GUARDIANS OF EARTH
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Chapter 2
Ken vs. Baraka: A Rude Welcoming

by Adam Durham

Street Fighter created by Capcom Co., Ltd.
Mortal Kombat created by Ed Boon and John Tobias of Williams Bally-Midway
Sailor Cyrax created by Mike Hall (cyrax777@hotmail.com)
Sailor Moon created by Takeuchi Naoko
Aa!  Megami-sama! created by Kosuke Fujishima
Yuu Yuu Hakusho created by Yoshihiro Togashi
With events borrowed from The Cyrax Saga by Cstar (cstar@surfsouth.com),
Life and Times by Donny Cheng (chengdo@shaw.wave.ca) and Endworld: Moon Run
and The FFML Royal Rumble by Christian A. "Flashman" Rogers
(mxjk67c@prodigy.com)
All other characters and events are property of their respective owners.
This was written without permission from any of the owners of the original
series, but with permission from the fanfic authors.  Please don't sue me; I
have little to no money, and I'm not making any off of this.

*=thoughts; \=emphasis

(c) 1998 Adam Durham

San Francisco, California, USA, Earth
1995
# "On the Outside" -Sheryl Crow, Songs in the Key of X

Ken and Dhalsim appeared on the lawn of Ken's San Francisco home.  *Funny,*
thought Ken.  *Here I am, heir to a family fortune, not to mention an
Oscar-winning actor and married to the most beautiful woman in the world,
and all I do is traipse around the world with Ryu scamming money from
crooks.  Maybe it's time I settled down and gave Mel a real dad for a
change.*

Dhalsim said something, breaking Ken from his thought.  "What was that,
doc?"

"I said," replied the scientist, "that perhaps you should go inside and say
hello, instead of standing on the lawn admiring the house all day."

Ken had to grin at that.  "Yeah, I suppose I'd better."  He walked up to the
door, unlocked and opened it, and began to step inside.  "Hey, Dhalsim," he
called, "you coming?"  When there was no reply, Ken shrugged.  *Must've left
already.  Strange, I didn't notice any wind before....*  A howling sound
seemed to surround him, and the sky had darkened.  He looked up, expecting
to see stormclouds, or just about anything other than the sight that greeted
his eyes: a red, swirling, turbulent vortex.  "What the hell...?"  Ken
looked at the ground where his friend had stood.  Now the good doctor was
crumpled on the ground, his limbs bent at unnatural angles.  "Dhalsim!"  Ken
ran to his friend, knelt down, and checked for a pulse.

*He's dead.  What could've... oh my God!*  "Eliza!  Mel!"  He dashed toward
the house, crashing through the open doorway and searching all the rooms.  A
look into the master bedroom confirmed his worst fears.  There were his wife
and six-year-old son, sprawled on the floor.  His Academy Award (Best
Supporting Actor for Sudden Violence, in which he had costarred with Johnny
Cage, whose performance had earned him a Best Actor) was clutched in his
dead wife's hand.  *She must've been telling him about me.  I wonder what
she had to say?  Probably tearing me down for being away all the time.*  He
could hold back no longer.  Holding Eliza's free hand in his own, he cried
tears of grief.  "Eliza... Mel... whoever did this to you will answer to me,
I swear it."  *If I'd only known this might happen, I'd have never gone to
Shadaloo in the first place.  I'd have stayed home and protected them....*

Ken walked out of the mansion.  *There's nothing left for me here except
pain.*  Climbing into the car, he thought back to the award his wife had
been gripping.  *Johnny... maybe he could help me.  He's almost as good a
fighter as I am, and has enough honor that he \would\ help me, if I only
asked.  I think he's in Hollywood now, wrapping up principal photography for
Mortal Kombat 2; guess I'd better give him a call.  Wait a minute... Mortal
Kombat... that portal in the sky is just like the one he claimed he went
through to get to Outworld.  Oh my... it's \real!\*  Ken snatched up his
cell phone and dialed Cage's own cell phone number.  "Come on, Johnny, pick
up the damn phone!  The Outworld's falling down around us, and I need your
help!"

