Match 18109 Ken Masters vs. Ash Crimson

[JohnnyChany]

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GAINING AN EDGE: A MASSIVE FIGHTING GAME CROSSOVER

PART 192

Inside the Yata Village, M. Bison had greatly underestimated the ancient knight that currently opposed him and it was costing him dearly. (REF: SIEGFRIED VS. M. BISON) He could not overwhelm Siegfried with his Psycho Power and the longer the fight went on the more desperate Bison became.

The evil dictator slid across the ground in an attempt to trip up Siegfried. The knight held his massive sword like a pillar to block the sweep and then swung it at Bison with such force that it spun Bison like a top. An overhead swipe from Siegfried’s sword knocked Bison to the ground. Siegfried then dragged the leader of Shadoloo across the ground with his sword before flinging him into a nearby tree.

Embarrassed, Bison quickly rose back up and levitated in the air. “I will crush you!”

Bison jumped on Siegried’s head with his Head Press technique and followed up with a Somersault Skull Driver, but was unable to connect as Siegfried swatted him away with an upward slash from Soul Calibur. Siegfried slashed Bison across the face with his blade. He then juggled Bison with two forward kicks before impaling him through the chest with Soul Calibur, lifting him in the air, and slamming him on the ground. Siegfried pressed his sword deeper into Bison’s body before finally pulling it out.

“I will vanquish your evil,” Siegfried proclaimed as he slashed downward aggressively at Bison’s body.

With each slash, the blue light energy surrounding Soul Calibur became brighter and brighter to an almost blinding degree. The spirit inside Soul Edge thirsted for the obliteration of Bison’s evil power. Using some of his fading Psycho Power, M. Bison teleported away and appeared behind Seigfried.

Bison’s body was breaking down and his movement was labored but he remained obstinate. “I will never lose to the likes of you!”

Bison attacked Siegfried with his Double Knee Press technique. Siegfried interrupted the move with a mighty swing of Soul Calibur. This time, Siegfried launched Bison into the air with his sword. Siegfried dragged Soul Calibur across the ground, blue mystic energy and fire enveloped the blade, as Siegfried mustered up all his strength and power into one heavy swing that almost cut the falling Bison in half.

The wicked warlord was sprawled out at Siegfried’s feet. He was dying and Siegfried intended to end his suffering with one or two more strikes. Suddenly, Soul Calibur began to act up and it flashed a dire warning.

Siegfried regarded his weapon for a few moments and then the realization sunk in. “I am too late. Soul Edge has been restored. (REF: MOMIJI VS. ZASALAMEL) I must make haste to the never ending maze right away.”

Without another word, Siegfried left the village. Luckily for Yata Village, the Shadoloo grunts had also already fled when they saw their leader being cut down by the imposing knight. 

Chizuru Kagura, who had to watch helplessly as the evil overlord, M. Bison beat down her friend and fellow Sacred Treasure, Kyo Kusanagi before Seigfried’s arrival (REF: KYO KUSANAGI VS. M. BISON), struggled to get back to her feet. She walked over gingerly and knelt beside the broken body of Kyo.

“One nightmare is seemingly over, but the other is still ongoing,” she whispered. “I know you feel it too. The presence of Orochi.”

An unexpectedly welcome sight in the form of Ash Crimson strutted his way into the village. He cocked an eyebrow at all the destruction brought about by Shadoloo before he found the battered heroes in the center square.

“Chizuru, I had heard you had run into some trouble. But, this place looks like hell,” he remarked.

“I never thought I would be so happy to see you,” Chizuru replied. “Does this mean Elizabeth was able to convince you to take the Yata Mirror to help seal away Orochi?”

Ash was nonchalant in his response. “Well, I had my own plans (REF: GEN VS. ASH CRIMSON), but that crazy old demon could throw a wrench in things so better to take care of him now.”

“Wonderful. Although now we have run into another snag since Kyo is in no condition to use his own Treasure,” Chizuru lamented.

“I’m sure we will figure something out. First, you have to tell me what happened here,” stated Ash.

Chizuru pointed at M. Bison’s body. “He did. It’s a long story, but the condition of my village is the result of him and his Psycho Power.”

Ash turned to look at Bison and could feel the energy still emanating from him. “Interesting.”

“Arrggh! I didn’t make it time!”

The shout came from Ken Masters who had also reached the center of the village. (REF: IBUKI VS. MAI SHIRANUI)

“Where is Ryu? Where is Bison?” Ken asked.

“Ryu is not here,” answered Chizuru. “I can only assume you are one of his friends. As for Bison, see for yourself.” Chizuru directed Ken toward the defeated body of Bison.

“Who did this? You?” Ken wondered.

“I wish. Bison was defeated by a mighty knight. He suddenly left before finishing him off.” Chizuru paused for a moment. “It was a very confusing turn of events but we have more pressing concerns. The return of Orochi has occurred. That was what Kyo and your friend, Ryu, went to face.” (REF: RYU VS. OROCHI)

“What is Orochi?” Ken inquired.

Chizuru lost her footing and collapsed into Ash Crimson’s arms. “I apologize. I am still weakened by Bison’s attack.”

Ash smiled. “No worries.” Ash then looked over to Ken. “Hey you, friend of Ryu, why don’t you take Chizuru here back to where she can properly recover. She can tell you all about Orochi. I already know the story. I want to stay out here for a bit and help clean up. It’s a mess.”

Ken escorted Chizuru back to her bead while a couple of other villagers lifted up Kyo. Chizuru told Ken the story of Orochi and the three tribes who finally defeated him and the pact they made to keep him sealed away. She then detailed the Three Sacred Treasures required to restore the seal and the tenuous position they were now in.

