| Ken VS Johnny | |
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| Season 1, Episode 10 | |
Vital statistics
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| Air date | January 2017 |
| Written by | Lion |
| Directed by | Lion |
Episode guide
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| Previous | Next |
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Ken Masters VS Johnny Cage is a What-If? Episode of DEATH BATTLE! featuring Ken Masters from the Street Fighter franchise, pitting him with Johnny Cage from the Mortal Kombat franchise.
Description[]
Cocky, smug, and popular American heroes! They may be family dudes, but that doesn't stop their love for brawling through tournaments! But which one walks out alive today?
Interlude[]
(Cue Invader: Jim Johnston)
Lion: Steak, burgers, mashed potato and hot dogs are the greatest foods that are known to exist, and they originate from one land. America.
Blade: Similarly, America has been the housing grounds of very powerful and often overconfident brawlers, that can't keep out their family members even during the tournaments.
Lion: Such as Ken Masters, the burning master of fiery Shoryukens all over the world.
Blade: Or like Johnny Cage, the star champ of the Mortal Kombat tournament.
Lion: He's Blade and I'm Lion, and it's our jobs to analyse their weapons, armor and skills to find out the winner, of a DEATH BATTLE!!!"
Ken[]
(Cue Street Fighter IV:- Drive-in at Night Stage (USA))
Lion: The son of a rich hotel tycoon, Ken Masters was like any other spoiled rich kid. Lazy, arrogant and a bit of a drag. Thankfully for him, his dad decided to pull out all the stops and ship him off to some dojo belonging to an old martial artist friend of his, Gouken, in the hopes that Ken would return home with a better attitude.
Blade: Well, he was half-right, as Gouken's training strengthened up not just Ken, but also his rival, or in most cases best friend Ryu.
Lion: Eventually, when training ended, the duo set off on their separate paths, Ryu to travel the world, whereas Ken went home and won himself his first championship. Eager to deliver the news to his trainer and friends, he returned to the dojo, only to find out that Gouken had fallen. Geez, it's always the mentor that dies. Give 'em a break.
(Cue Ken's Theme:- Street Fighter V OST)
Blade: Well, luckily for Ken, he was able to deliver this news to Ryu, and eventually, they met up to discuss the situation at hand. This was when they began to search for their master's killer, the demon known as Gōki.
Lion: Well... that and to compete in tournament matches. Eh, regardless, Ken uses a wide variety of attacks to fight, which are very similar to Ryu's. Well, give or take some special fire.
Blade: Regular punches and kicks aside, Ken has attacks such as a long-ranged sweep kick, or the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, a spinning kick that also serves in getting over any long-ranged attacks.
Lion: There's also that one move you only have two ways of surviving: jump over it or time your block right, because you won't be able to stop it with an attack unless you're Ryu. Don't know what I'm talking about, you got three seconds. Time's up, it's the Hadouken, a ball of special concentrated energy known as Ki. While this depends on the individual, it's known that Ken's Ki is hot, like fire, so it's the equivalent of having a giant fireball thrown at you.
Blade: However, Ken was never the long-ranged type, and I doubt that'll ever change. This is a given, because kicks aside, the Shoryuken is easily the best thing Ken has. It's a spinning uppercut, that, just like Ryu's, helps in sending your opponent shooting up. Ken's uppercuts are so good, that eventually, on his own, he invented the Shinryuken, which not only does additional damage while using augmented fire, which Ken has, just for information, but also drags in the opponent with a typhoon-like sucker thing.
Lion: But when the heat needs to get tuned up, Ken just has to wash away his thoughts with the Power of Nothingness, which removes all his emotions and makes his mind pure and concentrated for battle. Though admittedly, he only used it a few times, but that aside, it's still something he has and will use if it ends up being called for in any situation big or small.
(Cue Lobby:- Street Fighter IV OST)
Blade: And superhuman strength and speed is only one in the things he's been able to show. He survived being stabbed in the leg and was still able to dish out a full-force punch. Punches are known for a fact to get strength mostly when given through the legs.
