| The King of Fighters 2000 | ||
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"The King of Fighters... Episode 6"
The last King of Fighters tournament signified the appearance of a new enemy that threatened to break the reigning peace in the world: the Nests cartel. It was more than clear that Krizalid was a mere pawn in a game of life and death, and that the participants of the King of Fighters tournament were nothing more than actors in a planned stage. However, there were still many doubts about the ominous Nests cartel. What was their real purpose? What do they really intend to do with the fighting energy of the competitors? So many questions, but little time to answer them, as another year cruises by, and the dawn of a new millenium approaches in the horizon.... Despite being a new year, the King of Fighters tournament was in jeopardy. Now that everyone knew about the evil intentions of the Nests cartel, it was doubtful that anybody would dare participate again and colaborate in the downfall of the world. However, as long as the Nests cartel remained unpunished, the threat of world domination was never far behind. The situation reached a critical peak, until one day.... Sitting in his office in the Ikari Warriors mercenary squad HQ, Heidern receives a notice from Ling. Ling was a commander of a fellow mercenary agency, closely linked to the Ikari Warriors. Ling and Heidern had also been long-time friends. Ling informed Heidern about a plan to lure the Nests cartel out of its' hideout, and take them down. The plan followed as this: The King of Fighters tournament would be held once again, in the year 2000! This time Ling and his agents would control everything that happened in the tournament, and track any suspicious characters. The main objective of the tournament was to attract former Nests agents, K' and Maxima, who had once escaped from the Ikari Warriors a year ago. They would surely know about the Nests cartel's whereabouts. The plan is accepted by Heidern, who will once again play an important role in the sidelines. And so it begins again. Invitations are sent out once again to the most powerful fighters of the world in order for them to form their teams of 4 members each, and fight once again in a memorable battle of emotions and passion! It was made clear that this time, Nests would be out of any involvement with the tournament. This clearly relaxed the worries of all the warriors who feared that their strength would be misused for the wrong intentions of Nests. Now, the stage would be set for yet another battle of epic proportions, involving many different fighting styles, many different stories, but most of all, many different lives that gathered in one single goal: to become the best there is, to become the King of Fighters! Since the same rules of the past tournament applied here as well, many teams remained unchanged: Of course, the Ikari Warriors couldn't be left out in order to seek for the Nests agents. The Psycho Soldiers will make sure that this year, no sort of interference will come from the ominous Nests cartel! Kim Kaphwan and Jhun Hoon will stage their politics of justice one more time, using the former convicts Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge as their guinea pigs. Some other teams suffered slight variations, mostly a change of members: Yuri Sakazaki, who wishes to pay her debt with Mai Shiranui and team up again for old times' sake, invite their old friend Kasumi Todoh along, as well as a newfound friend who hails from a Japanese ladies' school: Hinako Shidou, who also happens to practice Sumo. Now, it's Terry Bogard's time to cope with his oldtime love affair: Blue Mary, who has decided to tag along with the Lonely Wolves in hopes of catching Nests red-handed. Due to the absence of Yuri, the patriarch of the Kyokugenryo school of karate, Takuma Sakazaki, decides to recruit his son Ryo's beloved woman: former-enemy-turned-ally King. Two new teams, however, are the main attractions of this year's competiton, due mostly to their strange collage of individuals.... As previewed, K' and Maxima are back again, more than intent on breaking their past links with the Nests cartel. This time, Benimaru Nikaido and Shingo Yabuki are no longer their teammates: a sexy, yet deadly woman known as Vanessa and a fancy Mexican wrestler called Ramon shall be their comrades this year. Meanwhile, Benimaru and Shingo have plans of their own: to not allow last year's incidents to happen once again. Their new partners, however, are not precisely the warmest people in the world: an elegant strongman known as Seth, and an eerie and bizarre ninja called Lin, complement