PaRappa meekly followed General Potter up the path to the veteran's house, dragging his feet as much as he could against the cobblestone. The ride over with the General had been awkward, to say the least. Aside from the general awkwardness of riding around the city in a massive battle tank - something PaRappa had never done before, not even during his brief stint on active duty - Potter had tried to make some small talk along the way, but the dog was so nervous, he could barely give one-word answers, to the point where Potter quickly gave up, and the rest of the ride was filled with an awkward silence between them.

Now, PaRappa was headed inside inside the house of his ex-girlfriend and her father, and was seriously contemplating simply running for his life, instead of facing whatever General Potter had in store for him. He couldn't help but smirk at the irony of being brave enough to take on a world threat and win, but not being able to face your ex's parents. Granted, he knew it wasn't an entirely unrealistic fear, but at the same time, not everyone's ex-girlfriend had a dad who could send a whole platoon of soldiers to mash you into the ground.

Potter glanced back, and saw the smirk on PaRappa's face. "Something amusing you, private?" he asked sternly.

PaRappa immediately snapped back to reality, and quickly snapped to attention. "N-no, sir!" PaRappa stammered, looking up at the General with a fearful expression. "Not at all! I was just thinking about... well, a lot of things, really." PaRappa nervously scratched the back of his head.

Potter didn't seem convinced by PaRappa's words, but decided to leave it be for now. PaRappa let out a silent sigh of relief as they continued walking through Potter's home. Glancing around, PaRappa noticed not much had changed inside over the last few years, aside from most of the flower-themed wallpaper being replaced by sweets.

I guess that sweet tooth hasn't rotted yet, PaRappa noted wryly. Something tells me Sunny was the only thing keeping him in check with the decor.

"Are you still hungry?" Potter asked the musician as they came into the living room. "I know I pulled you away in the middle of your breakfast, so the least I can do is offer some refreshments."

PaRappa shuffled his feet a bit, still uneasy about being inside the house. "A bit," he answers. "I'm mostly thirsty, though."

Potter nodds. "I'll get us something to snack on. Feel free to make yourself at home in the meantime."

PaRappa didn't say a word as Potter retreated into the kitchen, nor make a move for one of the plush chairs seated around the coffee table. Instead, his attention drifted to the various pictures of Sunny littered on the wall. Most of them involved her being the centre of attention in some form or fashion. Pageant wins, middle school science fairs, plays, dance recitals, even his very first performance with King Kong Mushi, Club Fun's resident emcee and owner at the time.

PaRappa snorted at the sight of that particular picture, still not believing how things ended up with Club Fun. He wondered how his former mentor was doing, and what kind of advice Mushi would give him in this particular situation. Shaking his head, PaRappa finally decided to take a seat on one of the chairs, and waited on Potter to return, trying to remain as calm as possible.

I guess I can rule out Sunny being here, which is good for me, PaRappa thought to himself, letting out a relieved breath he didn't realize he was holding. She must be running errands, or doing something else around town... or getting cooking supplies...

The mere thought of Sunny being anywhere near a stove made PaRappa's stomach churn violently. Even back when he was an absolutely whipped symp for Sunny (something he's still trying to come to terms with), her abysmal cooking skills were the one thing PaRappa wouldn't defend at all. Her cooking was so atrocious, even PJ, who had an iron stomach, eventually got sick from eating it.

Now I'm REALLY glad Sunny isn't here, PaRappa thought sardonically. She'd try to poison me with her cooking.

After a few moments of waiting, General Potter returned, carrying a large tray of assorted and glass cups, and a pitcher of peach juice. "Here we go," Potter said as he set the tray down on the coffee table. "Apologies for the wait, PaRappa. I had to find food that wasn't all sweets for you."

PaRappa waved a hand nonchalantly. "No biggie," he replied easily, trying to fight off his nerves. "I'm not in a rush, anyhow."

The general nodded as he sat down across from PaRappa. Gently, he picked up the pitcher and a cup, and began to pour out the juice. "Though you'd probably rather be elsewhere, considering how nervous you've been acting," he points out.

PaRappa felt his forehead beginning to sweat in fear, but managed to keep his face neutral. "Well... to be frank, it's not a normal occurrence for your ex's father to invite you over to their house so soon after a breakup, if at all," PaRappa replies bluntly. "And considering you also happen to be a four-star badass with many resources at your disposal, well..." PaRappa trailed off as each worst case scenario played out in his head, each one more painful and deadly than the last.

