Match 20617 Leonardo (Mirage) vs. Ryu

[RakaiThwei]

 Ken Masters turned with his hips as he pumped his fists out, intending on unleashing two quick jabs for his opponent’s face before he quickly then swung his right leg diagonally to the left, aiming to strike his foot for his rather unusual opponent’s face with a swift and skillfully executed roundhouse kick before finalizing his assault as he turned in a spin and pushed himself to a leap, now arcing his left leg across and then his right as he aimed to deliver two more strikes onto the mutant Red Ear Slider’s face. Michelangelo widened his eyes as he gripped his nunchaku in both his hands, ready to use them if he needed to do so, but he weaved underneath the two incoming punches before he leaned back away from the kick almost instinctively. The Turtle hopped back as he watched Ken turning to spun, now performing that jumping double arc kick.

But Ken Masters was a relentless fighter, he had to be considering his approach to fighting and his passion for it. The United States Martial Arts champion quickly rushed in towards Michelangelo, and he didn’t even hesitate a moment’s notice as he swung his right arm across in a hook punch, now following up with a strong straight punch from his left before he followed up by swinging his right arm in an uppercut. Michelangelo quickly leaned back from the incoming hook punch, feeling the breeze of the air as Ken’s fist moved across in front of him. When the straight came for him, the Turtle immediately moved his right arm across, his forearm positioned to block and divert the fist as it came in closer to him. However, the uppercut immediately connected with Michelangelo’s chin, causing the Turtle to stagger and stumble back two steps. Seeing the mutant Red Ear Slider taking the hit, Ken immediately attuned himself to the energy within his body and channeled it to move through his arms and into his hands. He cupped his palms close to another, as a sphere of power crackled in his hands and swirled as it surged with power, increasing in size. Ken immediately leaned forward as he threw his arms out— firing off the sphere of energy towards the red masked wily Turtle.

“HADOUKEN!” Ken shouted.

Michelangelo widened his eyes as soon as Ken fired off that sphere of energy. The red masked wily Turtle quickly dashed to his right and allowed the sphere to pass by him. He twirled his nunchaku within his grasp, spinning them with skill and speed as he now ran towards the United States Martial Arts champion. Closing the gap between himself and Ken, Michelangelo twirled the nunchaku in his right hand upward, spinning the weapon in his fingers as he aimed to bat it up directly into Ken’s chin. Ken leaned back from the tethered weapon, but Michelangelo quickly spun his weapon down to the top of Ken’s head. The blonde, red gi clad fighter shifted with a step back as he raised his left arm up, his forearm horizontally positioned only to take the strike in the forearm, blocking Michelangelo’s intended attack for his head. Michelangelo pulled his hands back, still holding his nunchaku in grasp, only to shift with his footing as he turned with his weight, pumping his fists out in two quick jabs for Ken’s face. Ken moved his hands out, slapping down Michelangelo’s fists to push them down away from himself. But Michelangelo tensed his leg muscles and he pushed himself to a leap, now throwing his weight up and back to perform a reverse somersault and swung both his legs up to kick his feet into Ken’s chin.

Ken felt a mighty impact slamming from underneath into his chin, and he felt his head careening back from the reverse somersault double kick. His neck muscles also were straining with intense pain from the sheer power of the kick forcing Ken’s head to jerk back. Sharp throbbing moved from the front of his neck and moved towards the very base of his skull. Michelangelo quickly flipped to his feet as he landed the reverse somersault, only to now rush at Ken once more as he jabbed his left arm out twice, impacting his fist directly into the forehead of the U.S. Martial Arts champion. The red masked wily Turtle then turned in with his weight and he pumped his right arm forward, slamming his knuckles directly into Ken’s forehead once more, adding to the buildup in the assault, before he turned in a spin and then swung the nunchaku within his right arm horizontally across to the right in a reversal swing.

Ken widened his eyes as he fought through the pain, and he hopped back away from Michelangelo’s nunchaku. But the Turtle was feeling relentless, and so Michelangelo pounced to the blonde, red gi clad fighter and he snapped his right leg out in a jumping front kick. Ken turned to his left and he slapped his left hand down, pushing Michelangelo’s foot down. When the Turtle landed, Ken decided to go onto the offense as he swung his left leg back across to the left in a rising outward crescent kick, but Michelangelo ducked underneath the incoming leg. Ken quickly kept the assault by turning with his hips, and he punched out with his left and right six quick times, forcing Michelangelo to cross his arms and blocked each of the incoming blows with his forearms.

The red masked Turtle retaliated by leaning forward and he snapped his left leg out in a front kick as he aimed it for Ken’s mid-section, but his opponent again slapped his foot down to avoid contact. Michelangelo pulled leg back and snapped it across to the right as he moved it for Ken’s head, performing a swift roundhouse kick. Ken raised his right arm up and blocked the incoming roundhouse kick quite solidly. He responded by jabbing his left and right arm out, but Michelangelo ducked and weaved only to then jab his own two punches at Ken before he turned in a spin and raised his right leg up and arced it across. Ken quickly hunched down from Michelangelo’s incoming attack, all while he directed his energy to move through his body and into his right arm and hand.

