KOF Extras

Cultural Festival

"Dash!" Krizalid exclaimed, running to him and the rest with his phone. "There's a Cultural Festival in town!"
"Boring!" K' said with an annoyed expression, laying on the sofa with his phone.
"Lame!" Zayn added with a grin.
"Oh come on, it's better than just sitting around," Krizalid said, plopping himself next to Zayn. "Besides, it's free!"
The other two looked at each other. Then they turned to Maxima. Kula was playing KOF ALL STAR on her phone, not listening to a word they were saying.
"When is it?" Maxima asked.
"Err... this Saturday," Krizalid said, seeing the date on his phone. "Yeah."
"I have a date scheduled on that day..." Maxima said, much to Krizalid's dismay. "Sorry, Kriz..."
"What about you guys?" Krizalid said, hopefully looking at his brothers. "You guys are free, right?"
"I think I'll take Kula out that day too," K' said, sitting up on the couch. "Zayn?"
"Same," Zayn said with a grin. "I'm going on with Isolde!"
Krizalid frowned at them. So he decided to just go alone, without much of a choice. Begrudgingly, he decided to ask Foxy on the last minute. She seemed to be the only one that wasn't out on a date.
But behold! When Saturday came, the three pyromancers were ditched by their women!
"So turns out Foxy hogged the two girls out for a ladies' night..." Zayn said, watching Kula leave with the other two women. "Why am I not surprised?"
"So it's guys' night for us?" Krizalid said excitedly. "Oh come on!"
The two of them agreed, since they would just be wallowing in boredom if they stayed at home.
"Where is this festival that you speak of?" K' said, getting into the front of Krizalid's Toyota.
"Aoyama Park, South District," Krizalid said, starting the engine. "Alright, let's roll!"
So they went to Aoyama Park in South District and started wandering around. The place looked really exciting, with shops selling various foods, souvenirs, and lots of exotic things.
There were cultural stalls like Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian and even African. Krizalid squealed in joy and disappeared to go buy himself some gifts.
"So that's why he brought us here," K' said, following him with Zayn. "Well, I can't say it doesn't looks fascinating..."
So they ended up window shopping with him and even bought some stuff for the others, mainly for their girlfriends. Can't say the same for Krizalid, though...
He bought most of the things for himself and his friends.
They also bought themselves some food (and sweets) and went over towards the stage to watch the cultural show.
"Ooi!" Someone said, putting a hand on K's shoulder.
K' turned around and saw his red-haired friend grinning at him with his girlfriend next to him. K' grinned back.
"So you guys are here for the cultural show?" K' asked, seeing how Iori was eating some meat dish and Honoka savouring some Indian sweet. "Or for the food?"
"Both, and one more," Iori said. He pulled K' closer and pointed at a distance. "You see that blond head over there? Guess who."
K' peered into the distance and started snickering.
"I should've known," K' said with a smirk. "Why couldn't you just leave them alone?"
"With that wench?" Iori scoffed. "Well, I know he's a good guy and all, but hey. Also, this festival seems fun!"
A strangely familiar song started playing. It was exotic and contained elements of music from various culture.
"Isn't this... Slasher Zero?" Zayn asked, eating his stick of fruit with powdered prune. "Guys...?"
The others were wondering too. Krizalid started coughing as he choked on his cookie.
A guy, wearing traditional Javanese clothes, stepped onto the stage and started performing an Indonesian martial art called Pencak Silat. Then he left the stage and another guy came out wearing Indian-styled clothes. He started performing an Indian dance too.
One by one, different men came out dressed in traditional clothing and performed. The performances were short, squeezing almost four dances in one song which was only about five minutes long.
When the song finished, the last guy, who happened to be another Indonesian dance, bowed on stage. The audience was confused at why the other performers didn't bow too.
And that's when they realised that it was all just one person doing all of that.
"But they all looked different..." Zayn said, confused. "Like... how did he managed to change into four costumes under five minutes, minus performing?! It took us almost an hour to just wear one kimono!"
"That's what I'm wondering too..." Iori said. "Let's go meet this fella. I really want a selfie with such a skilled person."
K' snorted and they all went to the stage and waited for the man to come down.
To their surprise, a familiar moustached man left the stage, a humble tote bag tucked under his arm.
"You've got to be kidding me!" K' said in shock. He took his phone out and immediately started dialling Ralf's number, which he happened to memorise by heart.
"Ralf!" K' exclaimed. "Hey you idiot! You said Zero was dead?!"
"Yeah, I told you, it was Clone Zero, not Original," Ralf said. "And I thought we cleared this out?"
"Yeah, just you wait," K' said, minimising the phone call.
Zero was walking away, but they could still see his side profile. K' snapped a picture and sent it to Ralf.
"What?!" Ralf exclaimed in shock. "But...but... we found his corpse!"
"That's what I wanna find out too," K' said grimly.
Ralf hung up and ran straight there and went to K' and the gang. They managed to keep Clone Zero within sight.
"He's over there," Iori said, eating some popcorn chicken. "This should be good."
He and Honoka followed them to where Zero rested on a picnic bench with some sushi.
Krizalid slammed a hand in front of him. Zero looked up at him and gasped.
"I've got a bone to pick with you," Krizalid said, sitting down in front of him. "What was the deal with crushing me under a boulder?"
"What was the deal with trying to destroy Earth?" K' said, sliding in next to him.
"And what was the deal with impersonating Commander Ling?" Ralf demanded.
"And what was the deal with that weirdo performance?" Zayn asked, annoyed.
"And what's the deal with your existence?" Iori finished with a smirk.
"Please, I just want to live a normal life now," Zero said with a sigh. "Also, how are you alive, Agent Krizalid?"
"The same way you're breathing right now, Moustache," Krizalid said with a shrug. "We're the ones that should be asking you questions."
"We even found your corpse, bladed cloak and all," Ralf said, still surprised. "How?"
"Like I know," Zero shrugged with a frown. "Please, leave me alone..."
"Sure, buddy, but one more question," K' said. "What is your name?"
Zero looked down for a moment before turning back to them.
"Mee Saye Zero," Zero told them. "I kept Zero as my last name."
The others burst into laughter. (For those who know what the name means, you know what it means.)
"So your name is literally 'Me'?!" Krizalid said, wheezing with laughter. "Oh my gosh, I can't!"
"At least the original named himself Geronimo," Zayn said, also laughing. "This is the lamest thing I've ever heard..."
They dug into his life and found that he was a performer. He used his ability to shapeshift to his advantage.
And then they spread this bit of news to all of their friends.