Disclamer: SNKPlaymore owns KOF and its various characters. Shikkoku only owns the original characters, this computer, and a old PS2 that needs to be replaced.

Shikkoku: Sorry about the last chapter if it looked a bit wacky, I had to get used to the editing and uploading process, so it looks somewhat iffy.

The King of Fighters: New Blood

Act-1: Arrival

By Shikkoku Kiyoshi

The next day, Raven and Krysten sat by the lake, waiting for Irena to come with the registration information. The latter was currently feeding the many fishes that swam in the water, while the former was drawing his name on the dirt, wondering where the rest of his teammates are.

"Zyon and Xion are late." Raven sighed. "They must be hung over from last night."

"They didn't drink that much..." Krysten said softly, giving the fish more food. "Though Zyon possibly brought more alcohol after he left."

"But still, if they mess this up for us, I'm going to kill them, very slowly."

"Then you wouldn't have much of a team, now would you?"

The brother's recognized that voice. The sponsor's representative was standing right behind them.

Irena smiled. "Hello, you two." She greeted. "I see the rest of your team isn't here yet."

"If they know what's good for them, they will be." Raven said.

About that time, Zyon appeared out of nowhere, flying about ten feet up above them, and proceeded to land not so gracefully into the picnic table behind them, which unfortunately for Zyon, didn't break.

"Oof...Hey, everybody." He managed to choke out, getting up and brushing the splinters out of his hair.

"You're late." Krysten said, even though he didn't really mind it at all. Zyon just ignored him.

"Xio-kun should be here in a moment." He said, before noticing Irena. "Is this our girl?"

"Yep." She answered. "My name is Irena Toryu."

Zyon gave her a nice smile. "My name is Zyon Kasanari." He bowed. "It's nice to meet such a beautiful woman as yourself."

Irena blushed. "Heh, heh. Thanks."

"Please don't hit on the representative, Zyon." Xion called out as he walked over to the rest of the team. "My name is Xion Shinlon."

"Pleased to meet you all." Irena took out a clipboard. "All right, time for some information I need before I put you in the brackets. First, who would you consider the leader?"

Raven, Zyon and Xion raised their hands at the same time. They glared at each other.

"Why in the hell do you get to be the leader" Zyon asked. "Me and Xio-kun are both older than you."

"It was my idea!" Raven answered.

"But we have way more experience in this than you do." Xion added, even though he really didn't care.

Krysten kept quiet as usual, as the other three argued.

"Okay, since this is going nowhere, I say Krysten votes for the leader." Zyon said. "Now this is a tough choice for you, so I suggest you choos-"

"I pick Raven." Krysten said immediately.

"Dammit! You were supposed to think about it!" The blond boy slumped in defeat.

"Alright. What are your fighting styles?" Irena continued.

"I practice various forms of Chinese martial arts." Xion answered.

"Kasanari-ryuu Karate!" Zyon stated proudly, even though there was no such thing.

"Uh...I just made up my own style." Krysten said sheepishly.

"I am the master of a mystical fighting style." Raven smiled evilly. "I'm only one of a few that has completed the harsh training. Thousands of people have tried to master it, but most end up dying due to the intense strain on their body. Only five people are alive today that have lived long enough to complete the training, I being the latest one."

Zyon sighed. "Raven trained under his family, but the style he's referring to isn't that powerful. He just says that to look cool in front of people." Krysten nodded to confirm that fact.

"That's okay. Now how old are all of you?"

"I'm sixteen and Krysten is fifteen and seven ninths." Raven said.

"Seventeen." Zyon added.

"Ditto." Xion said

"Alright, tell me more about yourselves."

"I like school, my friends, and my older sister and brother." Raven sighed. "I haven't seen them in so long, because I'm stuck babysitting my younger brother everyday."

Krysten rolled his eyes. "I like videogames, motorbikes and collecting and studying the history of various firearms."

"I like to cook, and I want to go college to become a chef."

"That is, if he ever takes an entrance exam." Xion snickered. "You haven't even started looking for colleges, and you graduate next year."

"I'm looking! I'm not going to go as soon as school ends, but I'll go eventually."

Xion shook his head. "I like practicing with my various swords and hanging out with whomever."

Irena checked off her list. "Okay, now, all I need is you team name and I can put you in."

The team looked nervously at each other. They never thought of a team name.

"How about the Raven Team?" Said the group leader. Everyone else merely glared at him.

"I got an even better name." Zyon announced. "The New World Order! We can use weapons when we fight and spray-paint our logo on people's back! And we can wear nothing but white and black!"

Xion and Krysten sweatdropped.

"We are not naming our team that!" Raven replied. "Can't you think of something original?"