As Ken directed this energy, he focused it to ignite—and immediately, a yellow flame erupted around his hand. He pushed himself up to a leap and swung his right arm upward for Michelangelo’s chin, now striking the Turtle with one of his most devastating attacks in the Ansatsuken arts.

“SHORYUKEN!”

Pain moved through Michelangelo’s chin, and he felt an intense heat moving through him. He recalled when Ken unleashed a similar technique onto his brother, Raphael. If this was the technique which defeated his brother, Michelangelo couldn’t fault Raphael for not being able to keep fighting. It was also a technique that he’d have to avoid if he wanted to keep fighting too. Gravity pulled Michelangelo down, and the mutant Red Ear Slid hit the ground flat onto his carapace. He grunted as the air was forced from his lungs, and it didn’t help that he still felt the lingering sting of Ken’s flaming Dragon Punch.

As Ken descended from the air, Michelangelo fought through the pain and planted his hands to the ground, now rising to his feet once more. Ken, not wanting to give his opponent the opportunity to recover—zeroed right in on the Turtle, and he jabbed his left fist out three quick times before he leaned in with a mighty straight punch for Michelangelo’s face with his right. The red masked ninja turned with his hips, and he swung his arms horizontally inward, his forearms positioned up as he diverted the punches away from himself. When the straight punch came, Michelangelo immediately moved to his right, and he retaliated by swinging his left arm’s elbow across, slamming it directly into the middle of Ken’s face, connecting the strike to Ken’s nose. Agonizing pain shot through the middle of Ken’s face, moving all the way from the front of his face to the back of his skull. His senses were also now shot, and the United States Martial Arts champion shut his eyes in reaction to the pain. This momentary distraction was enough of an opening for Michelangelo to take advantage of. The Turtle quickly snapped his right leg down and across in a low roundhouse kick, slamming his right foot across Ken’s left knee, causing the red gi clad fighter to buckle down. Michelangelo added to the assault as he turned with his hips and pumped his right and left arm forward, slamming his knuckles into Ken’s face before he turned in a spin and raised his right leg up and swung it across, impacting his heel into the side of Ken Master’s head in a spinning back wheel kick.

Ken stumbled to his side, his head now ringing with excruciating pain, but he worked to fight through the pain and keep on fighting. Michelangelo, however, wouldn’t let up so easily as he now ran at his opponent. The mutant Red Ear Slider twirled his twin nunchaku within his grasp, and he swung his right arm across from right to left— striking at Ken’s mid-section with the tethered weapons. A sharp pain shot through Ken’s body, as he now widened his eyes in agony, remembering the injury which he had sustained in the first battle. The Turtle then quickly twirled the nunchaku upwards, striking the weapon into Ken’s chin before he brought it down, slamming the club onto the top of Ken’s head. Michelangelo then pushed himself to a leap, only to then snap his right leg up and impact his foot into Ken’s chest.

Ken Masters suddenly felt the pain shooting through his mid-section as Michelangelo hit him, and he immediately fell back and dropped onto his rear, now clutching at his ribs. The pain was intense, and the red gi clad Martial Artist found it difficult to breathe. Ken was beginning to ponder if he should’ve sat this one out.

But that thought didn’t matter at this moment, as Michelangelo now came at his opponent once more with his nunchaku spinning. Ken worked to fight through the sharp pain, and he pushed himself to his feet. The red Turtle swung the nunchaku in his right hand over to the left, then back across to the right. Ken leapt back from the chained weapon, evading just in time before more pain could be dealt upon him. Michelangelo then spun the nunchaku within his left hand vertically down and then from side to side. Like before, Ken evaded as he leapt back and circled around to Michelangelo’s left.

The red gi clad Ansatsuken fighter raised his left leg up and brought it down in an axe kick, aiming to strike his heel down onto the top of Michelangelo’s head but the Turtle turned to meet his opponent and he snapped forward with a step and he raised his left arm up in a defensive block, his forearm positioned horizontally as he blocked the attack. Ken quickly responded to this by turning in a spin and he quickly snapped his right leg out in a spinning side kick as he took aim for Michelangelo’s mid-section. Michelangelo crossed his arms in front of himself, taking the brunt of the attack in his forearms before he parted his arms and shoved his opponent back.

Ken focused on the energy within himself and directed it to flow through his arms and into his hands. He threw his hands together and fired off another sphere of blue energy towards the Turtle.

“HADOUKEN!”

Michelangelo had seen too many of those energy-based attacks before, he even had felt what it was like to be hit by them. Standing idly would be a bad idea at this point. He tensed all the muscles within his legs, and he immediately pounced forward, only to curl himself into a ball and he threw his weight forward, somersaulting over the speeding ball of energy. Ken widened his eyes as soon as Michelangelo dropped in towards him, crossing his arms in front of himself at the last second, but Ken still dropped onto his back from the force of it all.