this lively duo with their own mark of coldness and bitterness. And, of course, the immortal legends of Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, who now cast off their cloak of secrecy and deciding to participate in a all-new no-holds barred match! Once again, the battles take place amidst a climate of doubt and danger. The nasty influence of the Nests cartel might have vanished, but still the menace of a new evil arising in the world was more than inminent. However, during the battles in the tournament, these worries flied away with the greatest of ease, since the feeling of battle and testing one's own skill against a strong opponent is stronger than any other negative feeling! After all, there was no need to worry about exteral problems. What mattered, most of all, was to increase one's own fighting spirit, concentrating on the battle completely, and being able to unleash not only their amazing skills, but also deliver their whole souls for the sake of the fight! After all, the philosophy of the true fighter is to not allow themselves to be fazed by threats, but to fight to accomplish their goals in life: to become the best there is! All of a sudden, the fights led towards one final location, where weird things were going on. The most suprising fact was that the place was the city where the King of Fighters tournament first saw the light of day: Southtown, the city where fighting was the bloodstream that gave the city life. With Geese Howard gone, Southtown had fallen into the hands of those who live for the fight, a lawless pithole. The city had gone far beyond recognition, and corruption wasn't even existent, because Southtown itself, had become a city straight out of hell. In short, the whole city became the world's biggest fighting arena, and the King of Fighters tournament had once again returned to its' origins. During their arrival at Southtown, K', Maxima, Vanessa, and Ramon were wandering through the docks of Southtown, hiding from the Ikari Warriors' mercenaries. It seemed likely that the Nests cartel could be operating in Southtown. K' and Maxima were deeply concerned about it, but Vanessa wasn't all that amused (and Ramon ignored all that cartel stuff). Suddenly, a fine, cool breeze began to blow through the wind. K' sensed something terribly wrong, and sends Maxima and his friends off. Maxima wants to know why K' is so jumpy, but K' does not heed reason. Mindful about K's stubborness, Maxima takes Vanessa and Ramon and heads directly for the factory zone of Southtown, and seek for cover. Meanwhile, K' stands in the middle of a full-fledged snow storm. The water of the docks freeze instantly, and the ships hold in place. K' sneers, and greets his next opponent: a young woman with long blue hair, and lost eyes. She used a suit very similiar to that K' weared, down to the glove. The figure introduced herself as Kula. K' shrugs her off, and so begins the eternal fight between the rival elements: fire and ice. Meanwhile, Maxima, Vanessa, and Ramon have managed to take shelter in an abandoned factory located near downtown Southtown. Maxima wonders about the fate of his friend, and thinks about the involvement of Nests in all this. Suddenly, a noise is heard behind them. When battle seemed unavoidable, it came to a surprise that it was no other than Benimaru and Shingo, with Lin and Seth along! It seems that they, too, had been lured into the abandoned factory. Nonetheless, reunion time is cut short, since Ling's mercenaries have already surrounded the building. With no other place to run to, Benimaru suggests they should hide in a huge room nearby. Ramon thinks everybody's crazy, and Shingo protests based on the fact that they would be trapped there. "It's better than being slaughtered out here", Benimaru replies. So, the 7 fighters head towards the dark room.... At the same time, in the Ikari Warriors' command room, Heidern attempts to contact his best lieutenant, Ralf Jones. Ralf is located far from the designated location, which disturbs Heidern, since the soldiers are already there, and they will be needing all the help they can get (after all, K' and Maxima did trash a whole unit of mercenaries last year). Ling interrupts, and says: "That will no longer be a problem.". Heidern demands an explanation, and Ling suggests that the soldiers located at the factory should turn on the elevator, and then activate the underground generator. Heidern is left with even more doubts, and Ling continues: "This way, we should be able to activate the Zero Cannon.". Heidern recalls the name: a satellite that had been launched in order to detect and destroy the hideouts of the Nests