"In that case, how about we call ourselves Shin Sekai Chitsujo? It means basically the same thing, only in Japanese."

"That's horrible." Krysten interjected. "That sounds like some kind of cheesy superhero children's show. Are we supposed to dress up in bright colors and do silly poses when we fight?"

"I never thought of that, but it could work..." Zyon mumbled. "We need a robot though, a big one..."

"NO!" The rest of the team interjected.

"Just stick with the name." Raven finally decided. "We'll call ourselves the SSC for short, though. It sounds less...stupid."

"Okay. Give me a minute." Irena took out a phone and walked away.

"Who do you think she's talking to?" Krysten whispered.

"I don't know. Probably the sponsor." Raven answered.

"He's probably laughing at the idea of a bunch of no name kids wanting to join the tournament." Zyon added. " I think I can here him chuckling right now."

A few minutes later, she came back.

"Alright, it's official. You are now registered to fight in the King of Fighters 1999." She gave them a big smile. "And what more, our sponsor has asked me to be your team representative."

"Representative?" The entire team said at once.

"I'll travel with you, referee your bouts, and record your progress. That way, we can determine how well you are doing."

"When did they start putting representatives with teams?" Zyon questioned.

"Well, since you guys aren't exactly experienced with big tournaments like KOF, you might need someone to help you get used to it." Irena swayed a little bit. "I don't want you to get overwhelmed by the rules and such, and end up getting DQ'ed and thrown out of the tournament."

"Alright, when do we start?" Raven asked.

"In a week." Irena answered. "I have to go and get things finalized for the rest of the tournament. I'll meet up with you later." She waved goodbye. The Shin Sekai Chitsujo stood there for a moment.

"What the fuck are we going to do for an entire week?" Zyon whined. "Train?"

"Yeah right." Raven and Krysten started to leave. "We're going to the arcade. Later."

Zyon rubbed the back of his head. "I guess you have a point. I gotta get home. Stay out of trouble, Xio-kun." He disappeared into the trees. Xion shrugged and walked back to his apartment to take a nap.

Leona had noticed something strange when going through the participants over this year's tournament. A new team had suddenly appeared in the roster. What's more, they looked like a bunch of kids (Not that it had ever stopped anyone before from entering.).

"They look normal." She thought. "But, of course, that could be pushing it. They couldn't have gotten in without having some sort of weird power."

"Ma'am?" The brown haired girl named Whip asked. "Who are those guys?"

"I have no idea." The blue-haired woman responded. "They just been added to the tournament line-up, so I guess they requested to be in this tournament."

Whip took a look at the contestants' pictures. "Wow, they're all pretty cute." She smiled. ABut they won't last a whole round with experienced fighters."

"I would like to believe that, but things never seem to make sense in this tournament." Leona sighed.

"I wonder if we can request to face them first, I want to see if they're as handsome in person." Whip walked out of the room. Leona shook her head, blowing some of the hair out of her face.

"Zyonii?"

"Yes, Tera?" Zyon addressed his sister, while lying on the roof of their school.

"How did the thing go? Was she a real representative?"

"I'm guessing she's real. I don't see anything that makes me doubt anything she said."

"So you're going to leave next week?"

"Yep."

Zyon's sister, Tera Matou Kasanari, was about a two years younger than her brother, and was pretty much a female version of him, right down to the blond hair and wacky behaviorisms.

"That is so awesome!" She answered. "I wanna go with you!"

"Sorry, but this could be dangerous." Zyon patted her head. "There's a bunch of crazy people in this tournament. I couldn't forgive myself if you got hurt. You know that, right?"

"I know." Tera said sadly.

"I'll bring you back something, maybe an autograph, a doll, or some guy's hair." Zyon lay back down on the grass. AMaybe even some money, if we win."

Tera flopped down to the ground next to her brother. "Alright."

They stared at the clouds for a few minutes when Tera remembered something.

"Do you think they'll mind us using the school while it's out for the summer?" She asked.

Zyon just yawned. "Nah."

Xion didn't exactly feel like doing anything else, so he went to his apartment and flopped on the couch. He was about to go to sleep when the door knocked. He opened it to see his friend Kanaye.

"Why aren't you at the mall or anything?" he asked.

"I should ask the same thing." Xion replied flatly.

"I'm looking for you, idiot. I saw your blond friend, and he told me what was going on." Pushing his way in, he took his spot on the couch. "What are you thinking?"

"What's wrong?"

"I don't doubt your ability, I doubt the fact that you can go up against half the people that I hear are in there."

Xion didn't seem to be fazed by his friends ranting. "You have concerns, I understand. Hell, I have tons of concerns about this."

