GUARDIANS OF EARTH
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Chapter 1
Akuma vs. Ryu: The Evil Within
by Adam Durham
Series created by Adam Durham, based on concepts, characters, and events
created by Takeuchi Naoko, John Tobias and Ed Boon of Williams-Bally/Midway,
Cstar (cstar@surfsouth.com), Mike "Sailor Cyrax" Hall
(cyrax777@hotmail.com), and Capcom Co., Ltd.
(c) 1997 Adam Durham
The Netherealm
# "Evil Theme" from Masters of the Universe (the TV series)
Goro found his voice, and spoke hesitantly. "L-lord Shinnok. To w-what d-do
we owe the honor-"
"Shut up, fool," snapped Shinnok. Almost as tall as Goro, and far more
intimidating to those who knew him, Shinnok towered over the aides on either
side of him. To his left was Quan Chi, a sorceror with a death-white face,
marked by black tattoos around his eyes; he was clad in a green bodysuit
with spiked shoulder and elbow pads, and an amulet marked with a yin-yang
symbol. To Shinnok's right, Akuma, a human with flame-red hair, a black
karate gi, and necklace of spheres, the foremost marked with a black
"ten"[1] kanji, which, if one could see his back, was mirrored in red on the
back of his gi. Shinnok himself wore robes vaguely reminiscent of the Lin
Kuei uniform, with a headpiece similar to that worn by Q from Star Trek with
his judges' robes. "My idiot son Shao Khan has begun his invasion of the
Earth Realm, and his brother Raiden plans to stop him. I'm just glad that
their other brother Fujin is staying out of it." Shinnok smiled; not
a pleasant sight. "Whichever wins, I intend to take the Earth from him and
show him how it should be ruled. You two are to be my spies. I raised you
up from the dead for this sole purpose."
"But, Lord Shinnok," Mileena began, "I had been dead for weeks before you
raised us. Khan would surely know that some outside entity had brought me
back."
"And I was killed by a disintegrating attack,"continued Goro. "Even if you
can convince Khan that it was his men who brought Mileena back, with me
there was no corpse for them to work with. An Elder God of your power may
be capable of raising me with no corpse, but neither Khan nor Tsung can-"
"Silence!" thundered Shinnok. "Look at my neck. Do you see my amulet
there? I am still powerless. Raiden has held the amulet since Sub-Zero
stole it back from me years ago. I did not raise you; you never died. My
servant Quan Chi raised Princess Mileena, but all he did for you was
teleport you out before Sailor Moon's attack struck you. That is what the
floating sensation you felt was. As for Khan believing you dead, you need
not come within his sight. Observe from the background; fight Raiden's
warriors if you must, but try to avoid anyone who would report to Khan.
Now, leave me!" Shinnok raised his hand, and Quan Chi, ever obedient to his
master, cast a spell that teleported the two Outworlders to Earth.
Akuma spoke. "Lord Shinnok, I have an idea. One of Raiden's warriors, a
man named Hoshi Ryu, was trained by Gouken, the brother of Gouki, the man
who once owned this body. I have fought him before; he is an excellent
warrior. He is also vulnerable to the same temptation of power I fell to
when I became your servant. Let me fight him; I can lure him to our side."
"It is an excellent idea, Akuma." Shinnok turned to face the Brothers of
Shadow that ringed the back of the room. "I will need a volunteer. Someone
who will take control of this Hoshi Ryu's body."
>From the center of the semicircle stepped a ninja. "I, Noob Saibot, accept
this assignment. If my lord wills it, I will be the one to take control of
the human's body. It will be a challenge, but I am certain that I can
handle it."
"Very well then. Akuma, go and fight Ryu. Draw him into my power. Noob
Saibot, you will wait here until Akuma has opened Ryu, then you shall
strike."
"Yes, master," answered both of Shinnok's servants, and Akuma teleported
away.
[1] "Heaven"
Shadaloo City, Shadaloo, Earth
"Hey, Ryu, I'm going home to check on Eliza and Mel. You know where Dhalsim
is?" Ken Masters, American actor turned con artist, stood in the relief
station in Shadaloo City, where he and Hoshi Ryu, his old friend and
training partner, had been working. After the fall of General Vega and
the Shadaloo Tong organized crime syndicate, they had been making good on
their promise to Colonel Guile to help with the relief work in Shadaloo.