cartel, done by Ling prior to the mission. Heidern reminds Ling that their only purpose is to capture K' and Maxima, and investigate the whereabouts of the Nests cartel. "Yes, officially", says Ling with a sinister grin. When Heidern is about to complain, he is instantly held at gunpoint by Ling's soldiers! "What kind of loony ideas do you have in mind?", demands Heidern. "You don't have to know anything", Ling laughs. "You're just a mere spectator, and I...I am the executor!". Meanwhile, in the abandoned factory, Maxima wonders why the soldiers have stopped looking for them. When the tension level has raised to pitch fever levels, the roof begins to open. Much to the warriors' surprise, they have been located underground! The floor raises them to ground level, where they find themselves inside an ancient temple, which, in turn, turns out to be Ling's command center! The fighters see with disbelief as Heidern and his agents are held at gunpoint by Ling's soldiers. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an ominous figure surges in the middle of the room. Seth and Vanessa are quite a bit surprised, which sparks the attention of their teammates. The mysterious shadow welcomes the fighters. Vaneesa shouts out: "Commander! What is this all about?!". His cover blown, the mystery person steps into the light. It is Ling, but dressed in a more extravagant fashion. Upon further inspection, it turns out to be that Ling is, simply put, not Ling at all! Heidern demands the fake Ling to spit out his true name, and the false Ling gives him the expected answer: Zero. As it turns out to be, Zero is a member of the Nests cartel who had taken Ling's place by eliminating him and using his cloning abilities to take on his image. Zero was also the man responsible for Krizalid's elimination last year, as the voice of the ominous light. Consecuently, it is revealed that Seth and Vanessa are also Nests' agents, under the command of Zero. However, they had been duped into bringing the strongest fighters of the the last King of Fighters tournament, after their separation. This turns Seth and Vanessa against Zero for having used them as his pawns. But Seth and Vanessa own Zero a great deal, as the had been infused with Zero's fighting power enclosed in his DNA. And Zero, no doubt, had a truly fearsome power: his eerie aura could be felt all around the temple, making the whole walls shake beneath him! Not content with duping the fighters for his own personal ambitions, Zero has an extra something in store for the daring fighters. He now intends to fight them so he can extract enough fighting energy in order to charge up the Zero Cannon! This is achieved via the underground generator, which siphons the energy released in the main chamber of the temple. The generator will then transmit the data to the Zero Cannon in outer space, and Zero can use it to destroy any designated point on the face of the earth! "So, this must be the ultimate plan of Nests, huh?", mumbles Lin. "Nests? That was just a gimmick!", growls Zero. "The future of this world isn't Nests. It's me!". Seth gestures, and vows: "This time, you won't get away with your pitiful plans, you filth!". Easier said than done, as Zero soon proves to his gullible guests. Ramon and Shingo are the first two fighters to fall. They stood up bravely against Zero, but due to his quick movements, they proved to be no match for the crazed commander. Another upsetting fact was that all the energy of the fight would be used for the Zero Cannon, so the brave warriors were a bit more than reluctant about displaying their full strength. Would they be responsible of the downfall of society as we know it? Everyone had that doubt in mind, as Ramon and Shingo get blown away by Zero's quick skirt movements. Benimaru and Maxima now stand against the confident Zero. They knew that this battle couldn't be won no matter what, but there was no choice: it was kill or be killed. Benimaru and Maxima begin to attack Zero with everything they got, but Zero has some more tricks up his sleeve: he now uses dark shadow arts to sneak upon the heroes! These sinister tricks soon pay their price, as Benimaru and Maxima begin to get whacked by invisible figures, and then followed up by Zero himself. The battle was turning gruesome, until unexpected help came. Taking Zero by surprise, Seth and Vanessa jump on their former commander. Zero begins to feel the incredible pressure of fighting both his enemies AND his former allies. The noble fighters begin to inflict damage on the pressured Zero, but Zero attempts one last desperate trick: surrounding himself with magnetic energy, Zero becomes a huge