Lion: That aside though, he scales to laser-dodgers and people he's beaten. Or that other time he defeated Zangief, a seven-foot tall Russian SUMO that PILEDRIVES BEARS INTO CYCLONES! Holy hell!
Blade: He's tanked a fall from a tall cliff and got back up more pissed than ever, defeated M. Bison with Ryu several times, defeated other tough foes including Birdie and Karin Kanzuki, and, while likely on a higher level, Ryu has been defeated by Ken before.
Lion: But all that aside, Ken is a family leader above everything, and is currently married and has a son named Mel and a wife too. You'd think this'd slow him down, but NOPE! He's just as arrogant as ever during a battle.
Blade: Yes, Ken is very brash, and although he isn't stupid, not one to back down in a fight, because that's practically one of his purposes for living. Well... family aside I guess.
"Come on, let's turn up the heat!"
Johnny[]
(Cue Johnny Cage's Theme)
Blade: Like the average Hollywood Actor, John Carlton was a natural, at acting, anyway. He would do it all, except the part with the stunts. While this doesn't sound too bad, it led to quite a load of arguments with the studio.
Lion: The issue was that they thought Carlton was a liar and decided to start a fight with him and called him a fraud that doesn't know how to fight or do stunts and therefore relies on doubles to do the dirty work. This led Carlton to prove it to them by entering the Mortal Kombat tournament with demons, evil conquerors, gods and all that lovely shit. Despite being purely human, however, Carlton, under his acting alias Johnny Cage, did rather well and would eventually end up one of the key people keeping demons away from Earthrealm.
(Cue Kuatan Jungle)
Blade: Cage does this with his ability to augment a strange greenish red aura into his combat skills. He can use this in slide kicks, uppercuts, punches and more.
Lion: He can even throw it at his opponents in a notched-up green bolt as a projectile, known as the Forceball. The green aura is basically the weaker one, whereas when it's red, it means Cage is being serious. He does also have the ability Mimic, which lets him create two stunt doubles at a time to join in the fray.
Blade: Additionally, this strange ability comes from his bloodline, which dates back to a race of warriors with similar powers that had a feud with the gods. This not only grants him the aura, but also the ability to coat himself in the green aura, which lets him keep up with gods like Shinnok, and even tank blows from and clobber him.
Lion: Johnny Cage's standard melee combat consists of kicks aimed for his opponent's nuts, special flip kicks, and even PUNCHES aimed for the nuts that Cage will only use on male opponents. That's some dignity right there, Johnny.
Blade: Additionally, Cage has two special X-Ray moves. One, Ball Buster, involves kneeing his opponents in... you guessed it, the balls, and BREAKING THEIR SPINE WITH A FLIPKICK, and the other, Kasting Kall, involves brutally punching them a bunch of times, then snapping their neck by doing a backflip and using it to strike upwards.
Lion: That aside, Johnny Cage is no ordinary human being, as he shows by DECAPITATING PEOPLE WITH PUNCHES AND CHOPS!
Blade: Cage is also very efficient in brutally popping out eyeballs, choking and basically finding any way for a stylish kill.
(Cue Outworld Marketplace)
Lion: Don't worry, because you WILL know to watch out once you hear of his feats! He's strong enough to match people like Scorpion and Sub-Zero in battle, and has also defeated people like Sonya Blade, Baraka, Reptile and Shinnok despite being a human.
Blade: Cage is also fast enough to keep up with them and get back up with zero scratches after being attacked by Shinnok.
Lion: He was also able to shatter diamond by breaking it, and has the strength to pull off heads with barely any issues! And it's a wonder why he's so good!
Blade: Well, not to be honest. Cage is arrogant, cocky, and believes he can get through things through and through. Sure, this got him to somebody's pants, but... that isn't combat skill, just pure luck.
Lion: Either way, this is one actor that you don't wanna mess with, or you'll go home with more than just a broken neck.
