5 hours after the incident at King's bar, the barhostess surveys the damage at closing time. She's greeted by her friend Athena, who performed on stage that night, and was unintentionally the trigger that sparked the brawl between German pro wrestler Hugo and Russian pro wrestler Zangief.
Also joining the two ladies is Kasumi Todo, whom King and Athena knew from several King of Fighters tournaments the three have participated in.
"What a mess," Kasumi said. "What exactly happened?"
King sighed. "It's a long story."
"It was my fault." Athena said.
"No it wasn't," King reassured her. "It's not your fault for performing on stage. It's that Hugo guy's fault for making a big deal about it. And as nice as Zangief was to stand up for you, it's also his fault for helping damage the place."
"At least Hugo didn't take it out on Athena, or she'd be dead meat," replied Kasumi.
The three ladies nodded.
"I guess I shouldn't be performing on stage in front of a crowd that drinks."
"Isn't that one of the risks for becoming a singer?" King asked. "Every performance artist has fans. They also have anti-fans who wouldn't mind ruining things for the performer. Oh! Speaking of performing in front of a crowd..."
King dug up a flier for the martial arts tournament in Japan.
"... There's a tournament being held in Japan. Guess who's going to it?"
"Who?"
"Our friends Hugo, Zangief, and my employee Eagle."
Kasumi was confused. "Hugo and Zangief are teaming up in the tournament? Weren't they fighting?"
"Yes, but apparently they liked their fight and decided to team up. And my bouncer is there to collect a cut of the prize money they win to help me fix my dancefloor."
"That's nice of Eagle," Athena replied. "He's such a nice man."
"Yeah, he's a good friend. But he's not going to be alone. In case he can't win, I'm entering too. I'm going to teach those two muscle-bound brutes a lesson for ruining a lady's property. And maybe I can get money to fix my lounge and add some new goodies for this place. Maybe an oxygen bar--"
"Karaoke!" Athena shouts.
King went wide-eyed. "We'll see, we'll see."
Kasumi stood up. "Need a hand? I'll help you out. Who knows, maybe this tournament wont end up like all those King of Fighters tournaments. You know, where there's always someone setting the tournament up in hopes of taking over the world, or revive an evil force of legend, or make a clone army to do his bidding..."
"Thank you Kasumi. I could use the help."
Athena stood up. "I'm in too!"
"Really? Great! Thank you both!"
"Be back in a bit. I have to use the restroom."
Athena turned and headed into the ladies room. She let out a sigh. "These poor people. They're so excited about this tournament, and they have no idea what it's for. I feel so awful..." Athena looks at herself in the mirror. "I'm sorry, I will not do this any longer. The teams are almost formed, and I'll help lead them to take you down. We will not use them any longer. It's totally barbaric."
A knock on the door. "Athena, when you're done, I'm going to close up the lounge, okay?"
"Sure, I'm almost done!"
Athena signs again, washes up, and leaves the restroom.