Potter couldn't help but laugh at the dog's statement. "PaRappa, I would be court martialed for even trying to use my military resources on you, or anyone else, for that matter!" he said as he set the cup down in front of PaRappa. "Do you really think I'd do something so violent to you?"

"For Sunny, yes," PaRappa stated honestly, fidgeting with his beanie nervously.

The general continued to chuckle for a bit, before letting out a sigh. "Look, I didn't bring you here to chew you out or hurt you for breaking up with my daughter. In fact, I don't blame you for doing so at all."

PaRappa blinked, and looked at Potter in surprise. Was he going crazy all of a sudden? "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Potter replied looking PaRappa in the eye. "To be fair, I was mad initially when he came to me crying about it, but the reason she gave for the break up didn't make sense to me; especially when I thought about how loyal you've been to her for all these years."

Dread and fear quickly returned to PaRappa's body, hitting him like a tidal wave. Granted, he knew the real reason why he ended things, but if Sunny was saying bad things about him to her father, he knew it wasn't long before the town grapevine got a hold of it. And considering that she flew back home a few days before he did...

PaRappa began to rub his temples in frustration. "I really, really, hate to ask this..." PaRappa forced out, dreading the answer he was going to get. "But what did she say?"

General Potter picked up one of the pastries on the tray, and bit into it, clearly trying to think of how to tell the rapper without him flying off the wall. Meanwhile, PaRappa, despite an increasingly dry throat, decided to wait until Potter dropped the bomb to drink his juice, lest he spit all over the man and his food.

A moment later, Potter finally answered, "She claimed that you were sleeping with that guitarist in MilkCan behind her back. What was her name... Jammy?"

PaRappa recoils in shock and disgust, and nearly flies out of his seat. "She said what?!" he shouted incredulously, clutching onto the sides of his head. "She told you I was sleeping with Lammy?! No way, the rest of MilkCan would murder me! Slowly and painfully!" His voice was hoarse from his dry throat, but he could've cared less at the moment.

"So you've never had feelings for that guitarist at all?" Potter questioned.

PaRappa shakes his head furiously. "Hell no! We're good friends, but nothing else!" he stated affirmatively. "I'd never even dreamed of stepping out on Sunny for all the years we've been together!"

Potter nods, leaning back into his chair. "I thought as much," he said with a sad sigh. "I can't say that you were ever a bad influence on her, or wronged her at all, son. I don't know what happened, but she really changed the last couple of years." Potter rubbed the side of his face. "I'm not sure where I went wrong."

PaRappa slowly settled himself down, trying to check his temper. Of all the things she could've said... PaRappa finally grabbed the glass of juice in front of him, and downed it in one gulp, ignoring the look he got from Potter. I'd better tell Lammy ASAP, cuz this will definitely hurt our reputations around town.

Setting the glass back down, PaRappa took a deep breath, and looked the military general in the eye. "You did nothing wrong, General," he reassured. "You raised her to be fine, talented, woman... even if her cooking needs a helluva lot of work," he finished with a light laugh.

Potter laughed as well at the true statement. "I'll give you that one," he replied. "Some of the things she's made that's come out of our stove..." he shuddered at the thought.

PaRappa nods, remembering the time how Sunny nearly killed him, Katy, and PJ with her "Flaming Dynamite Strawberry Onion Cake" years ago, a little after they started dating. It scarred him so badly, he avoided sweets for a while after that, fearing they'd spontaneously combust at any given moment. It took PJ literally twisting his arm to go to a candy shop to get over it.

"Trust me, I know all too well," the rapper replies, rubbing his cheek. "But as much as I loved - and still love - Sunny, and would never hurt her, I still feel like all of this is my fault in some way."

Potter raised an eyebrow. "How so?" he asked. "One can't be innocent and guilty at the same time."

PaRappa sighed sadly. "Yeah, I know. But I think where I went wrong was ignoring the red flags between us the first time around."

Potter's expression changed from mild confusion to military sternness. "What 'red flags'?"

"It's a bit of a long story," PaRappa says, not taking his eyes off the General. "But as Sunny's father, I feel that I owe you full transparency. Like you said earlier, things began to change about a few years back, right around the time I became the owner of Club Fun..."

Sorry to leave y'all hanging, especially with such a short chapter (for my current standards, anyway LOL), but I'm keeping that particular plot point on ice until a bit later, but I promise y'all will get to know about the sad and sordid details about the breakup between PaRappa and Sunny. Just not this early into the story. :V

With all dat said, this is Afro Thunder, saying... Peace.