"Growing up, I was shy, I was weak. I actually got my ass kicked a lot. But martial arts changed all that, and I was reborn. And that gave the world... Johnny Cage."
Pre-Death Battle[]
(Cue Invader)
Blade: Alright, the combatants are set, let's end this debate once and for all.
Lion: It's time for a DEATH BATTLE!
DEATH BATTLE![]
(Cue Select Character Screen:- Street Fighter V OST)
World Warrior Tournament
For the second time in a row, Balrog was slammed into the ground by Ken Masters. He fell unconscious due to the blow and was instantly taken away by medics. Ken raised his fist in victory, to the crowd's cheering. He'd made it to the finals. He stared up at the board, which was drawing out his opponent. Any second now...
Bleep.
It was a man Ken had never met before. He wore sunglasses, and was otherwise shirtless and had brown hair that looked styled. Ken shrugged and got into his match stance, as the adversary came in through the other end, to the crowd's cheers.
"And we have reached the finals of our World Warrior Championships, folks! The final match will this time pit previous champion Ken Masters with newcomer Johnny Cage! Any words before the battle, brawlers?"
Johnny crossed his arms.
"You good to go?"
"Yeah, and you're going down, chump!"
"Very well then...
FIGHT!"
(Cue Johnny Cage's Theme)
It began with Ken running right forwards and pulling his fist back for a punch, which Johnny countered with one of his own. After a short reaction of fire and green energy, Johnny punched Ken in the stomach, leaving him open for a second, letting Johnny light up his fist with green and punch Ken. Ken slid backwards a bit as Johnny raised his elbow, firing off a somewhat crescent-shaped Forceball, but it was intercepted by Ken when he fired a Hadouken.
"Not bad, flashy. It's time for me to show you MY moves."
Ken jumped up and delivered a downwards kick to Johnny's cranium, stunning him and followed with an elbow, and several punches that lit themselves on burning fire as Ken punched faster, until he sent Cage flying backwards into the ground.
"Hadouken!"
Ken's attack shot straight at Johnny, who blocked it with his red aura punch, and ran forwards.
"Not shabby, bucko. This could get entertaining. Eat this!"
Johnny attempted to punch Ken with the red fist, but was intercepted in time. As Ken smirked, Johnny twisted and attempted an attack, but Ken jumped backwards in time to dodge it and kick Johnny in the skull, landing right afterwards. Johnny ignited himself in red aura and slide kicked Ken, following with a red uppercut. Ken was knocked over as Johnny picked up his near unconscious body by the gi and laughed.
"Never mess with Johnny Cage."
He pulled back his fist for a supercharged punch, but...
WHAM!
Ken used the opportunity to knee Johnny with all the force possible, causing Johnny to stumble as Ken gathered up all the Ki possible into his hands.
"SHINKOU..."
Johnny recovered and spotted the attack charging up. He raised his elbow just in time for the...
"HADOUKEN!"
The red Forceball met the Shinkou Hadouken, forming a brutal, long clash. Would the attacks ever bend? It appeared that they were fighting each other with all their power, and weren't about to stop, until...
BOOM!
The attacks erupted! Smoke surrounded the battlefield, as the two fighters, weary and exhausted, lay huffing and on knees in the ground. They gave each other a threading look as they slowly got to their feet. Ken ran forwards instantly, as Johnny crossed his arms, two "stunt doubles" appearing before him. They charged at Ken, but Ken used a roundhouse to break the first one's neck, and grabbed the other one, slamming his head into the ground and breaking it too, causing a pool of blood to appear near its head. Johnny himself ran forwards and met Ken in a fist-clash, but Ken eventually took over and grabbed Johnny's neck, kneeing his stomach and smacked his head into Johnny's. Johnny was now very dizzy and on the verge of defeat, as Ken finished by slamming Johnny into the ground, sticking him upside-down out of it.
"Never. Mess. With me. Told you I'm the best."
