The King of Fighters Tournament

Emergeance

It was no easy task defeating Saiki, but the Elisabeth Team managed to do it. Ash finished with the last blow, which knocked Saiki right out of his Awakened form. Or maybe he did it on purpose after he knew that he had been defeated.
"Great, now we can celebrate," Ash said, pulling Saiki up to his feet. "Where's Mikia?"
Saiki nodded towards the audience while dusting himself. "She came to watch."
Ash gleefully started waving at Mikia, who held her baby with a cheerful grin. "Aww! Let's go for lunch. We can catch up too."
"My treat," Saiki piped up, pointing to himself with a smirk. "They paid me a big amount to face you guys. And I don't think I have any need for modern money, so I'm spending it all here before leaving after the tournament."
"Sounds fun," Ash shrugged, putting an arm around Saiki as he brought him to the rest. "Yo, guys! Saiki's paying for our lunch!"
Saiki chuckled. "My treat as congratulations on progressing through me."
Elisabeth chuckled. "That's nice of you. Normally, I'd decline this offer, but after the stuff that went down in XIII..."
"You don't have to bring it up each time, you know," Saiki frowned. "Just take the offer, let's go eat stuff."
"I'm game for that," Shen smirked. "Crabs?"
Ash groaned. "Shen, we only had dozens of crabs last night. We're doing my thing now."
"Cakes it is," Saiki chuckled.

The K' Team emerged victorious against the NESTS Bosses and the latter team weren't even disappointed.
"I'll try to dig around about this Kalimba," Igniz offered. "I have a few friends that I can turn to."
"Are these friends of yours Ron and Misty?" Krizalid snorted.
"And you too, but you're just as clueless as any of us," Original Zero piped up. "And that's not your fault, just saying."
Krizalid shrugged. "I respect you because you were nice to me."
"We need to meet with the Ikari Gang," K' announced. "This is bad stuff, I don't want anything tainting my name again."
"He's having flashbacks," Zayn explained to the opponents they just defeated. "We need to track him down."
"And I need an explanation," K' added.
The Bosses exchanged glances before Clone Zero piped up, feeling as if he should be saying something. "We'll go with you. Feels like we should do something here."
"And I feel responsible," Igniz added. "We'll be with you on this."
The K' Team looked at them, but didn't argue. 

The Fatal Fury Team was finally defeated by the Benimaru Team. It was a very close match that nearly ended in a draw, but Shingo managed to pull himself to his feet and launch a series of attacks against Rock that knocked the energy off him.
"This was a good fight," Rock remarked as he took the hand that Shingo put out for him. "You guys are good."
"You aren't bad either," Shingo gave Rock's aching shoulder a shove that made the blond wince. "Ooh! Sorry. Sorry, about that." Shingo quickly said.
Rock shook his head and chuckled. "No, it's fine. It's not that bad."
"Uh, Rock, you know that guy?" Shingo pointed to the distance when he spotted a face that resembled Rock's.
Rock turned to look and was surprised to see Kain coming down to meet him.
"Yeah, but I don't want to associate myself with him," Rock bitterly said.
The Bogards soon came up too, with Benimaru and Aiko as well.
"I just knew something was about to go down here," Benimaru sighed, smirking. "And now we have more drama on our hands."
"And yet you seem so happy that it's happening," Aiko chuckled, giving his shoulder a slight shove.
Benimaru smirked, playing with her hair. "You're no different."
Kain made a beeline for Rock and smirked at him. "How are you doing, kid?"
"Well, I wasn't doing so well with the turn of events, but now it seems like things have gone worse," Rock said as if the words tasted bad. "Why are you here to stir the pot?"
Kain chuckled. "I'm not here to stir nothing. I'm just saying... I was not wrong earlier."
"And what would that mean?" Rock frowned. "You tried to bait me with my mother's survival, but you had nothing to prove it."
"Maybe not at the time, but now I have something solid," Kain smirked, almost cunningly.
Terry poked Rock's shoulder. "Rock... you should turn around."
Rock did and felt chills run down his spine when he spotted a face he didn't see for a long time. All colour drained from his face and he felt a film of cold sweat coating every inch of him.
"Rock?" The woman called, a watery smile on her face as tears streamed down her face. "My... my boy."
Rock refused to believe the woman in front of him was his mother, that she was indeed Marie Heinlein. Flashes of the Fallen Rock that his mind had visualised earlier appeared before him once again, smirking at him. Rock knew that his mind was taunting him again, but that image vanished the longer he stared at Marie. "No... this... this must be something else. This happens all the time, there's something wrong here."
"Rock, she's my sister, wouldn't I know?" Kain piped up. "This is your mother, Rock. She's been through stuff."
Rock slowly turned back to Marie and met her gaze. "Why did it take you so long to show up?"
"I was recovering, Rock, it took me some time," Marie explained, holding back the urge to throw herself into her son's arms. "I was not well, it wasn't that serious, but I needed time to fully get back on my feet." She shook her head, a teardrop escaping her eye. "I didn't want to put you through all that again, I was still quite frail." She turned to look at Terry and gave him a grateful nod before meeting Rock's gaze again. "I realised that you were in good hands, Isabella assured that, and I went into hiding."
Rock just stared at her. "But... but why fake your death? Why make me believe that you were... gone?"
"She was in hiding," Isabella piped up, appearing beside Kain together with his Latin American wife. "With Geese gone and Kain running about, it seemed like you were safest with Terry since Marie was the prime target for a lot of people."
Kain nodded. "Mostly my enemies. They kept quiet since they all thought Marie was... well, gone. I thought so too, at first, but felt there was something amiss. No doctor had confirmed her death, so I dug in secret."
"He spent years on that," Kain's wife piped up. "It seemed so unlikely, but he didn't give up."
Isabella smirked. "That's because I hid her so well."
"But he found out about us eventually," Marie piped up. She walked towards Rock and took his hand in hers, crying. "Rock, I'm sorry I put you through all of that, but I'm here for you now that I'm better. And I'm never leaving you again. Ever."
Rock eyes glistened with tears, a few drops eventually escaping. The memory of him holding Marie's unmoving body in his arms was clear in his mind, the emotions he felt at that time appearing clearer. He looked up at the woman in front of him, the same one that he had been pulled away from ten years ago, now standing in full health and calling to him. "Mom."
Marie was surprised when he threw his arms around her, but it was the pleasant sort of surprise.
"Aww," Kain's wife couldn't help but utter at this sentimental moment.
Andy cleared his throat as he placed a hand on Kain's shoulder. "So, dude. You're not gonna properly introduce us your wife?"
"I can do that myself," she piped up, putting an arm around Kain. "I'm Rosalinda."
"Sweet name," Benimaru nodded. "You two make a nice couple."
Rosalinda beamed. "Thank you!"
Terry placed a hand on Rock's trembling back as he let out sobs against his mother's shoulder. Marie eventually pulled away and touched Rock's face, also sobbing hysterically.
"You guys should catch up on the years that separated you from each other," Terry finally said. "Let's go for lunch."