The King of Fighters Tournament

Arriving at the Arena

Rock arrived at the arena with the rest of his team. Though the Bogards were excited for the new tournament that had landed, he didn't think he felt the same.
The strange presence he had been feeling was still lingering around him. Rock didn't know what it was or why it was even following him. Was it human? Or was it something else? He couldn't even tell if it was of pure or sinister origins.
"You okay?" Terry's question got the young man's attention.
Rock nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."
"Rock, something is bothering you," Terry asked. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"
Rock sighed. "I'm... I'm not sure, Terry. There's just... this thing I've been feeling. There's something following us, but I don't know what it is. I've been feeling this way since... since last Halloween."
Andy came over and exchanged a glance with his brother.
"We feel it too," Terry said, much to his surprise. "And... it's normal, Rock. There's a tournament going on, fighters of all kinds will be participating."
"Yeah, but..." Rock groaned. "I feel this way in school, at home, and even here. I thought it would disappear in a foreign country, but nope. I still feel this strange presence following me around."
Andy placed a hand on his shoulder. "Rock. Whatever it is, just know that you can face it. We know you can, and it's time that you do too. Don't think too much about it and enjoy yourself in this tournament."
"Even if we don't win, we're still a team and we're all in this together," Terry added with a smile. "Besides, we can meet all of our friends."
Rock couldn't help but smile at that. "You're right. Whatever this is, I can handle it."
"Great," Terry grinned. "Alright, the two of you go find some place to sit, I have to get backstage to prepare for our performance." He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Oh, and Andy?" The younger brother turned to look at him. "Don't do anything crazy."
Andy frowned. "Like you're not crazy."
Terry chuckled and waved at them before running off.
Andy turned to the younger man. "You wanna get something to eat?"
Rock shrugged, following him. "Sure. I could use something and a nice cold drink."
"I wonder if they have nattō," Andy wondered aloud. "Well, only one way to find out."
When they got to the snack bar, they were surprised to find Terry there, getting a burger set.
"I thought you were headed backstage?" Rock smirked.
"Yeah, but I'm also hungry," Terry pointed out. "And I can't perform on an empty stomach."
The other two laughed as he ran off to the stage to prepare for his performance with the rest of the BOF.

The Kyo team made their way towards the stage since their performance was about to start. What they didn't expect was for the real Kyo to be there with the rest of his band as well.
"This is gonna be awkward..." Kyo-1 commented.
"Just act normal," Kyo-2 said in a low voice. "We have a right to be here too."
Kusanagi turned around to leave, but Kyo-2 caught him and pulled him back. He reluctantly followed them to start preparing for their performance, trying as best as they can to ignore the BOF's presence. Mainly Kyo's.
"You think they're planning anything sinister?" Kyo whispered to Iori, who was trying to tune his bass. When he didn't get a reply, Kyo gave the redhead a backhand. "Oi, Yagami!"
Iori groaned as he turned to him, already annoyed at his untuned bass, and now having to deal with this. "What do you want?"
Kyo nodded towards his clones. "You think they're planning anything?"
Iori hid a smirk as he crossed his arms, shifting his legs slightly. "Oh, they are. They definitely are."
"Really?! What are they planning?!" Kyo worriedly said.
"To perform," Iori snorted before turning back to his bass.
Kyo rolled his eyes and turned to K', who promptly turned away to talk to Zayn. They weren't gonna be of any help either. Kyo was left with no choice but to go to Terry or Nakoruru.
Who were still nowhere to be seen.
Aiko was busily chatting with Athena too, excited about the tournament with the latter giving Aiko a heads-up about everything. Kyo gulped as he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then released it slowly before making his way over to the clones.
"So," Kyo began to gain their attention, which was highly unnecessary since they were already aware of him making a beeline for them. "You guys have finally decided to show your faces."
Kyo-1 was the first to face him. "Hello." He greeted.
"If you think we're here to do something bad, then you're wrong," Kyo-2 added. "We're here for the tournament too."
"I know," Kyo confidently said. He realised how Kusanagi's hands shook as he plugged his guitar in. "By the way, since when did you become friends with that no-good reflection of mine?"
Kusanagi's sunglasses fell off as he looked up at Kyo, his fists clenched. He didn't know why, he still felt a certain degree of anger towards him. Iori came up beside Kyo to see what's up too.
"So you're The Kyos," Iori smirked. "For a second, I actually thought Kyo named our band that for the tournament."
"I did not," Kyo rolled his eyes. "Because I'm not the only one in the band?"
The interaction confused the clones, seeing how the two of them were about as close as oil and water the last time they saw them.
"Wait, you don't hate him anymore?" Kyo-1 asked, surprised. "Like, you used to come at us just because we look like Kyo..."
Kyo shrugged. "Well, I find it hard to believe as well, but Yagami and I are friends now. He broke the curse recently and... his frown literally turned upside down."
Kyo-2 couldn't help but snort. "I don't know why I find this really funny. But good on you, Yagami."
Iori smiled in return. "Thanks." He turned to Kusanagi, who still stood boiling there. "Also, Kusanagi? Welcome back."
Kusanagi looked at Iori in surprise as he left them and went right back to his bass. He turned to Kyo, who looked just as surprised, then turned back to his guitar since he didn't fancy interacting with Kyo anyway.
"Hey," was all Kyo had to say to make Kusanagi snap
"Nice of you to assume that I'm 'no-good' when you made no move to even get to know me. You know nothing about me, despite me being your reflection."
"I—" Kyo began but was quickly cut off.
"It's fine, I know you still think I'm evil, just because of the way I look with these glowing eyes. You're not the only one, that's what everyone thinks. It led to a fun life in the shadows, being hunted down for looking like this."
Kyo looked surprised. "You were hunted down?"
Kyo-2 placed a hand on Kusanagi's shoulder and pulled him back slightly shaking his head. "He doesn't know."
Kusanagi seemed to relax a bit and turned back to Kyo. "I had to go into hiding and live in the shadows. I had nowhere to go, my... my creator abandoned me, you too. What else was I supposed to do? There wasn't anyone that I knew, I didn't even have a human-like appearance, so I couldn't even blend in."
"It wasn't until much later did we find him," Kyo-1 added. "We had been looking for him for so long, but it was hard since he was always in hiding."
"I didn't have a choice," Kusanagi reasoned. "I had no way of contacting you either."
Kyo didn't know what to say. He used to think Kusanagi was an evil entity, but it all seemed different now. "I feel for you, man. I really do." He finally said.
"I don't need your pity," Kusanagi shook his head. "I can handle this myself. I have my people, these two are all I need." He put an arm around Kyo-1 and Kyo-2 as he said that. "I'll... see you in the tournament."
Kyo nodded and rejoined the rest of his team. Terry walked in just then, and was surprised to see the Kyo clones just loitering around.
"What happened there?" Terry asked his band mates, pointing at the Kyo clones in surprise.
Iori sighed. "Long story. But they're contestants in this tournament too."
Terry shrugged. "Well, the more the merrier, I guess."