Last year, I published the greatest story I ever wrote. I wasn't even that big of a KOF fan at the time; I was just blown away by SNK's incredible assortment of characters from fighting games far and wide, and wanted to throw them all together in the same arena. And now, my friends, I come to you a much more mature writer. A writer who gets the lore, who loves and understands and respects the characters more than I ever could have one year ago.

This will be a much more mature sequel. Less characters (maybe LOL), better plot, and maybe even better fight choreography. I intend to surpass Kumite with this sequel, a bold statement if ever there was one lol. So without further ado, let's get this thing started. This is the next episode of the Kumite series, taking place once again between the events of XIII and XIV.

Oh yeah, bonus note... I can't believe there were six IRL years between XIII and XIV! Lol. Since the plot of XIV supposedly takes place "a few years after XIII", I could technically produce a whole buttload of Kumites in between the two games. Wouldn't that be grand? Lol anyways, enjoy.

One year ago... a tournament rocked the world. A King of Fighters not bound by the fabric of time and space: warriors far and wide, spanning even different periods of history, all flocked to the battleground of Milan, Italy, to answer the call... who is the King of Fighters?

For one week the intense combat raged, so destructive in might that even the Coliseum itself, in the end, failed to withstand the magnitude. At the end of the week, when the wreckage cleared... 80 warriors had been whittled down to only 1.

This was one year ago. Like all the great tournaments of the past, time healed all wounds, and dimmed all luster. Pretty soon, life went back to normal, until the afterglow of tournament action regressed back into a faint, nagging hunger in the hearts of fighters and spectators alike.

The question was... whose hunger would growl wildly enough to stand up and answer the call? Who would take the reigns of King of Fighters, to carry on what Chizuru Kagura and Geese Howard started? Who would once again feed the starving masses with the promise of the most ultimate, unrelenting, perfect combat ever to be demonstrated... KUMITE!

THE SKY NOAH

"Brother, won't you join me for tea? I'd very much like to talk to you."

Rose Bernstein was stirring the lumps of sugar in the dark brown nectar, though her eyes didn't pay attention to her own movements. They were instead constantly, intently focused on the sweat drizzling down the back muscles of her older brother, Adelheid, as he utilized his Total Gym to complete the daily set of workout routines designed to not only lean his body fat, but construct his muscles to considerable fortitude. Not that he really needed it... the son of Rugal pretty much had a godlike physique already. Or so his sister always says.

"Does this have to do with what you tried to pitch me at breakfast?" his words were almost a wheezing breath between his strained grunts as he transitioned to work on his most trademark feature: his legendary legs of lethal might.

Rose smiled innocently as she whimsically tapped on her teacup. "Mmmmmmm... maybe."

"And while I was reading?"

"Perhaps..."

And then when I went out to buy food?"

"That's the one..."

''...No."

"B-brother...!"

"Rose, for the last time, NO!"

"But..!"

Adelheid was wise to his sister's tricks, and pulled an appropriate counter; instead of waiting for Rose's rebuttal, he immediately got up, draped a towel over his sweaty form and proceeded to the bathroom. He tried to get the door shut quickly... but when Rose stuck her foot in, he abruptly eased up, lest he accidentally slam the door and hurt her.

"Damnation..."

His sanctuary invaded, Adelheid had no choice now but to fight. "Rose, we've talked about this so many times I'm tired of it. King of Fighters is not good for us!"

Rose intruded fully in the bathroom, setting her teacup down on the sink. "What are you so scared of, huh brother? Your skills are far beyond those common peasants that enter every year. I know if you let me host a tournament and you enter, you'll win easily! You'll get your fire back, and stop with this nonsense about hating King of Fighters! It's simply uncouth, brother! UNCOUTH! You're a fighter at heart, and you deserve you have your glory on the grandest stage!"

"Rose... you're so naive." Adelheid turned his head away as he exhaled those words. "It's not about me or my pride as a fighter. It's about YOU. I don't want to see you hurt, Rose. Abused, taken advantage of, manipulated. Nobody is EVER going to do that to you again. To that end... we must stay far away from the evil that corrupt tournament breeds."

"Oh Adelheid..."

