Match 16148 Raphael (Mirage) vs. Joe Higashi

[RakaiThwei]

The battle between Michelangelo and Mai Shiranui was something which the Turtles were not expecting. Leonardo watched on with vigilant eyes, taking in the level of skill which the youngest sibling of the Turtles possessed and while he commended Michelangelo’s level of skill— there was something which his opponent seemed to have which Michelangelo lacked. Something which Michelangelo seemed to be having an issue with coping. Leonardo had sternly warned him, and this displeased the oldest sibling. Leonardo couldn’t help but cross his arms in front of his plastron protected chest, and he tilted his head to the right as he watched on with narrowed eyes.

Michelangelo worked to deflect away at the fans which Mai continuously threw at him. He twirled his nunchaku within his hands, swinging the tethered clubs upwards and downwards and even swinging them horizontally as he knocked away at the steel fans. The red masked sibling was not sure what was going on— he had just beaten a drunken style master, and somehow he was… having an issue with this opponent? Michelangelo watched as the Japanese woman cartwheeled flipped in towards him, and now somersaulted in the air, and then raised a leg to bring it down to his head. Michelangelo leaned forward and he rolled underneath Mai, now evading the kick. Quickly rising to his feet, Michelangelo twirled the nunchaku within his right hand, taking aim for Mai’s mid-section but the red clad Kunoichi used her fan to deflect away at the Turtle’s weapon.

Michelangelo immediately swung his right leg back across to the right in a crescent style. Mai leaned back away from the Turtle, and she thrust her left arm forward and out to slam the front end of her fan directly for Michelangelo’s face. But the Turtle had moved his right arm out and caught the fan between his nunchaku. Quickly, Michelangelo and Mai kicked away at each other, pushing another back.

“Damn it!” Michelangelo whispered.

The Japanese woman placed her fan between her lips, leaned forward and made a mad rush for Michelangelo. The mutant Turtle twirled and spun his nunchaku, spinning them upwards and moving them down to tuck them beneath his arm pits, and Michelangelo simply took in several breaths as he readied himself.

Mai turned in a spin, opening and unfolding her fan as she reached between her cleavage with one hand, drawing out another. In her motion, she swung her fans across as she took aim to strike at Michelangelo with them. The Turtle widened his eyes as he then had leaned away from the strikes, and he then noticed as Mai took to the air, and kicked out with both legs. Michelangelo crossed his arms out in front of himself, taking the drop kick firmly with his forearms. Mai dropped onto her back, and she vaulted herself forward for Michelangelo’s legs, impacting her feet for the Turtle’s knees. Mikey dropped onto his plastron with a grunt.

“What the fuck is he doing?!” Raphael yelled.

“Something’s wrong… He knows better than this.” Leonardo responded.

Michelangelo then had placed his hands down onto the ground and he pushed himself to his feet. Quickly, he dashed forward and then snapped his left leg forward and out as he took aim for the Kunoichi’s mid-section. Mai deflected the blow with a fan, but Michelangelo then had pushed himself upwards as he turned, positioning himself on his hands and then he lowered himself—still keeping himself held up with his hands as he then spun, performing a break-dance type spin as he parted his legs to try and sweep Mai off from her feet.

Instead, the Kunoichi avoided the attack, and took to the air only to somersault towards Michelangelo and poised her rear out, intending to slam her self down onto Michelangelo.

“OH COME ON, A G-STRING TOO?!” The wily Turtle shouted.

Mike curled his legs back, and then shifted his weight to roll away from Mai, as she then landed onto the ground onto her hands and feet.

“Kacho-sen!” Mai shouted as she threw a fan towards the mutant Red Ear Slider.

Michelangelo then pushed himself with his hands and feet, taking to the air at a height of eight feet and he threw his weight forward and down—flipping through the air and he then had landed feet first down onto the ground. Upon landing, the red masked ninja spun and twirled his nunchaku firmly within his hands as he intended to bat away at Mai’s face and body. And the strikes landed, as Mai had gasped out when Michelangelo managed to slam one of his nunchucku into her mid-section causing her to double over. Another impact was made upward along her chin, causing her neck to snap back from the impact. And Mai felt the nunchaku batting down onto her arms and body, and even the sides of her face.

Quickly, Michelangelo then pushed himself up to the air, and he turned in a spin with his weight thrown to the left as he then pushed his right leg back in a jumping back thrust kick. Mai would be struck firmly in the mid-section, and was sent flying back away from the Turtle and soared in towards the water fountain.

“Oh, now he’s done got her angry.” Joe said as he grinned.

