Akuma VS Shang Tsung

Akuma VS Shang Tsung is the second episode of Death Battle. It featured fighting game anti-hero Akuma from Street Fighter and antagonist Shang Tsung from Mortal Kombat. This episode was sponsored by Gamefly.

Screwattack
''Episode 2 - Street Fighter VS Mortal Kombat! The most powerful Street Fighter takes on Mortal Kombat's deadliest sorcerer! Who will win? Who will die?''

YouTube
''Episode 2 - Street Fighter VS Mortal Kombat! Akuma, the most powerful Street Fighter, takes on Mortal Kombat's deadly sorcerer, Shang Tsung! Using their unique skill-sets, it's a no-holds-barred duel to the death! Who will win? Who will die?''

Interlude
(*Cues: Invader - Jim Johnston*)

Wiz: Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat. Kings of the fighting genre. And every good fighter needs awesome villians.

Boomstick: Like Akuma, the ultimate badass of martial arts.

Wiz: And Shang Tsung, the sorcerous vanguard of doom.

Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And, it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find who would win a Death Battle.

Akuma
(*Cues: Street Fighter IV - Old Temple*)

Wiz: Akuma, master of The Fist. Known as Gouki in Japan, he is a living weapon, ten times stronger than nearly every other Street Fighter.

Boomstick: Plus, he looks friggin' awesome, I totally want me some red, glowing eyes.

Wiz: Akuma has dozens of powerful special attacks including the Gou Hadoken. a powerful blast with precision control. He can even use the almighty Shinku-Hadoken, which is, basically, a giant fireball of death.

Boomstick: Man, if I ever fire a Hadoken in real life, I'mma die happy.

Wiz: Akuma also uses the Shoryuken uppercut, a teleport ability, a swift multi-striking hurricane kick, and the Hyakkishu, A.K.A the Demon Flip.

(*Cues: Hideyuki Fukasawa - Volcanic Rim Orchestral*)

'''Boomstick: Also, Akuma's got tons of different Super Arts, but two really stand out. First there's the "Kongo...Kokuretsu Za... how do you say that?'''

Wiz: No idea.

'''Boomstick: Well, I'm pretty sure that's Japanese for "Fuck You Up!" 'Cause basically, Akuma punches the ground and things explode. '''

Announcer: K.O.

'''He shattered a whole friggin' mountain just by punching it. Holy shit!'''

Wiz: But that's not the deadliest move up his nonexistent sleeve. (Akuma uses his deadly move against Dan Hibiki and his health depleted afterwards) The Shun Goku Satsu, also known as the Raging Demon, literally means "Instant Hell Murder."

'''Boomstick: Man, I'm going to totally name my first kid that. The Raging Demon at full power is fatal, this guy's a frikin' onslaught of pain!'''

Wiz: That's right. Boomstick, Akuma lives for one thing, and one thing only: fighting. He travels the world day and night searching for worthy opponents. He's an unstoppable human Holocaust, losing only once to his brother Gouken, but after a brutal rematch...

Boomstick: Oh hey, look he can fingerpaint!

Wiz: It was rumored that Akuma sacrificed his soul to a demon in exchange for the strength to defeat Gouken, but this has been declared non-canon.

'''Boomstick: Akuma's got one major problem, though. His stamina is absolutely pathetic. He can dish out the pain, but he sure can't take it.'''

Wiz: It's crucial for Akuma to have total control over the fight. He takes an extremely offensive approach. Always moving, always attacking.

Boomstick: Yeah, screw defense, Give me more ways to hurt people!

Akuma: I am Akuma, and I will teach you the meaning of pain!

Shang Tsung
(*Cues: The Temple (Classic) - Mortal Kombat Trilogy*)

Wiz: Shang Tsung is the cunning sorcerer from Outworld, and scheming pawn of Shao Kahn. He's extremely adapt in magic and a well-rounded fighter.

'''Boomstick: This guy can shoot flaming skulls, which is totally awesome, but, where the heck does he keep them? I mean seriously, how many skulls can a person carry around with them?'''

Wiz: Tsung can teleport around the battlefield with the special move called "Hot Escape"

'''Boomstick: Wah! Sucker punch, bitch!'''

Wiz: He can morph into whomever he wants, giving him tons of different skill sets, its like fighting a hundred different foes combined into one.

'''Boomstick: Man, I wish I could morph into anybody I wanted. I can have some fun with that! He also has a razor sharp Straight Sword, though he usually keeps it hidden for a surprise attack.'''

Wiz: Shang Tsung possesses one other strange, but useful ability. Long ago, when he was caught cheating in the Mortal Kombat tournament, he was cursed, by the elder gods, to rapidly age until an untimely death. The only way to prevent this fate is to absorb the souls of his victims.

'''Boomstick: He can literally eat your soul. Your soul! Not only can this heal him, but he gets the memories of the souls he devoured.'''

(*Cues: The Soul Chamber (Classic) - Mortal Kombat Trilogy*)

Wiz: This helps him copy the move sets of other fighters when he morphs.

'''Boomstick: So really, his curse became his deadliest weapon. Good punishment there, gods.'''

Wiz: Shang Tsung has lived and fought for over a thousand years. His sorcery, powers, and brutal Fatalities are rivaled by few, and he's claimed the title of grand champion of Mortal Kombat several times, Almost bringing about the winning streak necessary to allow Shao Kahn to invade Earthrealm, key word being "almost".

