The King of Fighters Tournament

Krohnen Team

Ángel walked out of her room, annoyed with a bad night's sleep. She yawned and went to the living room to look at the clock.
It was six-thirty.
Ángel frowned, scratching her back as she started making her way to the bathroom. She gasped, stopping short as she made out a sitting figure on the couch. She heaved a sigh of relief when she recognised him.
"What are you doing here in the dark?" Ángel asked, going towards her very close friend. "Is something wrong?" She sat down on the spot next to him.
"I'm thinking about changing my name..." K9999 frowned in the dark.
Ángel snorted. "To what?"
K9999 looked at her. "To Krohnen. Krohnen McDougall."
Ángel covered her mouth slightly to keep herself from bursting into laughter. "Why?"
"Because I hate this name..." K9999 scowled. "It just keeps reminding me that I'm not the first in project K'. Besides, Krohnen is a grand name. It means Winner, Champion, Crowned king."
"Are you sure it's not just to change your identity from haters?" Ángel smirked.
Krohnen sighed. "Fine, whatever. But it seems more like a name than... K9999, right? It's so... scienc-cy..."
Ángel shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, knock yourself out. We'll go change your documents later."
Krohnen smiled, putting his arm around her. "You're the only good friend I have."
Ángel smiled, rubbing his back. "You too, K-fo— sorry, I mean Krohnen." She got off the couch and smiled at him in the dimly lit room. "Come on, what do you wanna have for breakfast?"
They went to the kitchen together and started preparing peanut butter and banana toast.
"We're going to the salad restaurant for lunch," Ángel said, eating her toast at the dining table. "How's that sound?"
Krohnen shrugged. "Sure. I don't mind."
Ángel smirked and continued eating.

"So you're officially Krohnen McDougall now," Ángel chuckled, looking at her close friend's newly changed name on his identification card. "Nice to meet you, Mr. McDougall."
Krohnen smirked. "I actually like that name, especially when it's coming from you."
Ángel smiled and leaned against his shoulder as they walked towards a restaurant that served mainly salads.
They sat down and looked at the menu to see what the shop offered.
"I'll have a Peanut Chicken Salad," Krohnen ordered, lifting his biker goggles up, resting just above his hairline, so that he could read the menu better. "And... a cola?"
"I'd like a Nopal Salad," Ángel said in her catlike voice. Her gaze scanned the menu for a drink. "And... ooo! Dragon Fruit juice!"
The waiter took their order with a smile and left. Ángel turned back to Krohnen and was surprised to see him staring at her admiringly.
"What is it?" Ángel asked with a chuckle. "Why you lookin' at me like that, amigo?"
Krohnen smiled. "You're the only one that's been with me through thick and thin. Thanks, Ángel."
Ángel rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Krohnen..."
The waiter returned and put the plates of food down in front of them. They were a little confused when the waiter also placed a third plate with a cloche covering it.
"What's this?" Krohnen asked, confused. "We only ordered two dishes."
"Someone asked me to serve them to you," the waiter shrugged. "Just have them, it's free."
And with that, he walked away.
Ángel and Krohnen just looked at each other, surprised and confused.
"Should we open it?" Ángel asked.
Krohnen smirked and lifted the cloche off without warning. To his surprise, he was welcomed by thick smoke. But it wasn't hot.
The smoke soon cleared and he saw that it came from a bowl of dry ice submerged in water.
"Chill, it's just dry ice," Krohnen chuckled, taking out the bowl and putting it aside. "But how did the water not spill?"
Ángel gasped when she remembered how he brought it like he was bringing a drink.
"He brought it carefully," Ángel chuckled. "What's actually on the plate?"
Krohnen looked and saw two cream-coloured envelopes on it. One had Ángel's name, and the other one was addressed to him. Krohnen was surprised since he only just changed his name.
But the person had written K9999 at first before crossing that off and writing his new name instead.
Ángel gasped. "It's KOF!"
"They're having a tournament?" Krohnen said in surprise. "Again?! Didn't you just go for one?"
Ángel rolled her eyes. "Kronny, that was two years ago."
Krohnen shrugged. "Yeah, whatever." He looked at his letter in surprise. "But they're inviting me too? After so long?"
Ángel chuckled. "How could they forget you?"
"But... I went into hiding and stuff," Krohnen frowned. "How did they find me?"
Ángel rolled her eyes. "Krohnen, you were in hiding, until you decided to give the KOF guys a scare back when we went to Ireland. Seriously... all I wanted was a nice vacation, and you try to ruin it like this. They weren't even disturbing us!"
"I saw a face that I had to punch," Krohnen said through gritted teeth. "And then another, and another, and a lot more."
Ángel sighed. "Amigo, there's no use. They didn't even do anything to us if you think of it. They were just minding their own business. Besides, that K' guy was the one that helped me bring your bike back to the hotel."
Krohnen grunted. "Why did you ask him for help?"
"He offered."
"Why didn't you decline?"
Ángel glared at him. "You were unconscious, we both brought separate bikes, I can't ride two bikes at the same time, and the bike was my only mode of transport since it was too late to find a taxi and no PickYou around too, he offered help and I accepted because how am I supposed to bring you and your stupid bike with me?!"
What made her rant even funnier was her accent. She went on and on, digging up something from the past that even he didn't remember happening. He finally had enough and begged her to stop.
"Please, I get it," Krohnen pleaded. "I don't even remember doing all of that, but I'm sorry, okay?"
Ángel nodded, invisible steam finally being released like a hot pan under running water.
"Just eat your salad," Krohnen sighed, putting his invitation away behind his coat. "We'll talk about KOF later."