Mai threw her weight back as she was sent soaring across through the air, and she then planted her feet and hands onto the stone statue which spouted water—and she pushed herself upwards to soar higher and now threw her weight down and then dove right in towards the mutant Red Ear Slider.

“MUSASABI NO MAI!”

Michelangelo widened his eyes as he then had side-stepped to the left, evading the incoming woman. Michelangelo immediately then snapped his right leg diagonally up as he had aimed to perform a strong roundhouse, but the red clad Kunoichi hunched down and managed to evade the kick. She swung her left arm across, aiming to bat the Turtle across the face, but the red masked ninja had pulled his head into his shell. Widening her eyes, Mai had no idea how to comprehend someone in what looked like an elaborate costume was able to do that. But she needed to get around that now.

Quickly focusing her energy and channeling through herself to ignite the air, Mai turned in a spin and swung the tails of her Kunoichi outfit for Michelangelo. A wave of flame now moved right in towards the red masked ninja, engulfing him in flames.

“AAAUGH!” Michelangelo gasped in discomfort and pain.

Seeing his younger sibling now caught in the flames, Raphael clenched his hands firmly into fists and he was ready to step in and put that Japanese woman in her damn place. But Leonardo moved his left arm out, and stopped Raphael from interfering in this battle. The hot-tempered Turtle shot a glare to the field leader, and Leonardo shot back and icy stare…

“We’ve got to learn from what Mikey did wrong, Raphael… You’ll get your chance don’t worry.”

“He’s hurt, Leo! She fuckin’ burned him!”

A redness began to appear on Michelangelo’s arms and his face. At worst, it felt like as if he had experienced the worst sunburn in his life, and the red masked ninja firmly gripped the nunchaku within his hands as he fought to keep going. Quickly, Michelangelo turned with his hips and swung his arms across as he intended to strike her firmly across the face, but Mai leaned away from the Turtle, and she then placed her fan between her lips and positioned her hands together as she focused her energy to flow through herself and ignite the air all around herself.

“KAGERO NO MAI!”

“LEEEEOOO!” Mikey shouted.

A wall of flame erupted around Mai, and engulfed the Turtle as he screamed for his older brother. Leonardo and Donatello widened their eyes at this, and were completely shocked as Michelangelo’s now green skin was reddened like as if he had been out in the sun too long. When the flames died down, Michelangelo released his nunchaku and dropped to the ground.

The fight was over… a defeat for Michelangelo.

Mai turned and stepped away from her defeated opponent, swaying her hips with her eyes closed and nose turned up. As she had made her way back over to her teammates, Andy had given her a simple nod of a job well done, Terry gave her a simple tip of the hat and Joe threw his arms up and pumped his fists.

“YEEEEEAAAAAH!! SHE CERTAINLY SHOWED YOU WANNABE NINJA COSPLAYERS! TEAM FATAL FURY FOR THE WIN!!”

Donatello and Raphael rushed over to Michelangelo, with Leonardo following from behind. As soon as all three brothers made it to their youngest sibling, Donatello took a moment to observe and examine Michelangelo’s injuries. So far, there were no welts or anything life threatening. Leonardo had hunched down and took a hold of Michelangelo’s hand within his own and stared upon his younger brother’s face.

“Sorry Leo… She was just… better.”

“Don’t worry… You’re fine. You did good. Don, get him to the fountain. The water should help with the burns.”

Donatello then had slipped his hands underneath Michelangelo’s arms and lifted him up to his feet. Slipping Michelangelo’s left arm over his shoulders, Donatello guided him over to the fountain and then allowed him to slip in. The water would splash down onto the wily Turtle from the fountain, providing him a cooling and soothing sensation. Michelangelo frowned and closed his eyes as he leaned back against the edge of the fountain. An overwhelming sense of disappointment in himself flowed through him, and he felt as if he no longer belonged here in this tournament with his brothers.

“YEEEEAAAAH! WE’RE OFF TO A GREAT START! ONE DOWN, THREE TO GO!! YEEEEAAAAAH!! JOE HIGASHI’S GOT THE NEXT ONE!! C’MON, WHICH ONE OF YOU IS GONNA BE KNOCKED DOWN NEXT?!”

Leonardo then had moved his eyes to Raphael, giving the hot-headed sibling a cold and icy stare. And nodded…

Raphael took in a deep breath of air through his nostrils, and closed his eyes as he now reigned in his anger. After so many years of learning to control it, the red masked Turtle knew when to pull it in and keep it controlled— and when to really let loose when the time was right. Too many mistakes were made when he had lost control, and he had many years to learn it— now he had a much better grasp over it, and had better control of it. Only when the time was right was when he focused and controlled that anger to his benefit.