'''Boomstick: Yeah, unfortunately for Shang Tsung, he pretty much sucks at actually accomplishing his goals. He's super powerful, but like most villains, he can never get around some goody-two-shoes getting in the way of global take-over.'''

Wiz: His only notable victories have included treachery and deceit. But, keep in mind, Tsung's not fighting any ordinary meat-heads. He's fighting demons, sorcerers, and gods, and even in defeat, he somehow keeps coming back more lethal than ever.

''Shang Tsung: You... will... DIE!''

Death Battle
(*Cues: The Tower (Classic) - Mortal Kombat Trilogy*)

Akuma walks on the stage when Shang Tsung suddely appears behind him from his Hot Escape technique. Akuma jumps away to the other side of the battlefield, and prepares to fight.

FIGHT!

(*Cues: TGS '08 PV BGM - Street Fighter IV*)

Tsung shoots a Flaming Skull, which Akuma dodges by jumping over. He shoots two Gohadokens in the air, and Tsung blocks them. Akuma attacks Tsung's feet, and knocks him even more off balance by hitting him with a hurricane kick. and knocks him in the air with a Shoryuken uppercut. While in the Air, Akuma hits him a few time and finishes the combo with a Shinku-Hadouken. Tsung lays on the ground and Akuma tries to finish him off, but Tsung transform into Scorpion.

(*Cues: Unknown Theme*)

Akuma stops and decides to see if this form is powerful enough to fight against, allowing him to get back up.

Scorpion: COME HERE!

Shang Tsung throws the Kunai spear at Akuma and drags Akuma over towards him. He uppercuts Akuma, cueing the "Toasty Guy", Dan Forden, to appear in the right corner of the screen.

''Dan Forden: TOASTY! ''

Shang Tsung then keeps him in the air by hitting him with flaming skulls that burst out of the ground. Akuma falls behind him and throws him to right. He them teleports behinds him and kicks him, which Tsung blocks. He fires a Hadouken, but Tsung uses Hot Escape to get away, then reappears and slashes Akuma with his sword. He then grabs Akuma and tries to steal his soul, which heals some of his health and drains some of Akuma's. Akuma breaks out of it by hitting him with a Hurricane Kick. Tsung runs toward him, but Akuma catches him off guard using the Kongo Kokuretsu Zan, which knocks him in the air. He then teleports over, hits him a few times, and then throws him. Tsung then lands on his feet and transforms into Akuma.

(*Cues: Hideyuki Fukasawa - Volcanic Rim Orchestral Again*)

The two prepare for battle.

(*Cues:  Theme of Gouken vs Ryu - Street Fighter IV*)

The two Akuma's then jump in the air and they attack, blocking each others' moves. One of the Akuma knocks the other into the ground. and then tries to finish him off using the Kongo Kokoretsu Zan. However, the other Akuma grabs him and finishes him off with a Shun Goku Satsu. As one of the Akuma's stands with his back to the screen with the iconic heaven kanji confirming the kill, it is then shown that the Akuma lying dead on the ground is Shang Tsung, who shortly turns back into his original form, releasing his souls.

K.O.!

Results
(*Cues: Street Fighter IV - Volcanic Rim Opening Version*)

Boomstick: Oh man, that was way too close!

Wiz: No kidding, Boomstick! Akuma's raw power and speed pressed a distinct advantage early on. But Tsung's own cleverness and wide array of skills quickly even the odds.

Boomstick: It looked like Akuma had the whole thing wrapped up, but Tsung's morphing trick saved his ass.

Wiz: Akuma's pride for battle almost cost his life, as he stopped to see if his new face was worth a challenge.

Boomstick: After switching up strategies, Tsung managed to steal enough of Akuma's soul for some extra health and new abilities.

Wiz: But, it wasn't enough. In the end Akuma's skills as a fighter proved unmatched.

'''Boomstick: I mean, Tsung loses to Liu Kang all the time, and compared to Akuma, Liu Kang's the nicest guy in the world. There was no way he could take Akuma's constant punishment.'''

Wiz: As Tsung isn't used to winning anything on his own, he wasn't perfect on delivering the final blow, leaving him wide open for the experienced Akuma to unleash his greatest weapon.

Boomstick: The Raging Demon of Instant-Hell-Murder-Awesomeness!

Wiz: And so Shang Tsung fell once again releasing his devoured souls, again.

'Boomstick: Looks like Tsung's all souled'' out! Ha ha, get it, Wiz?'''

Wiz: The winner is Akuma.

Trivia

 * The connection between Akuma and Shang Tsung is that they are both major fighting game antagonists and ruthless pyrokinetic martial artists. They also serve as nemesis' to the protaganist of they're respective series and have attacks that harm the soul.
 * This is the last Death Battle episode to feature life bars, the first was Boba Fett VS Samus Aran.
 * This is the first episode to feature a Mortal Kombat character (Like Shang Tsung) and a Street Fighter character (Like Akuma) pitted against each other, the next three were Shao Kahn VS M. Bison, Ryu VS Scorpion, and Cammy VS Sonya.
 * In Death Battle's second Q&A, a g1 asked, "Akuma's low stamina is actually him just holding back. Why did you use that against him?" Wizard then replied that they didn't, since Akuma won.
 * This was the first Death Battle where a male fights another male.
 * This was the first Death Battle where both combatants are villains.