The couple returned home and sighed, sinking down on the couch.
"Phew, what a day!" Ángel sighed, taking her shoes off. She leaned back and groaned. "Anyway, it was good to finally go on a full-day outing again."
Krohnen took out his KOF invitation and stared at it with a sigh. "I still can't believe they invited me..."
Ángel chuckled. "Oh come on. How can they not after knowing your whereabouts?"
"I don't know... it's all just... so surreal."
Ángel snorted. "How can being invited to a tournament be so surreal?"
Krohnen shrugged. "Because I was never invited after 2001. That was twenty years ago, even when we didn't age a day."
Ángel chuckled. She suddenly felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket and frowned.
"Who's calling?" Ángel asked herself, looking at her phone. It was an unknown number. "Unknown..."
"Pick it up, might be important," Krohnen shrugged, taking his goggles off.
Ángel answered the phone and put it in speaker mode.
"Hello?" Ángel said, not sure what to expect.
There was a pause. "Uh... hello. Is this... Ángel?"
Ángel nodded. "Yes. Who am I speaking to?"
"Well... hi, Ángel. This is Nelson."
"Nelson...?" Ángel frowned, trying to remember the familiar name. Her eyes widened when she realised who it was. "Hey, you're that boxer dude with the prosthetic arm, aren't ya?"
"Yes..." Nelson sighed. "I need your help. I want to know what NESTS' intentions are..."
"What do you mean?" Ángel asks, throwing a glance at Krohnen. He sits up straighter, a grimace contorting his face.
"They're the ones that were responsible for the accident that destroyed my arm," Nelson explained. "And they are the ones who gave me this prosthetic arm. I don't know what they want, but they put their leader's DNA in it to control me."
"Leader? As in... Igniz?"
"Yes..." there was a pause on Nelson's side. "I need your help."
"With what?"
"There's a new tournament coming up, and I want to find out NESTS' true intentions. Have you gotten your invitation?"
"Yes. But I'm joining with someone else."
Nelson groaned. "Oh come on, my teammates ditched me. I need a new team."
Ángel looks at Krohnen, who nods at her. Ángel nodded back and turned to her phone.
"There's a spot in my team."
Nelson heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you. May I ask who the third person is? I need to register us in."
Ángel frowned. "We're in Mexico."
"Great..." Nelson chuckles. "So am I. Which part of Mexico are you in?"
"Mexico City."
"Let's meet somewhere tomorrow morning."
They agreed to meet in a restaurant and hung up. Ángel turned to Krohnen with a smirk.
"Looks like we've found ourselves a complete team."
Krohnen snorted and made his way to the bathroom for a shower. It's been a long day, and they only wanted to do one thing now.
Sleep.