A voice answered Ken, but not from the phone, which continued to ring.  "Him
beyond your reach, human.  Him spirit on way to afterlife, and yours join it
soon!"  Ken looked in his mirror and saw a nightmare.  The being behind him,
clad in black pants and a white tank top, was mostly human, except for the
teeth and the blades.  Its teeth were sharp, needle-like projections,
jutting from both lipless jaws.  Around its forearms, blades of bone
protruded.  It extended the longest blade on its right arm, which also
happened to be the closest to its hand, and pointed at Ken with it.  "You
soft, weak, like all humans.  Baraka hate weakness!  Baraka kill!"  With
that, the creature -*one of the nomadic mutants Johnny mentioned,* Ken
realized- charged.

Ken leaped out of the car, landing on his feet, and was glad that he still
wore the red Vega-issue fighting gi, which had quickly become his favorite
outfit after he had removed the Vega sigil.  *Reminds me of my old training
gi...,* he thought, before saying aloud, "Good luck trying, plug-ugly!
Sagat was one of the best, and even he couldn't beat me!  Bring it on!"


# "Light Guardian" -Capcom, Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha

Baraka led off with a rushing swipe of its -*No, his,* Ken reminded himself;
*he may not be human, but he's still alive and a sentient being*- arm blade.
Ken leaped back, mentally berating himself.  *Terrific.  I've got to beat
the shit out of this guy, and my conscience chooses now to remind that he's
still a person.*

Baraka broke Ken from his reverie with a ki blast, snapping out the long
blades on both arms and striking them together.  The resultant spark was
fueled by the mutant's ki and flew toward Ken.  The Shotokan karate master
whipped his hands forward, countering with a Hadoken. [1] The two ki balls
dissipated, but Ken followed his in with a Tatsumaki Sempuukyaku, [2] his
foot flying out to strike the Outworld warrior in the chin five times.
Baraka just grinned and threw an uppercut, flooring Ken as he finished his
Gale Kick.  Ken wiped blood from his mouth and rolled forward for another
attack.

Unfortunately for Ken, Baraka was ready for this.  Crouching down, the nomad
brought both bladed arms forward and, extending the swords, whipped them in
vertical arcs.  Ken only had time to think, *This is gonna hurt,* before his
momentum carried him into the flying blades.  Red cloth and liquid flew, as
Baraka's natural weapons tore into Ken.  He managed to pull himself back,
and stood.  Blood seeped from a number of cuts, but none were very deep.
Baraka said, "You may have survived that, but no one ever survive Baraka
blade spin!"  The mutant flung his arms out to his sides and began spinning,
moving toward Ken as he did so.

*This is just like Zangief's spin lariat... well, since Johnny ripped off my
Shoryuken, [3] guess I'll return the favor.*  With that, Ken dropped to the
ground in a split, below the whirling blades, and thrust his fist into
Baraka's crotch.  The mutant howled in pain, retracting his blades and
bringing his hands down to grab his injured manhood.  Ken, meanwhile,
staggered to his feet and had to grit his teeth to suppress his own pain.
*I think I pulled my groin... I am \never\ doing that again.*  Dragging
himself forward, Ken recovered enough to do a set of leaping uppercuts,
shouting "Shoryureppa!" [4] The mutant fell to the ground, but Ken wasn't
done with him yet.  Grabbing the mutant by the front of his shirt, Ken
yelled, "Now, buster, what the hell happened to my family?  And what did you
mean about Johnny?"

Baraka coughed up blood.  "You want answers?  Baraka no give.  But..."

"But what, asshole?  \Answer me,\ damn it!"

"But, Baraka tell you where you get answers.  Find other defenders of Earth.
They in Hopi Mesa.  You get answers there."

"Why should I believe you?"

"You have nowhere else to go."