Quickly moving his hands down to his utility belt, Raphael drew his sai out as he rolled his shoulders back and then turned his head from right to left, snapping the bones in his neck to undo whatever stiffness he had been experiencing as he now stepped his way over to the loud Japanese man who referred to himself as Joe Higashi.

The Japanese kickboxer pointed out to the red masked sai wielding Turtle, brow raised as he grinned.

“Oh, so you’re the next one to wanna get knocked out, huh? Well, you’re facing the champ now! I hope you’re ready because—“

Raphael immediately then swung with his right arm and immediately struck Joe firmly across the face, causing the kickboxer to stagger. Joe had widened his eyes as he then worked to regain his footing and shook his head from side to side to fight off the initial daze.

Whoever this opponent was… hit INHUMANLY hard.

“Nobody… NOBODY… hassles or hurts Mikey.”

The drone which hovered over the area moved over both Raphael and Joe Higashi. The announcer immediately announced the next match to commence.

Joe raised his arms, positioning himself to fighting stance as Raphael now spun his sai within his hands, tucking them in his palms as he also set to stance— only to begin rushing right in for Joe Higashi.

Thus the second match between the Turtles and Team Fatal Fury commenced.

 The next match up in the Turtles storyline has now been written and posted here! This one was absolutely difficult to work with as I needed to figure out a write around to work with Michelangelo's loss, which if you ask me was perhaps quite off-putting as I feel a lot of people underestimated Michelangelo and thought of mind the later incarnations of Michelangelo which if you ask me, wasn't really fair at all to the Mirage version of the character. But a loss is a loss, and I suppose Michelangelo had to take one for the team. Now, it's Raphael's turn and I think this one would be a more interesting and perhaps even sided match as far as commentary goes. Also, I would like to state that the Fatal Fury OVAs are not to be considered here as they are NON-CANON in either Fatal Fury or KOF continuities, and SNK has not commented on their placement in either series.

For new readers who are just hopping onto this storyline here, I suggest you look at the Mirage TMNT Respect Thread to see what the Mirage Turtles are more than capable of.

 

Raphael is low tier superhuman in terms of physicals. Think Above Peak Human due to his mutation.

Raphael possesses his Twin Sai, Shurikens, Smoke Bombs and Kunai.

 

Joe Higashi is in Peak Human Conditioning due to his Training.

Joe Higashi possess all of this move set from the Fatal Fury and KOF series.

[Callisto]

Learn More About
Raphael (Mirage)
Read more about Raphael (Mirage) at Wikipedia
Official Site: Nickelodeon Links: Wikipedia

Joe Higashi
Read more about Joe Higashi at Wikipedia
Official Site: SNK Links: Wikipedia Fighter's Generation SNK Wiki

[JohnnyChany]

I know you were dissapointed with the result, and regardless of the final score I think everyone would agree it would be a close fight, but you did another great job on the fight recap. Your knowledge of these characters is always very evident.

This is the pairing switch up I was referring to in the Michaelangelo fight. I figured how you were going to pair the Bogard brothers off, but I would have assumed you would have paired off the two hot heads (Raphael and Mai) and the two most "fun loving fighters"  (Joe and Mikey) Although I admittedly don't know if Mikey has that same or similar personality in the Mirage comics. The pairings you chose have made for some intriguing contrasts so nice job with that too. 

On the one hand, I would think Joe's Hurricane Uppers and the Screw Upper would cause Raphael some problems. On the other hand, I've always found Joe to be somewhat of a goof, so I am pretty confident that Raph would wreck him when it's all said and done. 

[RakaiThwei]

4 hours ago, JohnnyChany said:

I know you were dissapointed with the result, and regardless of the final score I think everyone would agree it would be a close fight, but you did another great job on the fight recap. Your knowledge of these characters is always very evident.

This is the pairing switch up I was referring to in the Michaelangelo fight. I figured how you were going to pair the Bogard brothers off, but I would have assumed you would have paired off the two hot heads (Raphael and Mai) and the two most "fun loving fighters"  (Joe and Mikey) Although I admittedly don't know if Mikey has that same or similar personality in the Mirage comics. The pairings you chose have made for some intriguing contrasts so nice job with that too. 

On the one hand, I would think Joe's Hurricane Uppers and the Screw Upper would cause Raphael some problems. On the other hand, I've always found Joe to be somewhat of a goof, so I am pretty confident that Raph would wreck him when it's all said and done. 