Rose's voice softened as she approached her brother. Reaching out, grabbing the towel, she removed it from around his neck and gently applied it to his torso, to dab away at the accumulation that had perspired. Adelheid tensed up at first, but made no sudden movements, allowing Rose to continue. She was trying to butter him up... lure him in with a soft touch to allow access for her honeyed words. But if that was the case... why was he letting it happen?

"My dear brother, we can't live our lives in fear." Rose spoke as she continued, not even looking up from her current activity. "While it's true that some unfortunate events have occurred in the past, we mustn't dwell on these things. Adel, I believe I am destined to lead King of Fighters into the future! I NEED this. I need the chance for redemption, to finally host the grand tournament of my own volition, and make it the greatest one yet. Don't you see, Adel? KoF needs a guiding hand like ours. People of high status and class and influence, aristocrats! Most importantly, people with solid judgement and honest intentions."

Adelheid's eyebrow raised. "...That being?"

Rose's eyes darted upwards into his,, a blush on her cheeks. "To see you win, of course! Cmon, brother! You shine so brightly on the battlefield... to see you move so gracefully and crush your opponents, ahhhhhh... it's like witnessing a true marvel of beauty. I love watching you, Adelheid. So please... let me see your beautiful fighting technique once again."

Adleheid closed his eyes, looking up at the ceiling. A loud sigh passed through him... damn Rose... he could study her tricks tirelessly, every wile, every persuasive play, every velvety word she cooed... and she still always won. She just had to hit him where it hurt the most: complimenting his flawless fighting ability, the number one thing he prided himself on. That alone rendered him powerless to resist.

...But he still had one advantage on his side. He could say yes, which would put her in an overwhelmed, overjoyed state: one in which she would mindlessly submit to HIS desires out of the euphoria of victory. That was his opening, to make his own demands.

"Rose... I have terms."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! What what what what?!" Rose all but exploded where she stood, the towel falling out of her hands as she threw herself against him.

Adelheid was unaffected by the weight tackling him. "I want you to have high ground at all times. Don't leave yourself out in the open. And I want extra hired security. Bodyguards, mercenaries, janitors, I don't care. Bodies. I don't want you alone at any time."

"DONE!" Rose squealed.

"I'd rather you stay indoors as much as possible, perhaps broadcast yourself instead of making live appearances..."

"Brotherrrr! You want me to be a shut-in?" Rose pouted. "I need to be a presence! I'm the hostess, darn it! I won't be upstaged by Madame Kagura!"

A sharp exhale to groan, followed by an eyeroll. "Fine, fine. We'll just see how it goes."

"AHHHHHHH BROTHER!" Rose tightened her deathgrip around him, fingers slightly slipping from his sweaty physique. "THIS WILL BE SO GREAT! I'M SO HAPPY! KING OF FIGHTERS IS BAAAAAACK!"

"Rose..."

"This is so great, Adelheid! We'll get sponsors, television broadcasting!"

"Rose..."

"We can build a new Coliseum! Hm, well, actually maybe it'll just get destroyed... okay, we'll borrow a Coliseum-"

"ROSE!"

Rose finally snapped out of her hyper ranting, and looked up; in her excited volley of words, she had pushed Adelheid all the way to the back of the wall without even realizing. As he stared down at her scoldingly, tinge of red flushed to her cheeks.

"Please get off of me."

"S...sorry~"

One swift motion later, and Rose found herself pushed out of the bathroom, the door slammed behind her so fast, her dress blew in the draft. The click indicated the door locking; the conversation was officially over.

...Not that she needed to talk anymore. She won. Her brother, the revered fighter, was no match for her wits. With a smile beaming ear to ear, Rose carried this with her as she laid down for a celebratory nap. She would need her strength, after all... for the chaos ahead.


"You're on in 60, Miss Bernstein."

Rose giggled as she checked herself in a compact mirror, for any potential smudges or hairs out of place. There was an extra special feeling about being here: mainly that she knew this, time, it was HER choice. No strings bound her, no puppetmasters commanded her. Rose's mind was clear, to make King of Fighters as glorious and memorable as she saw fit. The stage was all HERS... and Adelheid's, of course. This was as much about him as it was her.

"We're on in 20! Everybody get situated!"

