Oh yeah, somehow I forgot to mention, during my absence we finally saw something of KOF XV after the first announcement, which was sometime around the last century if I recall correctly. It pretty much looks like I expected, a modified, slightly refined version of Samsho in terms of visuals. The first trailer was like, really fucking bad, it had more cuts than the clothing of a Jojo character, but the other three were definitely an improvement. With my not really obligatory two cents spent on that, enjoy.

"Forgive me...I've tried to arrive as soon as I could."

"Took your sweet time, Misty. Thanks to my timely intervention, our canteen wasn't completely destroyed...You're welcome."

"We have more pressing concerns that your ego-stroking, Zero. What are her current conditions, Professor Morioka?"

"The genetic alignment is proving more taxing on her physical and mental stability than we originally thought. Before you arrived, she was in the middle of a nervous breakdown and now she's just...sobbing. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before she snaps completely."

"Maybe if she developed these blasted lightning powers already, the causes of her frustration would cease to exist. We risked irreparable damage on much more fruitful test subjects because of her temper tantrum."

"Look, this was merely an isolated accident. It would be a waste to throw away all the work done until now-"

"Dance around the obvious solution all you want, Misty, but the rest of us can't ensure a safety net for ourselves by sleeping with the CEO's son!"

"What did you just sa-"

"These worthless secondary projects will never be NESTS's priority and none of your empty excuses will change that. Either she shows some results soon or the upper ranks will toss her into the garbage bin with the other defects, understand?"

"..."

"Madam Misty, he wasn't talking for me too about the "safety net" part-"

"I don't recall anyone asking for your opinion, you waste of space."

"S-sorry, sir..."

"Tch, stuck with you vermins while my original self pioneers the operations of real importance. Just focus on doing your jobs properly from now on...Three hours of my life I'm never getting back...such garbage."

"..."

"..."

"Someone is going to strangle him someday if he's not held in check soon, Madam Misty."

"I don't have the patience for his raging inferiority complex. Just let me talk to her."

"Right away, Madam."

"(bzzt)"

"Lyzer, can you hear me?"

"That's not my name...that's not my name and you know it."

"...How are you feeling now?"

"Does it matter? I'm just a "secondary project" after all."

"H-how did you-"

"I've learned some lip-reading thanks to the other slaves you keep imprisoned here."

"Please, I understand it's hard to adapt to this new life but if you keep causing disorder, I can't guarantee your safety."

"...My new life? My new life?! MY LIFE WAS STOLEN! You monsters robbed me of everything! You stole my name, my home...I can't even remember where my home is anymore! So you can torture me all day long with your "training", with your experiments, with your brainwashing and I JUST WANT TO DIE AND YOU WON'T EVEN LET ME! SO DON'T FUCKING PRETEND YOU CARE!"

"Madam Misty, she's becoming unstable again! We need to sedate her now!"

"Sedation permitted…, I'm sorry Lyzer, but it's for your own good."

"What's wrong? The truth makes you uncomfortable? You are so fucking pathetic...so pat-t-t-thetic...all of you...a-a-all of you..."

ECHO PARK

The feeling of a thousand needles piercing her at once woke up Lyzer from her nightmare. She needed a moment for her eyes to even start processing what her surroundings actually were. A disgusting combination of sweat and tears was covering her face, forcing to carelessly wipe it all away with her sleeve, like her own body fluids started acting against her.

Where was she anyway?...oh right, she slept under a tree after a pointless search for an abandoned mattress or make-up bed possibly left behind by some other homeless. Not much of a choice when you are a vagabond without a penny in your pocket. At least, one of the few upsides of becoming a cyborg freak is that cold is no longer an issue.

After stretching out a bit and putting her glasses back on, she was ready to resume her usual routine of walking around aimless doing absolutely nothing except waiting for time to pass so it becomes night again and she can search for another tree to sleep under and the cycle continues on and on and on…

Her mind didn't allow her anything except these endlessly frustrating realizations to mull over. It's not like she had anything to distract from the bad thoughts, what with having no family, no connections, no work, no hobbies, no option to die of starvation or thirst since that wasn't an issue either...yep, truly the life you dream of when you are a starry-eyed kid.

The only chance left was KOF. The control over thunder that ruined her life would become her golden ticket to a somewhat normal one, or so she hoped at the very least. C'mon, how hard can it be? She has the power to literally taser anyone she wants in her hands in a no holds barred tournament, they might as well give the place inside the MIST Directive right now.

"Speaking of KOF, I suppose it won't do me any harm to drop by the stadium and see how New Horizon goes. Don't exactly have anything better to do, right?" Lyzer muttered to herself.

While she claimed out loud that it was merely to fill time, subconsciously she knew the real reason. To meet her personal japanese "benefactor" and see if together they work out some...pent-up feelings. As she started walking in the direction of Dodger Stadium she thought…

"It's only fair, right?...That for once someone else in the world suffers like I do?"

Since he had an indirect involvement in this chapter, I just wanted to say you gotta love how Benimaru has switched team once again. I respect that, he's a man that likes both a little variety in his life and stacking his shelf full of KOF trophies. Seriously, how many Hero Teams he's been a part of? He has more wins under his belt than Kyo at this point lol.

NEXT TIME: After last night's fiasco, tension is rising inside the New Hizoku's base, where both old and new threats hide from prying eyes. Despite this, Ron has already his next move in mind.