The King of Fighters Tournament

Entry

Iori and Honoka sat a few seats away from Aiko and Benimaru. He spotted the Kyo clones in the row in front of them.
"I didn't know that Kyo's clones still existed," Honoka said, opening her pack of cream puffs. "I hope I don't confuse them for the real Kyo."
"I don't think you can," Iori said, helping himself to a puff when Honoka held it to him. "Because the real Kyo's more annoying."
Honoka smirked. "But I can't see that at a first glance, right?"
Iori chuckled. "Okay fine. They're a little more tanned. Something to do with the experiment, it kinda left them looking burnt. I'm not sure about Kusanagi, though. He's a little darker as well, but the glowing eyes should be easy to spot."
"He has glowing eyes?" Honoka asked, sounding surprised. "That's so cool!" She added before Iori could reply.
To Iori's surprise, she handed stuffed the cream puffs into her mouth and leapt off her seat, practically climbed into the next row before making a beeline for the Kyo clones. The three of them looked at her in surprise.
"Hi!" Honoka cheerfully greeted. "It's nice that you guys made it here!"
The clones exchanged surprised looks before turning to her.
"Are you from one of the contestants?" Kyo-1 asked.
"Nope!" Honoka grinned. "I'm Iori's girlfriend."
Kyo-2 had been drinking something when he heard this piece of news and spat his mouthful out in surprise. By then, Iori had made his way to them as well, giving the Kyo clones a wave as he stood beside Honoka, who hugged his arm.
"Yagami has a girlfriend?" Kusanagi gasped. "Oh my gosh, things have changed more than I thought!"
"Be honest, you just didn't think I could land a woman in the first place, right?" Iori stated. "It's obvious, you guys didn't think I'm capable of anything human."
Kyo-2 quickly shook his head. "No! We do. After all, you're the one who rescued Kyo's girlfriend when he couldn't."
Iori smirked. "You're right. I'm glad you remember that." He sighed when he remembered how Benimaru thought Iori was the one who kidnapped her in the first place to get back at Kyo. "Anyway, Honoka's excited to meet you guys."
Honoka nodded excitedly. "Yes! This is my first time in KOF and I wanna see the diverse contestants that participate. But clones aren't anything new for us, my cousin was just like Kyo. Abducted and cloned by MIST."
Kyo-1 looked surprised. "You're Kasumi's cousin?"
"Yeah," Honoka nodded. "You know her?"
"Heard of her," Kyo-1 shrugged. "NESTS had some connections with MIST back then."
"I see..." Honoka nodded. "What about you?" She was looking at Kusanagi. "You're Kyo's reflection?"
Kusanagi nodded. "Kinda, but I do have an identity of my own."
"Maybe you can change your name to something else," Iori suggested. "I'm pretty sure Kyo goes by Kusanagi sometimes too."
Kusanagi sighed. "I know. But I don't have any other names."
Honoka smiled. "So what? Let it be Kusanagi, then. I'm pretty sure there are many people in this world that go by that name but still remain unique in their own ways."
With that, Honoka waved at the three of them and brought Iori back to their seat.
"I'll remember that," Kusanagi smiled to himself.
He received a nudge from Kyo-1 and Kyo-2 each.
"A ray of sunshine, isn't she?" Kyo-1 remarked. "I'm just surprised that Yagami actually managed to land a girl like that."
"You and me both," Kusanagi chuckled. "I never saw it coming."
Kyo-2 shrugged. "Maybe we should seek romance too. I had a girlfriend once, but she thought she was a side piece when she spotted a picture of Kyo and Yuki on social media and never contacted me after."
"Darn, that's sad," Kusanagi patted his back. "But yeah, we need to make it clear that we are not Kyo. Just a part of him."
"This tournament should do it," Kyo-1 smirked. "Make ourselves known."

"Is that dude coming up or not?" Ash complained, bored. He cracked open his soda and took a long sip before turning to Jacques, handing the bottle opener to him. "You're gonna need this."
Jacques smirked and literally used his teeth to pop his bottle cap off, much to Ash's surprise. "It's how we did in the old days."
"Yeah, but you're in your old days now, Jacky," Ash said, feeling more scared for him. "Seriously, please don't do that."
Jacques chuckled. "Fine, I won't."
Ash sighed and sipped his soda again. "It's kinda hot for a spring day, don't you think?"
Jacques nodded in agreement, taking a sip of his soda before answering. "It is. Meanwhile back in our place..."
"It's freezing," Ash snorted before sipping his soda. He suddenly gasped and gripped onto Jacques's shoulder. "Oh my gosh, look! It's Rocky!"
To Jacques's dismay, Ash literally dragged him over to where the blond sat.
"Rocky!" Ash exclaimed as he jumped his friend.
Rock nearly spat his jelly out in surprise. He realised it was only Ash and started laughing. "Oi, it's you. You finally showed up."
"Been looking for you," Ash chuckled. He gestured towards the cup in Rock's hand. "What's that you're eating?"
"Nata de coco," Rock said before spooning some more into his mouth.
Ash gasped, scaring Jacques once more. "They have that here?"
To their surprise, Ash practically rushed over to the snack bar to get some for himself. Rock shrugged and followed him to get a soda since his jelly was gone.
All of a sudden, everything went silent in the arena. The silence got just as much attention as a sudden boom.
"Ooo, I think Monsieur Rugal is coming," Ash excitedly said, handing the bottle opener to Rock, but Rock shook his head since it was Ramune and could be popped with a tab that came with it. "I'm sure it will be a grand entrance since just that flamboyant."
Rock chuckled. "Like someone else we know."
Ash gave him a knowing smirk and turned to the stage to watch what Rugal had in store for them.
It was grand, that's for sure, with flames and white smoke wafting out of every corner of the stage as a modified version of The Kechaku R started playing.
"I heard he's gonna do a dance performance or something," Andy smirked, poking a hole into his nattō container with his chopstick to pull out the plastic wrapper before turning his chair to face the stage. "I need to see this."
Terry snorted, grabbing his plate of club sandwiches to do the same as his brother so that he could watch the fun. "Same here."
"I think we should sit down for this," Ash chuckled, taking his coconut jelly back to his seat, giving Hotaru a wave while at it. "Let's just enjoy the show. My first tournament organised by Rugal."
"Our first tournament organised by this version of Rugal as well," Terry grinned as he nudged his brother. "Right, Andy?"
Andy nodded. "Yep."
A pedestal rose at the centre of the stage, with the music going more intense. Smoke heavily clouded the pedestal as Adelheid and Rose stepped out, holding confetti blasters. As soon as they fired the confetti, the smoke cleared, leaving the pedestal clear for view.
But...
But why was it empty?