“You believe everything going on with Soul Edge damaged the seal?” asked Ken.

“I know it did,” answered Chizuru. “I can’t feel Orochi’s presence as strongly as I did before so your friend must have done a good job holding him off. Ryu must be really strong to even momentarily slow down Orochi. Still, he can’t seal him without the Treasures. Last I talked to Iori, he was already in route to Orochi’s location. I asked the man you saw outside, Ash, to come and take my Treasure so that he could use it to help complete the seal.”

Ken was confused. “Your sacred treasure is something you can just give away?”

 “Not really. The mirror is inside me.  But, Ash has the ability, he has done it before, even when we didn’t want him to,” Chizuru replied. “His ability may be our only answer at this point.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am in no condition to face Orochi so I asked Ash to come take the Yata Mirror. Now, Kyo is out of commission as well so we need a strong fighter to take his Kusanagi Sword. I think you may be that strong fighter, Mr. Masters.”

“Kyo has a sword inside him?”

“Go and bring Ash back here. We don’t have a lot of time to spare,” Chizuru urged.

Ken returned to the center of the village and looked on in horror as Ash Crimson phased his hand into M. Bison’s chest to absorb his energy.

“What are you doing?” Ken demanded.

“Taking his Psycho Power, obviously,” Ash replied.

“You can’t do that,” Ken protested.

Annoyance flowed from Ash’s retort. “And yet here I am doing it.” .

“No. I mean you shouldn’t. That power is too dangerous. It is better off laying dormant with a dying Bison,” Ken explained.

“Power is only scary if you don’t know how to control it,” Ash opined. “I know a pop star who utilizes a version of Psycho Power just fine.”

 “It’s not the same,” Ken insisted. “You don’t know Bison like I do. His soul is tied to his power. If you absorb his power, his soul will take over your body and we will have to deal with him again.”

Ash scoffed. “He can try.”

Ken hurriedly kicked Ash away from Bison’s body. “I said stop.”

Ash brushed himself off. “I don’t know if Chizuru told you or not, but I don’t take too kindly to people telling me what to do.”

“The fate of the world is more important than your authority issues,” Ken shot back.

“Don’t lecture me about the fate of the world, I sacrificed myself to save the world….” Ash rubbed his chin. “Wait a minute, you're him aren’t you? The guy that beat up Iori. (REF: KEN MASTERS VS. IORI YAGAMI) It’s partly your fault that we are in this mess.”

“There is nothing that I did that lead to the resurrection of Orochi,” stated Ken.

“Keep telling yourself that. Fact is, Iori and Kyo would have still been together if it weren’t for you and we would be in a much better position to contain Orochi.”  Ash placed his hands on his hips. “There is definitely no way I’m listening to you. Now step aside so I can finish what I was doing. M. Bison’s Psycho Power may be the key to controlling the power I was feeling off that other old man.”

“No. Come with me back to Chizuru so we can be entrusted with the Sacred Treasures to seal Orochi,” Ken instructed.

“Sure. After I am done.”

“You stealing M. Bison’s Psycho Power is not an option,” Ken repeated.

Ash sighed as he formed a green flame between his fingers, “There you go trying to tell me what to do again. You really can’t help yourself from making things harder than they need to be.”

“Are you trying to fight me?” asked Ken. “We are all needed for this mission.”

“Chizuru may think so, but I disagree. I’ve held multiple Sacred Treasures before and with them and Bison’s power I could probably take Orochi on solo,” Ash guessed.

Ken was in disbelief. “Does your arrogance know no bounds?”

“One man’s arrogance is another man’s well-earned confidence.”

 

 

 

 

[Callisto]

Learn More About
Ken Masters
Read more about Ken Masters at Wikipedia
Official Site: Capcom Links: Ken's Wiki Page Street Fighter Wiki Cyberfuturism

Ash Crimson
Read more about Ash Crimson at Wikipedia
Official Site: SNK Links: Wikipedia SNK Wiki Giant Bomb

[leroypowell3]

Ken always gets way overshadowed by Ryu. I think he's got Ash's number here.

[patrickthekid]

I don't think so. Ken's definitely the kind of guy to underestimate Ash and get his chi powers stolen as a result.

[Pizzaguy2995]

Ken wins this. His skills, ki abilities, and scaling feats far outclass Ash’s.

[JohnnyChany]

In Ash's defense he took out all of the top KOF contenders during his run although he hadn't got to Kyo yet. He was also the only KOF protagonist to fight the main villain of his arc solo.

In tournament, both men have probably had two of the strongest runs of any contenders.

Ken has defeated the 2nd KOF protagonist K', Kyo's main rival, Iori, and Dead or Alive finalist, Hitomi.

Ash has beaten Edge Master's protege and eventual replacement in Soul Calibur V, Kilik, the ancient demonic soul eater from Street Fighter, Necalli, and the skilled assassin, Gen, who battled Akuma on and off all the way to Street Fighter V.

 

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
5.00 - patrickthekid

FPA Calculation:
1 Total Votes cast
5.00 Total Combined Score
5.00 / 1 = 5.00 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Ken Masters: 9
Ash Crimson: 1

[DSkillz]

Sorry I missed this one, Johnny. Good set-up. It's good to see Bison apparently finished off for good, though. 

I honestly wouldn't have been too sure on who to vote for in this one. Ken sometimes underestimates his opponents, but Ash occasionally tends to struggle using powers he's not familiar with.