damage void. Sucking in energy from every living being in the room, and gathering it in his own aura, Zero makes the finalists fly through the air. After a few seconds, everyone falls flat. Zero already brags his victory, until.... Suddenly, Lin jumps from behind, and stabs Zero in the back with his hand. Zero quickly makes short work out of Lin, but Lin already gloats about his victory. Zero doesn't understand what he means, but he soon realizes another weird fact: someone has just entered the room. Another challenger? Yes, it's K'! However, K' is weak from his battle against Kula. Zero bursts into laughter, and taunts K': "How can you ever hope to defeat me in such a battered state? You can't even deal with your own soul!", brags Zero. But, when Zero is about to proceed to finish K', he feels his whole body getting weak. What is this all about? It was Lin's doing: his stab in the back had it's own share of poison, which had began to make Zero feel the heat. With his remaining strength, K' gathers the last ounces of his flaming power, keeps it in his gloved hand, and rushes directly at Zero. The inminent impact makes the whole temple and it's surroundings to shudder like no tomorrow. K' begins to help his partners and former friends. He appears to have defeated Zero...or so he thinks. In bad shape, a bruised and bittered Zero walks up to his defeaters. He holds a trigger in hand and a nasty smile on his face. "You're doomed!", laughs Zero. "Even if you have defeated me, nothing can stop the Zero Cannon now! Now vanish into the light of a new world!". Things get worse when the world leaders receive the notice of Zero's "capture"...by Ling. A decoy notice that will take them by surprise. Zero presses the trigger's button in order to fry the wounded warriors with the Zero Cannon...but nothing happens. The generator suddenly shuts down, and Zero is more than confused by it. Out of the blue, Zero is inmoblized by a strange force around him. Inmediately after, two women appear by Zero's side. The two femme fatales approach Zero. They are beautiful, yet deadly, women. The two females silently seal Zero's fate. Traitors to the Nests deserve no less than death. By attempting to destroy his superiors with the Zero Cannon, Zero himself has signed his own pact of destruction. One of the women calls someone via a radio transmittor. It is Kula, who is located atop the Zero Cannon in outer space! Kula had reprogrammed the Zero Cannon to not respond to the main controls (in Zero's possession), and activate it manually instead. Kula fires the Zero Cannon, which is directly aimed at Zero's position. Zero reels in fear and agony. The surviving fighters are urged to escape from the inminent impact. On their way out, though, the battered heroes encounter two mysterious figures, yet familiar in an odd way. Upon futher inspection, they are no other than Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami! K' feels his blood boiling with anxiety, but he knows he can't face Kyo in such conditions. Kyo just smiles confidently, and says: "We'll take care of Nests...you concentrate on escaping". "Hmph...speak for youself, Kusanagi slime", grumbles Iori. "Don't be such a bother, Yagami", says Kyo as he runs his hand through his hair. "I know you're about to enjoy yourself. Let's go!". As Kyo runs to fight off the remaining Nests agents, Iori slowly follows behind: "Bah...the gods don't bother to play with the ants. " The skies of Southtown emit a blinding light, and suddenly, there is a huge explosion, the shock effect wiping out everything in its' path, like paper dolls. The noise is unsurpassed. Metal, wood, glass, and people fly around, as if swapped by an incredible force. Minutes later, nothing can be heard anymore... As K' and his friends emerge from among the rubble, the sight that unfolds beyond their eyes couldn't be more desolating. Everything, in shambles. Nothing remains but a huge pile of ruins and destruction. And with destruction, comes death. Corpses cover the streets of what was once called as Southtown. After being controlled by so many years by the Nests cartel, the city of Southtown has suffered its' inevitable fate: after having been build upon the history of fighting, crime, and bloodshed, the city of sins, Southtown, has finally crumbled down to nothing. A city which once strived upon the fight, has now died by it. The question about how many innocent people should die is irrelevant, up until this point. The point now, is that this tragedy should never repeat itself. And one name remains unpunished: NESTS!
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| A Nests Activity Base in 2001... |