NESTS Chronicles

The NESTS Chronicles, also known as the NESTS Saga is the second story arc in The King of Fighters series. It covers the events found in The King of Fighters '99 through The King of Fighters 2001.

=Past= NESTS is a secret organization that had control over all kinds of criminal activity throughout the world. Their dealings made many corporations around the globe to go bankrupt. Their members were wanted by all investigation agencies, but no one could find their headquarters, since their true location was on a satellite hovering around the world. NESTS had a high-technological arsenal of weapons and machines at their disposal, which allowed them to research on many fields of science, specifically on bio-engineering.

Sometime during the Orochi Saga (possibly during KOF '95-'96), they learned about the Orochi power, as well as Kyo Kusanagi. When Kyo was knocked out after the fight with Orochi, they kidnapped him and beginning the "Kusanagi Cloning Program", a experiment where children were turned into human weapons based on Kyo's appearance. One of these children for this program was a boy with an unknown name, and his sister Seirah. In 1998, the boy was made to participate in the Kusanagi cloning program. He was infused with Kyo Kusanagi's DNA, which gave him the power of pyrokinesis, as well as a clone based on his appearance named Krizalid. During the program, his memory was tinkered with, and he was made to believe that he was Krizalid's clone. Any real memories from his past has either been erased by NESTS, forgotten, or repressed. With his memories suppressed, and now working for NESTS, the boy with no name now became known as K'; who would eventually become NESTS's ultimate downfall.

= Story =

New Challengers, New Rules
Two years after The King of Fighters '97, The King of Fighters tournament returned in full force. However, this new tournament came with a surprising new rule; Teams were no longer comprised of 3 members, but rather 4. This 4th member of a Team would be dubbed as "Strikers", allowing them to be summoned at any time during a match for assistance, albeit for limited attempts. With these new rules in place, every single team was shaken up with new dynamics:


 * Benimaru Nikaido and Shingo Yabuki, two of Kyo's closest friends, are given a special invitation to KOF with preset members for their team, with those members being K' and Maxima. With this, the Japan Team is undone, and becomes this year's Hero Team. Goro Daimon, Kyo and Benimaru's friend, returns to his Judo carrer.


 * Mai Shiranui joins with the Fatal Fury Team, fulfilling her desire to be close to her loved Andy.


 * Takuma Sakazaki returns to the Art of Fighting Team, after two tournaments off.


 * A mysterious new agent by the name Whip joins the Ikari Warriors Team with Leona, Ralf and Clark.


 * Sie Kensou suddenly lost his Psycho Power, but appears in the possession of a boy named Bao. Confused why this is happening, the young child joins KOF along with Athena Asamiya and Chin Gentsai to form the Psycho Soldier Team.


 * King takes over the leadership of the Women Fighters Team, and Kasumi returns to fight for the team after one tournament off, after an invitation of the bartender and Mary. Li Xiangfei also joins up with them.


 * Jhun Hoon, Kim Kaphwan's old friend and rival, joins the Korea Justice Team to assist in Kim's "Rehabilitation Project".


 * Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami enters to this tournament alone (Iori for the second time solo). Both wish to know the intentions of the cartel.

Fallen Angel
Once again, all of the teams fought will all their strength, culminating with the Hero Team winning The King of Fighters '99. However, during the tournament, several reports from many agencies reported that many people with the appearance of Kyo Kusanagi have shown up in various locations around the world, a feat that Heidern requests the Ikari Team to look into.

During the finals, the Hero Team is taken to an underground base to meet Krizalid, an agent who reveals himself to be a member of the mysterious organization NESTS. Krizalid reveals that the whole tournament was used to record combat data from all of the fights he obtained to activate an army of Kyo clones that NESTS themselves had created after the fight against Orochi. He is faced in two states: first he appears with a special coat that analyzes an opponent's data. Once he's defeated, he burns away his coat and increases his strength while having stronger moves. K' used everything that he had and more to take down Krizalid.

After Krizalid's defeat, his superior kills him via falling debris while other members of NESTS attack K' and Maxima, who are both revealed to be former NESTS agents and that the duo succeed in defeating their enemies before making their escape from the collapsing location of their battle against Krizalid. K' then discovers that he is a test subject designed to replicate Kyo's techniques. Interested in learning more about his stolen past, he decides to take down NESTS, with Maxima helping him.

Aftermath
After caused an explosion, which caused many of the fighters to get caught up in. Terry Bogard however, was nowhere to be found, with his glove being the only thing left. Takuma Sakazaki was seemingly crushed underneath the rubble, although he humorously broke out of it shortly afterwards. Athena was caught underneath the falling rubble and passed out. Though he has no memory of it, Kensou saved her with a formidable latent energy known as the Dragon Spirit.

A few hours after the tournament's conclusion, Whip returned back to the area where the final battle took place and found Krizalid, still barely alive from the crash. She asks Krizalid if he remembers his father's face, to which he discovers that he cannot remember. Whip reveals to him the reason why he couldn't is because he was not her brother; K' was. Krizalid would shortly die realizing that he was K' clone. His corpse was later taken into custody by the Ikari mercenaries, with Whip crying silently.

Anti-K'
Nearly a year after the events of the 1999 tournament, Heidern is determined to figure out the objective of the NESTS cartel so that he can stop them from achieving their ruthless ambition. A fellow commander and long-time friend of Heidern, named Ling, tells the veteran fighter that K' and Maxima may hold the key to locating the whereabouts of the mysterious organization. Using this information, Heidern decides to focus his efforts on finding the duo so that they can be captured and interrogated for information.