"Adelheid, you're not in the shot!" Rose whined to her brother, who was standing considerably far back, his arms folded.

"I don't care about such things." he bluntly retorted.

That answer didn't sit well for Rose. Running over there to clasp his arm, she commenced to forcefully dragging him forward.

"Adel! Heid! You have! To be! In the SHOT! You must strike fear in all those peons looking to sign up!"

Adelheid's arms were still folded; as hard as Rose tugged, she hadn't succeeded in even prying them apart. However, given that his sister had taken forever to get dolled up for this broadcast, and he didn't want to see her beauty disshelved by her strenuous pulling, he finally let out a sigh and gave in.

"Fine."

"COME ON YOU TWO! WE'RE ON IN 10...9...8..."

Rose was clapping giddily as she returned to the shot, Adelheid in tow. "OOOOOH this is gonna be so great! I'm excited!"

"5...4...3...2..." a thrust of the cameraman's finger, and it was a go.

"ATTENTION, FIGHTERS ACROSS THE GLOBE!" Rose addressed the world:

"All of you out there with that fighting fire in your souls, lend an eye and ear to this broadcast! I'M CALLING YOU OUT! The immortal spirit of King of Fighters will never die, as long as I, Rose Bernstein, still draw breath! It's a new year, and your wounds have hopefully healed from the previous Ultimate Grand Dream Kumite, hosted graciously by the magnificent Madame Kagura. Well NOW IT'S MY TURN! The Bernsteins are back, and like my father before me, I invite you all to attend what will be, with no ego, the greatest King of Fighters tournament to date! Come, join us in Munich, Germany, the home of the great Allianz Arena! Only the first 47 to arrive will be granted entry into the contest!"

Rose motioned the camera to shift slightly to the left, putting the focus on Adelheid himself, his ruby eyes slightly narrowing, as a hint of a scowl crept on his lips.

"Who among you are bold enough to take on my brother, the fighting pride of Germany, Adelheid Bernstein in the flesh? The perfect warrior, born of our father's incomparable genes! If you plebeian peasants dare accept such a challenge, and, by some astronomical anomaly of logic, WIN THIS TOURNAMENT... 2.5 million dollars will be your reward! Yes, cold hard cash, tax free! You'll live like us for at least a little while, ohohohohohohohohohoho!"

Finally hearing enough of his sister's blathering, Adelheid gently nudged her out of the shot, much to her wide eyes. His face unchanging, he slowly approached the camera, menacingly... until nothing could be seen but his face.

"My only desire is to face the most worthy opponents." he grunted. "So come to me, strong warriors... fight me with all you've got. Let's have a good, clean, fair match. And to any of you out there who seek to abuse the purity of this sport for your own selfish gains... I will show no mercy."

"AND CUT! WE'RE CLEAR!"

The cameras stopped rolling, everyone took a deep breath, some took guzzles of water. Working with these two was a lot more stressful than Chizuru, it would seem.

"Brother, you ruffled my dress!" Rose whined, smoothing out her lacy red garb. "And I wasn't done gushing over you yet!'

Adelheid lifted a silencing hand. "They heard enough, Rose. They've got the message. King of Fighters is back... and we're at the helm of it once again."

Rose heard no confidence in Adelheid's voice when those words passed. She could have sworn she saw his face twisting... painfully...

"Adelheid..."

Her brother didn't turn around to face her, as he kept walking onwards. With a loud sigh, she looked down at her dress, her hands unconsciously fiddling with the patterns once again.

"You'll do great. And when you feel that spark in you again, you'll be grateful I did this... just you wait, brother."

And Kumite 2 is a go! Yes, you heard that number right: 48 contestants. Massive downsize. I think we can all agree that 80 is an unholy number, and it's a miracle I ever managed to cram that much fighting into a story and maintain my fingers.

...Granted, this story is still going to have a LOT of fighting. I mean... if you're not prepared for every other chapter having some semblance of combat, you better stay away. If you do hop on this ride, you're in it until the end. Every last nose-busting word of it ; )

NEXT CHAPTER: The roster revealed! See who's coming back for seconds, and who's staying away from this one! I hope you're as excited as I am! UNTIL NEXT TIME!