Ken began to walk off, but turned around as soon as he heard an aura flare to life.
"Let me tell you a story."
Cage rose back up, surrounded by green aura and fully charged up.
"Growing up, I was shy, I was weak. I actually got my ass kicked a lot. But martial arts changed all that, and I was reborn. And that gave the world... Johnny Cage."
He got into fighting stance and made sure to stomp on the ground extra-hard.
"Let me show you that man today!"
"Heh... Nice monologue, pal. Guess I'll need to show you how arrogance..."
With these words, a white aura began to surround the vicinity, as Ken was engulfed in it.
"Grows. Do you know what mine grew into? Great strength. The strength that I'll use now, to beat you!"
(Cue Ken's Theme Street Fighter II:- GaMetal)
When the white aura wore off, everything about Ken felt different. Somehow far more relaxed than before. He glared right forward at Cage, before emotionlessly raising a hand rather than keeping them at his legsides. He twitched his index, and re began the fight.
Both charged at each other at the same time, trading shot for shot. Ken got off a few punches, but Johnny did too. Ken jumped back and fired a Hadouken, which clashed when Johnny fired a Forceball. The two dashed forward and met elbows, but Ken won the elbow duel, and unleashed three Shoryukens in a row, before elbowing Johnny into the ground. But Ken was determined to end this. He reached for Johnny, lying there, but Cage grabbed him using a free arm and hurled him aside. He charged up all his power and jumped up, punching Ken as he fell. He began punching Ken lying on the ground, too. But Ken, he wasn't about to give up. As the punches landed one after another, he remembered...
"Eliza. Mel. Ryu."
Three words, and with ease, the Power of Nothingess disappeared as Ken delivered a punch that sent Cage shooting into the air and onto the ground. Getting up, Ken smirked and wiped away the blood on his chin.
"Come on, buddy, just us, in our base forms, one on one."
Johnny got up, his aura dissipating, and laughed.
"Sure!"
The two dashed at each other, fists clashing like before, but this time there was recoil, both took damage and pulled their fists right back! It all depended on the one that moved first now!
"Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!"
With those words, Ken spinning kicked the wind out of Johnny, hurling him into the air, and began igniting his fist afterwards. Just when Cage was about to land...
"Shinryūken!"
The attack sucked in Cage, igniting him on fire as it began to rip through his chest, until it tore right through and ripped him in half. With a scream, Cage's two halves landed on the ground, as Ken, tired yet victorious, got down and raised a fist.
K.O.!
Ken is given his victory trophy.
Johnny's two halves are taken away on a stretcher.
Conclusion[]
(Cue Ken's Theme:- SFV OST)
Lion: Whew, that's classic.
Blade: Yes, this was, truth to be told, very close. Johnny has kept up with people like Scorpion and Sub-Zero in the speed category, whereas Ken has dodged lasers and has been able to keep up with the likes of Ryu and M. Bison. The speed, at least, we say is close.
Lion: But you know what isn't? The gap between the two in their base forms! Sure, bring in their super-powered green and Power of Nothingness forms, but those two are a different matter. I mean, go ahead, say that Johnny has taken on the likes of Shinnok and all, but that was also only because of his bloodline. On the other hand, Ken while base, has been able to take on people like Zangief, Ryu and other powerful fighters beyond Cage's level.
Blade: Both are pretty arrogant, but Ken holds the strength and slight speed advantage in base, and is also better trained, since he's been training since he was in his early years. Cage, on the other hand, only took part in the tournaments mid-life to make himself look good. While he's kept up with rather impressive fighters, it's wrong to say that any of them are on Ken's level, when, Ken would just one-shot Johnny before the more powerful green form would come into play.
Lion: I guess Ken, made a piece of Johnny.
Blade: The winner is Ken Masters.
Next Time on DEATH BATTLE![]
(Begin Grand Trial) A hoot, a roar, a song.
The arrow, the ring, the stage.
The owl, the tiger, the merseal.
Decidueye, Incineroar, Primarina.