The King of Fighters 2001

One year has passed since most of Southtown was decimated by the now-destroyed Zero Cannon and that many fighters are determined to make the NESTS cartel pay for their henious act. Upon realizing that they're now the target of everyone who's gotten in their way, the NESTS cartel decides to host the 2001 KOF tournament so that they can use it as a method to eliminate their sworn enemies. To this end, the organization sends four of their top fighters to enter into the competition, which includes the beautiful but enigmatic Kula Diamond, the top NESTS agent Foxy, the psychotic Kyo Kusanagi clone K9999, and the ditzy yet dangerous brawler Angel. After winning the tournament, the Hero Team (K', Maxima, Whip, and Lin) boards a special blimp to celebrate their victory, but both K' and Lin are suspicious when there's barely anyone around. Suddenly, the blimp breaks apart its back portion and transforms into a rocket-like ship, sending the Hero Team on an unexpected trip into the highest of the skies. As the Hero Team tries to figure out on what's going on, a mysterious man who's wearing a familiar outfit from the past greets the fighters and tells them that he's the Original Zero. He then goes on to explain that the Zero from 2000 was nothing more than a clone that developed self-consciousness from within his mind and that he was doomed to failed from within his attempt to destroy NESTS. Along with his pet black lion Glaugan, a mysterious Chinese ninja named Ron (who seems to have a connection to Lin), and a dangerous clone of Krizalid, Original Zero gives the Hero Team one hell of a fight and that the aftermath leaves most of its members down and out. In the end, K' overcomes Original Zero's power and defeats him with his developed power, causing Original Zero to realize his inevitable defeat at the hands of the Hero Team. When the rocket-like ship arrives at a strange space station, Original Zero tells the Hero Team to head towards the leader of NESTS and that the fate of Original Zero is unknown, due to the fact that he stayed onboard the rocket-like ship during its fiery descent back to Earth. Meanwhile at an undisclosed location on the ground, K9999 and Angel suddenly betrays their teammates and eliminate Foxy with no second thought, leaving Kula to fight against her former friends alone. While that happens, the Hero Team rushes to the main room of the space station and confronts the leader of NESTS, which happens to be an old man named Igniz. Before they realize it, a shrouded man standing next to Igniz places his left hand upon Igniz's head and vaporizes him into dust, revealing to everyone that he's the true Igniz and that the sole purpose of the NESTS cartel was to gather the battle data of the KOF fighters so that he could insert it into his body and become a new god to the people of Earth. Igniz then goes on to tell K' that himself, Kula, and the other clones of Kyo Kusanagi were nothing more than guinea pigs in his eyes and that they were considered obsolete in his point of view. To prove his new god-like fighting abilities, Igniz challenges the Hero Team to a death match upon sight and that he shows no mercy to any of them, defeating Maxmia, Whip, and Lin with ease. Though Igniz had the upper hand from within the earlier part of the fight, K's determination and the will to surpass his genetic limits had allowed him to harness his true power and defeat Igniz with ease, thus causing Igniz's plan to take over the world to fall apart upon sight. In a final and despearte move, Igniz tries to destroy the Hero Team by turning the entire space station into a kamikaze-like comet, hoping to smash it into the ocean. Though Igniz perishes from within his effort, the Hero Team survives the ordeal miraculously and rendezvous with one another upon a sandy beach. As everyone goes their separate ways, K' is reunited with his sister Kula, who was able to survive the battle against her former friends, and that the two siblings join forces as they embark to experience true life and happiness from within their new adventure

• The King of Fighters 2001 at the official Japanese website of SNK Playmore
• The King of Fighters 2001 at MobyGames