PLOTThe King of Fighters is a tournament held in an alternate dimension.
When contestants are issued challenges, they enter the tournament via a
special
bluetooth headset.
At a museum in
Boston, Mai Shiranui and her boyfriend Iori Yagami
attend a private unveiling of three relics: The Kagura Mirror, the
Yagami Necklace and the Kusanagi Sword. All three relics are believed to
have the capability to open a portal into another dimension, where the
mystical entity known as the
Orochi resides. Legend says that whoever
controls the Orochi will be granted limitless powers.
Suddenly, Rugal Bernstein storms into the exhibit, shooting at
everyone in sight and slashing Chizuru Kagura in the stomach with the
Kusanagi Sword before running off with all three relics. He uses his
blood and that of Chizuru to open a portal and disappear before he is
captured. However, the sword does not vanish with him. It is revealed to
Mai by Chizuru that the sword is a fake, and only Saisyu Kusanagi knows
the whereabouts of the real sword. Chizuru also warns Mai that she
alone must defeat Rugal and that Iori should not be involved.
Mai heads to a mental institution, where Saisyu has resided for the
past 10 years and remains in a catatonic state. There, she meets his
son, Kyo Kusanagi, who is unfamiliar with Chizuru or the stolen relics.
She leaves the room and heads to her car, while Kyo puts his father to
bed and reads him a book of proverbs. Mai decides to stay in her car in
front of the institution until the next morning, when Iori meets her
there. When they return to Saisyu's room, Iori's presence suddenly
breaks Saisyu's catatonic state, and the elder Kusanagi threatens to
kill Iori before losing consciousness and dying.
Meanwhile, at another hospital where Chizuru is recovering from her
injury, she is informed by her colleague Scott that Rugal has altered
the King of Fighters database and issued challenges to all fighters
around the world. Mature and Vice are lured in and defeated by Rugal,
who makes them his servants.
CIA agent Terry Bogard enters
Chizuru's room, demanding information on Rugal's whereabouts and the
tournament. She tells him of the different dimensions that exist, but he
does not believe a word. Chizuru then tells Terry to go to Seattle and
ask Mai, who is actually an undercover operative sent by the CIA to
infiltrate Chizuru's organization a year ago.
At a cemetery in
Seattle, where Saisyu is buried, Kyo and Iori
confront each other once again. Iori explains that both Kusanagi and
Yagami clans were destined to be enemies. Mai hitches a ride with Kyo to
his home, where she explains to him that she is looking for the
Kusanagi Sword. Kyo tells her that centuries ago, according to family
folklore, a Yagami ancestor attempted to release the Orochi, but it
consumed him with murderous rage. Kyo's ancestor killed the Yagami and
returned the Orochi into its world. Mai tells Kyo that Rugal is out to
unleash the Orochi once again. Kyo, meanwhile, wants to confront Rugal,
who destroyed his father's mental state.
At a hotel, Mai and Kyo meet up with Iori and Terry. It is revealed
that Rugal is using the tournament dimension to merge it with the real
world. After Mai blows her cover in front of Kyo, Iori puts on his
Bluetooth headset and enters the tournament dimension to confront Rugal.
There, he defeats Mature and Vice in combat, only to have his mind
consumed by the Orochi.
The next day, Kyo is lured into the tournament dimension, where he
first fights Rugal and loses, but is allowed to live as a warning. This
prompts him to bring out his ancestral sword and join Chizuru and Terry
into the tournament after Mai is dragged in by Rugal. When the four meet
up, they are separated into different dimensions, with Kyo fighting
Rugal and Mai and Terry facing Mature and Vice. In the middle of a sword
fight, Rugal is about to decapitate Kyo when Iori suddenly appears and
intervenes. Here, Rugal reveals to Kyo that several years back, he
battled Saisyu, Chizuru and Iori over control of the Orochi. During that
fight, Iori allowed the Orochi to take over his body, defeating Rugal,
but also destroying Saisyu's mental state by bashing his head against a
wooden barrier several times. This leads to a fight between Kyo and
Iori. Kyo slashes Iori in the back, releasing the Orochi from his body.
Disappointed by the outcome of the fight, Rugal sends Kyo, Iori and
Mai into another dimension to face them with his full potential. Chizuru
and her multiple clones appear, revealing that she has found the mirror
and the necklace. The heroes fail in their first attempt to combine the
relics and trap Rugal, with Chizuru mortally wounded. Mai takes her
place as the mirror holder, but as she, Kyo and Iori corner Rugal, they
are once again overcome by his powers. Rugal destroys Kyo's sword, but
as he is about to finish him off with a fireball, Kyo magically
generates a new sword to block it. He then throws the sword and destroys
Rugal.
Back in the real world, Scott places a lantern on the ocean in memory
of Chizuru. Kyo decides to keep the family tradition by continuing with
the tournament. He reflects on his late father's teachings while Iori
stares at him from the other side of the pier.