Thank you for the comments. I was more disappointed with the fact that a lot of people had the wrong impression of the Mirage version of Michelangelo because of how the 1980's cartoon, the 2003 cartoon and the 2012 Nick versions shaped public opinion of him and I think that definitely affected the fight. Regardless, Mikey took a loss for the team and I had to write it in a convincing manner.

It's funny you mention the personalities of the characters because while Mirage Michelangelo is one of the more friendly and easy going of the Mirage Turtles, originally he was written to have a temper nearly as bad as Raphael's and he takes fighting more seriously. A LOT more seriously. You mention Mai being a hot-head but I never considered her one, as she seems to be a fun loving character who flirts with her opponents and uses her feminine wiles. I say this based on character dialogue. She's only temperamental when she's left out from the Fatal Fury team or when it's matters concerning Andy.

Raphael and Joe in my mind was an interesting route to go because I found them similar in a lot of ways as Joe has a very loud personality and is a bit of a hot-head. Raphael is typically depicted as hot-tempered, borderline psychotic but he purposely plays up on that to psyche his enemies out in the Mirage comics. He finds that it usually works. And in life and death situations, like Leonardo, he has no qualms about ending fights first.

Thank you for the comments. 

[Z451]

Good stuff Rakai, I like your dedication to the story, and even in an instance where Michaelangelo lost, you did write it very well.

As before. I like how you describe and detail the fights for the readers, as you seem to have a great grasp on how to write martial arts battles pretty well, something that a lot of writers struggle with, as martial arts is always visual, making it hard to "see" or picture when applied to written form.

Now, as I see it, Joe tends to be pretty goofy at times and doesn't seem to take fights as seriously as other fighters, and against Raphael, that is going to cost him, as Raph rarely tends to toy with or enjoy playing with his opponents.

I can see these two lasting for a while, due to the stats of both fighters, but I think Raph is a tad bit more durable than Joe, and a pretty decent amount more serious than him too, and those aspects make me think that he might take the fight here, if he is careful enough.

[RakaiThwei]

3 hours ago, Z451 said:

Good stuff Rakai, I like your dedication to the story, and even in an instance where Michaelangelo lost, you did write it very well.

As before. I like how you describe and detail the fights for the readers, as you seem to have a great grasp on how to write martial arts battles pretty well, something that a lot of writers struggle with, as martial arts is always visual, making it hard to "see" or picture when applied to written form.

Now, as I see it, Joe tends to be pretty goofy at times and doesn't seem to take fights as seriously as other fighters, and against Raphael, that is going to cost him, as Raph rarely tends to toy with or enjoy playing with his opponents.

I can see these two lasting for a while, due to the stats of both fighters, but I think Raph is a tad bit more durable than Joe, and a pretty decent amount more serious than him too, and those aspects make me think that he might take the fight here, if he is careful enough.

Thanks for the compliments, Z451!

Writing out Martial Arts fight scenes is pretty easy for me because I have real life experiences with Martial Arts, and I suppose that helps out in a major way!

[Boratz]

Awesome set up, Rakai! Definitely love the recap and the emotion! You definitely seem to know the characters and have a massive respect for them! The fight recaps are extraordinary!

I know that I probably am one of the ones that only know these characters from the cartoons and movies, but I feel like I truly get a sense of what the Mirage versions are like through your epic set ups!

[RakaiThwei]

15 minutes ago, Boratz said:

Awesome set up, Rakai! Definitely love the recap and the emotion! You definitely seem to know the characters and have a massive respect for them! The fight recaps are extraordinary!

I know that I probably am one of the ones that only know these characters from the cartoons and movies, but I feel like I truly get a sense of what the Mirage versions are like through your epic set ups!

What can I say... I love the Mirage Turtles, primarily because they are the ORIGINAL TMNT and they are not the goofy catchphrase spewing kiddie cartoons that a lot of us were introduced to as we grew up. They are the gritty and violent Turtles that a lot of people seemingly turn a blind eye to and are arguably one of the more skilled and dangerous of the brothers. I also love SNK characters because I played some of their games, and definitely have respect for them.

[Pizzaguy2995]

Firstly I must apologize for bringing up the Fatal Fury OVAs as an argument for Mai. I had assumed that they were at least somewhat canon to the main series, but I was apparently mistaken and if my misinformation caused Mikey’s defeat I sincerely apologize. I still stand by that Mai would have won regardless.

As for this match though, I’m actually going to back Raphael here. I always viewed him and Leo as being quite a tier above Mikey and Don in martial arts skills and by feats the two are much faster and more durable then Joe. Also Raph tends to fight much harder and more brutally when Mikey gets hurt, and I think that’ll drive him to a win.