The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
This section is currently considered non-canon to the NESTS Chronicles.

Project Zhe Prime
Nameless is the 9,999th K' clone and the only survivor of "Project ". He is known by NESTS by his codename "'" or "Zhe Prime". For as long as he can remember, he knew only pain and suffering as a test experiment. He and his "brothers" (other clones dubbed as "K' children") were tested to see how normal DNA could withstand the Kusanagi DNA due to their unprecedented success with K'. Most of his brothers either exploded or suffered from severe burns from the genetic mutation. Nameless himself has come close to death at least 180 times. Eventually, the scientists learned that it required strong will power to keep the flame in check and focused on painful endurance tests.

Nameless lived a miserable existence until he spotted a beautiful yet sad girl named Isolde. Whenever he was badly injured, he would see her near the infirmary. Though he was usually too wounded to speak to her, he fell in love with her. The thought of one day being with her kept him alive through his merciless training and experiments. Once the laboratory members deemed him fit to wield the Kusanagi flame, his custom glove was grafted onto his left arm. The glove is meant to enhance his strength of will, which would theoretically make him as adept as Kyo. A similar glove design was originally planned for K' but he left before it could be used on him.

After the final testing with his glove was complete, he was sent to earth to test his combat capabilities. He unintentionally killed a woman by merely tapping her shoulder. Impressed by the results, he became an assassin for NESTS. On one of his assignments, he cornered a man who was trying to escape from the syndicate. In a bid to spare his life, the escapee confessed the truth behind Isolde.

She was a part of the Anti K' Project and was given the power to control ice. However, her abilities were deemed to be inadequate until she saw Nameless. Seeing the connection between the two subjects, NESTS allowed the two to routinely see one another to bring out their full potential. Regrettably, Isolde died from her testing. Rather than waste her progress, NESTS crafted her DNA into Nameless's glove. Her abilities keep the flames pacified until needed for use.

Nameless doesn't know if he should believe the man, but he realizes that his words have weight to them. He hasn't seen Isolde since he received his glove. Not wanting to risk losing Isolde, he unquestionably follows any orders he's given by NESTS. He hopes to one day return her to her rightful body.

=Characters=

New Characters
Characters who made their canonical debut in The King of Fighters series, ordered by their first appearance in the series.

Returning Characters
Characters who are returning from previous installments in The King of Fighters series, ordered by their first appearance in the series.

Non-Canon Characters
Characters who are not playable in this saga canonically, but do appear in Dream Match games, ordered by their first appearance in the series.

Character Strikers
Characters who appear as non-playable Strikers.

Fatal Fury/MOTW series

 * Duck King (Striker in 2000)
 * Lilly Kane (Striker in 2000)
 * Kim Dong Hwan (Striker in 2000)
 * Kim Jae Hoon (Striker in 2000)

Art of Fighting series

 * Eiji Kisaragi (Striker in 2000)

Samurai Shodown series

 * Nakoruru (Striker in 2000)

The Last Blade series

 * Awakened Kaede (Striker in 2000)

Robo Army

 * Rocky (Striker in 2000)

Burning Fight

 * Duke Edwards (Striker in 2000)

Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter series

 * King Lion (Striker in 2000)
 * Kim Sue Il (Striker in 2000)

Athena

 * Godess Athena (Striker in 2000)

Psycho Soldier

 * Psycho Soldier Kensou (Striker in 2000)

The King of Fighters series

 * Rugal Bernstein Striker in 2000)
 * Another Iori (Striker in 2000)
 * Saisyu Kusanagi (Striker in 2000)
 * Smart Chang (Striker in 2000)
 * Cool Choi (Striker in 2000)
 * Heavy-D! (Striker in 2000, only in PS2)
 * Lucky Glauber (Striker in 2000, only in PS2)
 * Brian Battler (Striker in 2000, only in PS2)
 * Heidern (Striker in 2000, only in PS2)
 * Orochi (Striker in 2000, only in PS2)

Fatal Fury series

 * Wolfgang Krauser (Striker in 2000, only in PS2)

Art of Fighting series

 * Unknown (Striker in 2000)
 * Mr. Big (Striker in 2000, only in PS2)

Quiz Dai Sousa-sen series

 * Neo & Geo (Striker in 2000)

SNK Mascot

 * G-Mantle (Playable in 2000)

NPCs

 * Ron (NPC in 2000 and 2001)
 * Diana (NPC in 2000 and 2001)
 * Candy Diamond (NPC in 2000 and 2001; debut as a Striker in 2000)
 * Luan, Chat and Sai (NPC in 2001)
 * Glugan (NPC in 2001)
 * Nests (NPC in 2001)
 * Misty (NPC in 2001)

=Notes=


 * Just like with The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters 2002 (and its remake The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match), is not listed in the story, as it is a "Dream Match" game, and is therefore non-canon.
 * However, KOF 2002 UM contains several story elements to Nameless, canon or not.
 * Due to K9999's copyright issues, he was removed from the series' history. For the sake of this summary, K9999's story will be included in this synopsis, although it is advised to check the Controversy section in K9999's page for a more in-depth explanation for his removal.
 * Several novels for the NESTS Chronicles are also canon, adding more to the lore.