"The whole damn school is concerned about you! You haven't had a serious fight in years. Aren't you a little rusty?"

"Maybe. But I think this will be a fun little game to play for a while."

Kanaye sighed before smiling and heading towards the door. There was no convincing him. "Just be careful. I have your back."

Xion smiled. "I appreciate it."

When the Kirishima's announced that they were entered in the tournament, their friends held a good luck party. Afterwards, they were about to leave when a girl came up to Raven.

"Uh...Raven-sempai?" She said shyly.

The young man smiled. "Yeah?"

"I made something for you today at class." She gave him a nicely designed red and black strip of cloth. AIt's for luck, so you can think of our school when you fight."

Raven took the cloth and tied it so it hung loosely around his neck. "Thanks, it's pretty sweet." He smiled... "When I get back, I'll return the favor, I promise."

"Thank you, sempai." The girl ran away.

"Bro, what do you mean exactly by returning the favor'?" Krysten said apprehensively.

"Nothing, nothing." The blonde waved his hand and walked away.

"Finally."

Irena sighed and leaned back on her chair. She had finally gotten approval for the new team from her superiors. After turning her computer off, the young spokesperson started on the long walk to her room. As she went past rows and rows of parallel doors, her mind focused on the leader of said new team. The tip that led her to Raven in the first place was a story about an underground tournament a few months ago.

Rumors said that he had entered himself into the tourney for the ample prize money. Many people had bet against him, obviously, due to his age. But after the first battle, in which he won in under a minute, people were starting to get uneasy. Some of the best amateur fighters in the area were left bloodied on the floor in a matter of minutes. Not willing to lose precious money to a nobody, the sponsor of the tournament sent in his biggest, toughest fighter to beat the young man out of his misery.

Nobody knows how he did it, but Raven's lone attack was an uppercut that landed directly under his opponent's chin. A sickening crack was heard, and the man fell down like a light pole. The crowd was silent. The sponsor didn't waste time awarding him the prize money, and Raven just left. They never had another tournament again, as most of the mainstays were too crippled to continue. Irena wondered if that story was even true as she slipped into bed. Granted, it would certainly prove that he was worthy of entering the tournament, but the details of that event was sketchy. People said that they saw something black during that final uppercut. Many of those same people were on horrific drug binges when they spoke to her, so it could be mostly random bullshit mixed with the truth.

But many people thought he was just a kid who got into spats about things that most people wouldn't concern themselves with. And what about Krysten, his brother? They say that he sometimes acted like he was a mute around people, and by what she saw, he was very shy around strangers. The other two guys on the team, Zyon and Xion, had barely any records to make any conclusions off of.

Did any of them really know any fighting styles? The Kirishima's probably didn't have one, she never even heard of Kasanari-ryuu Karate before, and Xion didn't look like someone that trains under the strict teachings of Kung-fu, unless 'various styles of Chinese Martial Arts' really meant, "I watch badly dubbed Chinese action movies, I jump around like I'm on speed, flail my arms at people, and scream really loud! WA-CHA!"

'But they wouldn't want to enter if they didn't think they could handle it.' Irena reasoned. As she slowly fell asleep, the girl hoped she made the right decision.

Raven ran his hands stared at his image at the bathroom mirror. It was the middle of the night, and his brother was asleep. But the dirty blond haired boy was starting to wonder if he did the right thing in entering this tournament.

No, he wasn't going to back out now.

His hand brushes back the hair over his left eye. Almost invisible to the naked eye, a short line ran down it, but the eye seemed virtually untouched.

"How long has it been," He said. "Since I got this mark…"

Shikkoku: (Yawns.) That was way longer than it was supposed to be, probably I had to rewrite some parts due to timeline inaccuracies with the first chapters.

So now we got a team name, and the countdown is on (for them at least). Nothing much to say here, but the actual tournament starts next chapter and it's probably going to be way longer than the first two combined. That's right, I'm not going to drag it out any longer now. I have a good handle on this uploading thing, so hopefully future chapters it won't look as messy as the first chapter looked. As always, leave a review, even if it's somewhat negitive.

I'll probably upload the third chapter tomorrow or Saturday, along with my other KOF story, Kurai Tenshi: Keppaku.

Notes:

Zyonii is not a typo, but what Tera calls her brother, a combination of 'Zyon' and 'Onii-san'.

Shin Sekai Chitsujo New World Order.That was the original name for the team, but I figured the current name sounded way better. Krysten does have a point though about it sounding like a Sentai series...;

Anyway, Next Chapter: The SSC arrive at their first stop in the tournament, and have their first official match. Who's the team? How bad will they beat down the SSC? Has Raven made a big mistake?

Until next time.