 

[RakaiThwei]

19 minutes ago, Pizzaguy2995 said:

Firstly I must apologize for bringing up the Fatal Fury OVAs as an argument for Mai. I had assumed that they were at least somewhat canon to the main series, but I was apparently mistaken and if my misinformation caused Mikey’s defeat I sincerely apologize. I still stand by that Mai would have won regardless.

As for this match though, I’m actually going to back Raphael here. I always viewed him and Leo as being quite a tier above Mikey and Don in martial arts skills and by feats the two are much faster and more durable then Joe. Also Raph tends to fight much harder and more brutally when Mikey gets hurt, and I think that’ll drive him to a win.

 

I think a lot of things contributed to Michelangelo's loss. I think that public opinion of him was a large part of it, primarily because the 1980's cartoon is what really made TMNT popular and forever changed from being hardened ninjas to pizza eating, catchphrase spewing skateboarding characters. So there is a stigma that the Mirage Turtles carry because of the cartoons.

The Mirage Turtles are the original and in my opinion, the definitive versions of the TMNT. Even in Turtles Forever, which crossed over the 80's Turtles and the 2003 Turtles, the Mirage Turtles are known as the Source Turtles and the Mirage universe is known as Turtle Prime. The Mirage Turtles are very hardcore, so much so they nearly killed the two other Turtle teams and were so unrelenting, they fought a Kaiju sized Utrom Shredder and jumped on him as they scared the bejeezus out of him

[DSkillz]

Another great set-up, Rakai! The Michelangelo/Mai fight was just about the most evenly-matched recap you've written for this arc yet.

As for this match, it looks like another tough fight. Joe has good skill and his whirlwind strikes, but Raph might have him a bit outclassed in both overall skill and physicals. His shell could probably at least somewhat endure Higashi's whirlwind strikes. Raph could also probably take advantage of Joe's more easygoing nature to get in some good strikes of his own.

A smart fighter may have a chance to use Raph's anger against him, but Higashi doesn't strike me as quite crafty enough fighter to do so here.

[RakaiThwei]

38 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

Another great set-up, Rakai! The Michelangelo/Mai fight was just about the most evenly-matched recap you've written for this arc yet.

As for this match, it looks like another tough fight. Joe has good skill and his whirlwind strikes, but Raph might have him a bit outclassed in both overall skill and physicals. His shell could probably at least somewhat endure Higashi's whirlwind strikes. Raph could also probably take advantage of Joe's more easygoing nature to get in some good strikes of his own.

A smart fighter may have a chance to use Raph's anger against him, but Higashi doesn't strike me as quite crafty enough fighter to do so here.

Thank you DSkillz! Yeah, I wanted to write up the Michelangelo vs Mai Shiranui fight as being something relatively even, despite the votes being completely lopsided in Mai's favor-- which I will admit was something discouraging and I went with the comments instead. So, I wrote out that Michelangelo and Mai were considerably agile enough but Mai had an element of surprise with the flame based techniques which she had, and Michelangelo had difficulty with coping with that. So... I wrote what came to mind and it felt organic.

As far as the two are concerned between Raphael and Joe Higashi here, I would think that Raphael has the edge in terms of durability-- especially considering that shell of his, and the Turtles have been shown to possess a degree of superhuman durability and a high level of pain thresholds. As far as I know, Joe's Screw Upper attacks give him some kind of range but I think those are meant to disorient and levitate an enemy off the ground somewhat. But Joe's kicks might be more helpful than the wind based attacks.

Raphael has always been the hot-head, and you're right-- a smart fighter would attempt to use his anger on him but as far as I know in Mirage continuity, Raphael sort of has mellowed out a bit to where he's learned to manage and reign in his anger, though he's still hot-headed enough to be extremely dangerous amongst even his own brothers but he's come a long way from what he used to be in the first few issues of Eastman and Laird's TMNT.

Thanks for commenting!

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
5.00 - Pizzaguy2995
5.00 - DSkillz
5.00 - JohnnyChany
5.00 - Boratz

FPA Calculation:
4 Total Votes cast
20.00 Total Combined Score
20.00 / 4 = 5.00 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Raphael (Mirage): 5
Joe Higashi: 4

[RakaiThwei]

Jeez that was close! Who voted for Joe Higashi?

[Pizzaguy2995]

14 minutes ago, RakaiThwei said:

Jeez that was close! Who voted for Joe Higashi?

Probably hard core Fatal Fury fans.