But Ken had a wife and kid back in San Francisco, and took every chance he
got to see them.
"I am here," said a voice from behind him.
"Geez!" Ken spun around. "Will you stop doing that?" Dr. Dhalsim, a
scientist native to India, had been one of Vega's captives. He had been
forced to turn Nash Blanka, lieutenant in the A.N. and a personal friend
of Col. Guile, into a mutant monster. In the process, Dhalsim was himself
exposed to the mutagens, and had gained some strange abilities, including
the ability to exhale fire and teleport. While some are capable of these
feats through intense training, Dhalsim had gained the use of these ki
manifestations instantly, and he often forgot to announce his sudden
appearances. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled. But please tell us next time you
decide to drop in, okay?" Dhalsim began to answer, but Ken cut him off.
"Can you take me back home to see Eliza today?"
"I heard your question earlier, and yes, I will take you home. In fact, I
can take you now, if you wish."
"Great! Let's go!"
As they disappeared from sight, Ryu returned to the cleaning he had been
doing, shaking his head. "Ken may be a great husband, but I wish he'd wait
until the work was done to leave...." Suddenly, unexpectedly, the sky
darkened. "Strange, a minute ago there wasn't a cloud in the sky." Ryu
looked out the window, and gaped at what he saw. Corpses littered the
street. Black clouds filled the sky, surrounding a red vortex. He stepped
out, hoping to find someone he could ask about what had just happened, when
he heard a voice behind him.
"It's been a long time, Ryu. Have you improved?"
Ryu whirled, to find, standing behind him, a man he had fought many times
before. "Akuma! What are you doing here? Do you have anything to do with
this, you murderer?"
Akuma chuckled. "Perhaps. But you will have to defeat me before I will
tell you." So saying, he teleported behind Ryu and, with a cry of
"Tatsumaki Zankuukyaku!" [2], leaped into the air, his right foot whipping
out as he spun, making three complete revolutions and hitting Ryu with each,
the small purple lightning that ran up his leg electrifying Ryu and dropping
him to the ground.
Ryu was weakened, and he still tingled from the electricity, but as Akuma
stood over his fallen form, he leaped upward, channeling his ki into an
uppercut, shouting "Shoryuken!" [3] The punch caught Akuma on the chin,
sending him flying back. As he landed, Ryu brought his hands together,
channelling his ki into a ball of energy in his hands, which he flung
forward, saying "Hadoken!" [4]
Akuma countered, shouting "Messatsu gou hado!" [5] The ki ball which flew
from his hands blew through Ryu's own, and struck Ryu dead on in the chest,
scorching his gi and burning his chest. Ryu staggered back, clutching at
the wound. A cruel grin creased Akuma's features as he moved in for the
kill.
Ryu, desperate and needing an attack with which he could defeat Akuma
quickly, reached deep inside himself and summoned forth all his ki. He
channelled it all into an attack which he had seen Akuma use before... the
attack that had killed his master, Gouken: the Shun-goku-satsu. [6] He
teleported forward a short distance, grabbing Akuma as he ran towards him,
and pummelling him. Fifteen times he hit him, the ki released by the
fierceness of the blows giving off a blinding light. As Akuma's barely
conscious form slumped to the ground, something incredible happened. The
light died, replaced by a black flame which welled up in a geyser around
Ryu. A pure black presence poured into Ryu's mouth and nose, and the flame
died out. Ryu's gi had turned a black as dark as Akuma's own. A red flame
appeared at the small of his back, and it burned outward in the shape of a
"ten" kanji. The flame burned itself out, leaving the kanji emblazoned on
Ryu's gi.
As Akuma, in severe pain from the beating Ryu had given him, teleported
away, that same evil smile could be seen on his face.
[2] "Dragon Slashing Wind Kick"
[3] "Rising Dragon Fist"
[4] "Wave-Motion Fist"
[5] "Murderous Magnificent Wave-Motion Destruction"
[6] "Instant Hell Murder"
Prince Goro
GREGORY PAUL MARTIN
Shinnok
REINER SCH�NE
Princess Mileena
DANA HEE
Akuma
DAVID KAYE
Noob Saibot
KEVIN LUND
Ken Masters
KENJI HAGA
Dr. Dhalsim
YUKIMASA KISHINO
Hoshi Ryu
K�JIR� SHIMIZU
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/1478/goe.htm
(c) Recycadelic Cacti Productions MCMXCVIII