Ken hated to admit it, but the mutant had a point.  "Alright, you're coming
with me!"

More blood issued forth from the mutant's mouth.  "Too late...."  Baraka
slumped his head back.  Ken checked for a pulse.  *None... I didn't hit him
\that\ hard!*  Looking down, Ken saw that Baraka had thrust his own sword
into his side.  *I guess I didn't hit him that hard.  He must've been told
to die before being taken prisoner.  I wonder why he told me where to
go....*

As Ken got into his car, he would continue to wonder that for some time.
Had he been a telepath, he would have heard the answer in Baraka's final
thoughts: *Khan be proud.  Baraka help bring warriors together, make them
easier to find and exterminate.*
As it was, Ken just drove on.

[1] "Wave-Motion Fist"
[2] "Dragon Gale Kick"
[3] "Rising Dragon Fist"
[4] "Violent Rising Dragon Wave"


Somewhere Else
# "Prepare Yourself" -The Immortals, Mortal Kombat: The Album

"John Carlton," said a voice.  "Jonathan Carlton- Johnny Cage, can you hear
me?"

Johnny Cage attempted to turn toward the voice, but he had no body to turn
with.  He tried to speak, but had no mouth to produce the sound.

"Oh, that's right- you're still disembodied.  Concentrate on remembering
your body, and it will be formed."

Cage did what the strange voice told him to, and sure enough, a body formed
around him.  He found himself in a room, looking through what appeared to be
iron bars separating himself from a... five-year-old kid?!?  "Who are you,
and where am I?"

The child spoke in the voice Johnny had heard.  "I am Koenma, God of Death.
You are in the anteroom to the afterlife."

"What's with the bars?" asked Cage.

The child-god sighed.  "Because of the merger of Earth and Outworld, we
Earth gods have no power.  The bars represent the separation of our realm
from yours caused by the merger.  Needless to say, Kami-sama isn't too
pleased with this, but I'm going to have to send you back."

"Back?  Back to my body?"

Koenma nodded.  "When and if Shao Khan is defeated and the Outworld reverts
to its own plane, you will return here and I will be able to properly escort
you to Heaven or Hell.  Until then, you must return and help your old
comrades in fighting Khan."

"Wait a minute.  Which should I be in, Heaven or Hell?"

"Confidential.  I'm not allowed to tell anybody that until they actually go.
I'm sorry, but those are the rules.  Now, prepare yourself to return to
Earth."  The god of death raised an arm, and energy shot from it and
enveloped Cage, who disappeared.

Shortly after Johnny Cage disappeared, a tall, tan, platinum-blonde
woman -no, goddess- stepped out and asked Koenma, "Do you think there's a
chance Kami-sama will let him stay on Earth after Khan's gone?"

"I don't see why He would.  He died normally, not by Khan's soul theft.  Why
do you ask, Urd?"

Urd smiled.  "I still have to help him get together with Sonya Blade!"

The god of death bigsweated.  "Urd, you're goddess of the past, not of love.
Why do you feel you must take those duties, too?"

"Because it's fun, and I'm so good at it!"  Koenma facefaulted.


Hollywood, California, USA, Earth
# "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" -Marilyn Manson, Spawn Motion Picture
Soundtrack

Johnny Cage picked himself up and dusted off his clothes.  *Strange,* he
thought, *why is my view still at the same level?*  Cage also found that he
couldn't turn his head.  He could, however, move his eyes, and, scanning the
soundstage, soon found his answer.  *Oh shit....*

Johnny Cage walked forward a few feet, picked up his head, and started
toward his car.  *Although how the hell I'm gonna drive to the main portal
like this is anybody's guess.*

Ken Masters
KENJI HAGA

Dr. Dhalsim
YUKIMASA KISHINO

Baraka
DENNIS KEIFFER

Koenma
TANAKA MAYUMI

Johnny Cage (Jonathan Carlton)
LINDEN ASHBY

Urd
TOUMA YUMI

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