A/N: Okay then. So...I've been back writing in the fandom now for a bit over a year. I mostly deal with romance(cough), action(and a lot of nasty, M rated grindhouse action), and slice of life stuff. I had never really dealt with a tournament fic before: sparring without massive amounts of death, with the exception of a couple of points in stories.

I decided, after some convincing, to go ahead and launch this little trip for you all. This is not my first fic at all, as you can see-but it's my first *tournament* fic, so we'll see how this goes, eh?

As a note: this takes place in the 'verse that has been cultivated over time, which I have pretty detailed in my profile. While I follow KOF canon for a very good portion of it, there are certain relationships involved in this that, if you've never read my stuff, you'll be unfamiliar with. Suffice it to say that Adel and Whip have been together for a good two, probably two and a half, years now, Duo Lon and Leona have had their thing going for probably about a year and a half(whatever it's called), and Adel is quite tied in with the Ikaris after Ash Saga(since he was working with Heidern there.) Iori and Athena are likewise an item in this 'verse, and they've probably been together for less than a year at this point-it takes place after XIV, before XV. Just to clear the air on any of this.

I gotta give big thanks to my continued writing crew, who all have a bunch of good stuff to read: Illyrilex, RobertCop3, RinoaDestiny. Also want to give a particular thanks for this fic to jojoDO. He gently nudged me along while I was milling over the idea to go ahead and go along with this. It took a bit, but I decided yeah, I'll go for it! He's got quite the tournament going, himself, btw.

So, with that out of the way...

I present to you: 32 fighters, from all walks of life and varying power levels, of varying relationships, in the middle of chilly Oslo, Norway, in the early autumn. One cash prize of a cool 1 million. A mysterious host, and gods know what else will happen.

Rumbling Under Oslo is now underway!


Oslo, Norway.

A beautiful city-the capital and most populous city, even though that population is under three million. It's temperature was very comfortable in late September, with it being basically jacket weather, and the skies were not as light as they usually were in the summer.

It was also where, not long ago, a new stadium had been built to house yet another King of Fighters tournament, its host unknown, going simply by the initial of 'L.'

No one knew who L was; just that he was hosting a new King of Fighters tournament. The fact he was mysterious led, of course, to the usual suspects-those being Heidern, the Ikaris, and Seth, launching an investigation that led to very little...which, of course, made them want to investigate further.

Which meant, of course, entry. For at least some people involved. The others would travel along and investigate behind the scenes.

Invitations were given out to thirty-two people; all types of fighters, from all walks of life...the unforgettable, nigh unstoppable Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, to four of the famed Ikari Warriors...the calm yet deadly assassin Duo Lon...all the way down to three of the famous Kyokugenryu practitioners, all three Psycho Soldiers, and even Shen Woo, Shanghai's God of War.

And, of course, many others.

The prize? One million dollars, which was definitely not something to sneeze at, unless you were someone like the fairly newly returned to the timeline Ash Crimson-having been back for a few months, now, seemingly dropping easily back into his old life-or Elisabeth Blanctorche, both of whom also found themselves with invitations.

But to others? The prize was tempting. Others yet went for the thrill, and a couple were prodded to go along to perhaps help with the investigation and to hash out some things in the ring.

And so, two weeks before, flights and hotels were booked, details settled, orders given and errands squared away, as fighters went into full training mode for the Big Week coming up.

A bit of a sense of mystery hung over everything, as it could with a mysterious host.

But, these things were in their blood, were they not? So onward they moved toward whatever destiny had planned for them this time.

WELCOME TO THE KING OF FIGHTERS: RUMBLING UNDER OSLO