Oh! My bad!
[details=Spoiler]Okay so in 97, Iori and Kyo destroyed the Orochi…or at least banished it back from whence it came. In the aftermath of that fight, the weakened Kyo was kidnapped by the NESTs cartel. NESTs is…basically a way more sprawling, effective Shadaloo. They are a scientifically advanced group that has incredible wealth and power and that seeks global domination.
In KOF 99 (98 is a dream match…non-canon), Kyo is a prisoner of NESTs that is being studied to create a clone army of Kyo-clone super-soldiers capable of wielding his flame powers. They have limited success…which brings us to the new hero…K’ (K-Dash). K is a young man that is a “clone” of Kyo. Note, however, in this case, clone really refers to the fact that has been heavily genetically modified with Kyo’s DNA. There are ALSO Kyo clones that are genetically vat-grown copies…K is not one of these. K’ can use the Kusanagi flame but has trouble controlling it…so NESTs created a special red glove for his right hand to contain and regulate the power. Along with cyborg NESTs operative Maxima and the NESTs agent Whip, they are tasked with defending NESTs.
Then comes Iori Yagami. See, Iori is pissed that Kyo has been kidnapped because NO ONE is supposed to kill Kyo but him. So he seeks out NESTs and actually frees Kyo with the two fighting side-by-side to dismantle the organization. Heidern also fights against NESTs, utilizing his mercenary team to try and take them down.
For this chapter of the story, the main NESTs villain is the absolutely amazingly bad-ass Krizalid who K’ is a clone of. Krizalid perfect handles not only Kyo’s flame (having been modified just like K) but wears a battle-suit that lets him record fight data. K’, Maxima and Whip (Krizalid’s sister) turn on the evil organization and eventually clash with Krizalid before getting away. Krizalid is punished for his failure by a higher-up and is killed…but not before finding out that HE is actually the clone and K’ is the original and so his memories of his sister Whip are actually fake.
After 99, the NESTs saga really kicks in as the NESTs agent Kula is added to the mix in 2000. Kula is an ice-based anti-K fighter deployed to take down the rogue K’. Under the supervision of NESTs agents Diana and Foxy, and alongside her robotic counterpart Candy, the young Kula is dispatched to kill K’. Heidern continues his war against NESTs as Kyo & Iori also continue to fight the group on their own. In 99, Kyo actually removed a new move set that emphasized his fighting skill over his flames because the experiments performed on him weakened his flame abilities…so he’s pissed about that too. Kula eventually clashes with K’…but finds out she has no real reason to want to kill him.
Long story short, the big-bad of 2000 is the one who killed Krizalid; Zero. Zero is an IMMENSE bad-ass and power house. A super powerful fighter outfitted in a technologically advanced, bladed combat suit, he actually wields gravity as an element and can form micro-blackholes with his chi. Zero, it ends up, is actually a traitor to NESTs and wants to go into business for himself…so he seizes control of his Zero-Cannon project, a hugely destructive satellite weapon. He intends to use it to fire on the NESTs base in Southtown to eradicate the base (and, incidentally, Southtown with it). Diana & Foxy find out about this and, after Zero has lost a battle against K and his team, they dispatch him…but the countdown lets the beam fire. Thankfully, Takuma manages to deflect the satellite beam with a super attack (some Akuma level shit right there from Mr. Karate!) that utterly exhausts him nearly fatally. Kula, going into space with Candy, destroys the satellite. Plunging back towards Earth, the AI-driven Candy protects Kula…becoming destroyed in the process.
NESTs goes back to the drawing board.
In 2001 we reach the end of the NESTs saga with the emergence of an actual full NESTs team consisting of Foxy, Angel and, most importantly, K9999. K9999 is the 9999th clone of Kyo…the pinnacle of NESTs cloning tech. He’s also batshit insane and his genetic structure is malleable letting him turn his limbs into (literally) Tetsuo-style crushing weapons of gooey, fleshy death…as well as drills and shotguns. Out of control, K9999 is obsessed with beating K’ to prove his own strength and does POORLY when it comes to following orders.
Fighting through the tournie, K’s team faces the sub-boss Zero. Yup. Zero again. But not really. This is the ORIGINAL Zero, revealing the one in 2000 to be a clone. Oddly, this Zero is a polite, honorable fighter instead of the absolute scumbag the 2000 Zero was. He loses and launches the winners into space to the NESTs satellite base where they come face to face with Lord NESTs, the creator of the cartel.
Unfortunately he gets killed immediately by his subordinate Igniz who is revealed to be the real power & authority of the organization. Igniz eventually loses to K’ and company (by now you should realize they’re the new main heroes…and quite successfully I might add) and sets the satellite base to crash. Kula manages to use her ice powers to save the falling satellite by cushioning its entry and fall. K9999, still swearing to kill K’ despite the fall of NESTs, attacks Foxy and dispatches of her, going rogue along with Angel who is apparently infatuated with him on some level (she’s a bit of a crazy sadist herself despite her fun-loving personality).
This ends the NESTs saga and 2002 is a dream match. KOF2002 Unlimited Match, however, has basically retconned some of this so that instead of K9999 it was apparently Nameless that was the 9999th clone…but the events are basically very similar otherwise.[/details]
After 2002 starts the Ash Crimson saga…as we return to the power of Orochi…
