in time."

"Well, now you know she's not."

"So that's what you and Wagner were rushing back here for?" Kenny nodded. Cranky clapped a hand on his back. "Take good care of her, Kenny. Make sure she makes it out of this. I'm sorry to ask you to clean my own mess up for me."

"You don't want to see her?"

"I think in the long run, it'll be better for Juli to never see me again. I may have been an asshole to her, but I still care about her enough to do this."

"So you've already made up your mind. It's Cammy then?"

Cranky smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it's Cammy all the way."

"Hey, Cranky, I wanted to ask …" Now was a great time to bring it up – what Kenny had remembered the other day when he helped coax Juli out of killing herself …

"Hm? Ask me what?" he asked.

"Cammy's great," Kenny began, "I really like her and I'm glad you're with her."

"Uh … huh …" Cranky said, nodding slowly while he waited for the 'but'.

"I mean, heh, she even got me a pack of smokes behind your back."

"She what!"

"The point is I fully support you being with her."

"That's good to hear, Kenny, but … what's bothering you?"

"I know she lives in Europe. And after all this is over, Cammy's gonna go back to her old life, and I'm probably staying here, and …"

"I see where this is going," Cranky nodded. "You've been doing some thinking too, it looks like. Me, I've been trying not to think of it, especially with all this other tournament bullshit we have to deal with." He groaned, and rubbed back of his neck, regretting what he was about to say.

"What's gonna happen to you, Cranky?"

"I don't know what kind of arrangements we'll make, but I'm not going to keep the facts from you. I can't live without Cammy. She can't live without me. You … you understand this, right?" Cranky paused and looked at Kenny for a second, waiting for his reaction, but none came. "Hey," he said tapping him on the shoulder, "why the long face, huh?"

"What long face?" Kenny asked innocently. "I just wanted to know, that's all. I think it's cool. Maybe I can come visit you guys some day. It'll be awesome, having a whole apartment, or better yet – a house – all to party in!" He turned to face Cranky, smiling broadly.

"You're welcome anytime," Cranky laughed, smiling back.

"Anyway," Kenny said, getting back to his feet, "I better head back inside and check on Juli."

Cranky looked on as Kenny ran back into the hotel, remaining where he stood. The youth disappeared behind the door with a gaping whole where his fist had penetrated the wood, waiting for it to slam shut. When the coast was clear, Cranky let the smile fade from his mouth and shook his head in dismay. "Fine with everything, are you, Kenny?" he asked aloud. "You really are a God-awful liar …"