Ken breathed frantically, still reeling from the pain his ribs had been dealt with and the exertion which he had been putting himself through. Fighting to his limit was nothing new to Ken, and neither was pain for that matter. His years as a Martial Artist and street fighter forged him into the man he is now. If this upstart thought that he could do what his brother couldn’t, then he certainly had another thing coming. Ken Masters pushed himself to his feet despite the pain which he currently happened to be experiencing. If there was one thing which could be said about Ken Masters, it was that he’s quite persistent. He raised his arms and clenched his hands firmly, now motioning his hands back as he now took in a deep breath through his nose, shouting at Michelangelo.

“C’MON! IT’S GONNA TAKE MORE THAN THAT TO TAKE ME DOWN! THAT ALL YA GOT?!”

Michelangelo narrowed his eyes as he shook his head, scoffing at the bravado which Ken Masters exhibited. He had to give credit where it was due, Ken was one of the most difficult opponents he ever had to face.

The red masked ninja now dashed towards Ken, and he quickly turned to spin only to swing his left leg diagonally up for Ken’s head in a high roundhouse kick, only to continue with the momentum of his turn and then he raised his right leg up and arced it across. Ken stepped back, raising his right arm up and blocked the incoming roundhouse kick. When the second attack came, Ken hunched and evaded the incoming foot. Already Michelangelo turned with his hips, and he jabbed his left and right arm out four quick times, only to have Ken continuing to step back and he slapped down each coming punch. Michelangelo pounced forward and he threw his weight forward, somersaulting only to bring both his legs down for Ken’s head, but the Ansatsuken fighter side-stepped around Michelangelo, allowing the rolling thunder kick to pass by him. As Michelangelo was about to flip himself up, Ken was already channeling his energy once more and he directed it to his legs, only to push himself to a leap and he raised his right leg up as he threw his weight across, now spinning through the air six times.

“TATSUMAKI SENPUU KYAKU!”

Michelangelo widened his eyes as he watched Ken go onto the attack, but instinctively— the Turtle pulled his head directly into his shell, allowing Ken’s foot to pass over him. Michelangelo raised his left arm up and blocked the leg as it had come at him once more on the fifth spin. The red masked wily Turtle then leaned forward, and he punched his right arm outward— now striking it directly into Ken’s solar plexus.

Ken widened his eyes as he felt the air within himself being pushed out involuntarily as he felt gravity now pulling him down from his Hurricane Kick technique. Michelangelo spun the nunchaku within his right hand, and he now leapt as high as he could, and he moved his right arm upward— his nunchaku still spinning, striking Ken along his mid-section and onto his face as he retaliated with a technique quite like Ken’s Shoryuken.

“RISING THUNDER!”

Ken was now launched to the air along with Michelangelo, and soon both descended to the arena floor. The red masked mutant Terrapin landed feet first, whereas Ken Master had dropped onto his back.

The United States Martial Arts champion placed his hands onto the ground, stubbornly working to push himself up onto his feet. His mid-section screamed in pain from having been hit once more, and he knew that he would have to be careful if he was going to keep fighting. There was no way he was going to lose to one of these upstarts, even if he was injured from the prior fight. But whoever had trained these guys, even if they were what he thought was some elaborate cosplay attire, certainly had trained them well. Upon pushing himself to one foot and a knee, Ken Masters placed his right hand onto his knee and now rose to his feet once more.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Michelangelo whispered, shaking his head in disbelief.

Ken now came running as the red masked Turtle with a burning fury. As he closed in on the Turtle, Ken jabbed his left and right arm out four quick times, but Michelangelo raised his forearms, swinging them inward and out to divert the incoming strikes. Ken then swung his right leg across to the right in a rising outward crescent kick, striking Michelangelo across the face with his foot, causing the Turtle to stumble briefly only to then turn in a spin and he snapped his left leg out in a spinning side-kick aimed for Michelangelo’s face. The Turtle felt something slamming into the middle of his face, and his head rang with pain. Ken didn’t let up, as he then turned with his weight, and he swung his right arm across and impacted his fist directly into Michelangelo’s cheek before he finished with an uppercut to the Turtle’s chin from his left. The Turtle’s senses were jarred and he stumbled back from the immediate blows, and already his vision was blurred and spinning.

Ken grinned as he now saw an opening and he wouldn’t allow the chance to get away from him. He felt his energy rising, and so he directed it to flow through himself. Moving the energy through his arm and into his right hand— Ken focused on having that energy ignite. And then the blonde Ansatsuken fighter’s fist ignited, and Ken now turned in a spin as he leaned forward, now pushing himself to a brief leap as he unleashed one of his most devastating attacks.

“SHORYUREPPA!” Ken shouted from the top of his lungs as he moved in towards Michelangelo.

The wily Turtle shook his head, fighting off the brief daze only to widen his eyes as soon as Ken was coming in towards him with that flaming jumping uppercut once more. Instinctively, the mutant Red Ear Slider tensed his leg muscles and pushed himself to a leap only to then throw his weight back and now somersaulted away from Ken as the flaming fist rose towards him, barely missing him. Michelangelo felt the heat radiating from Ken’s flaming fists as it passed by him, but it seemed like Ken wasn’t stopping as he came at him again, forcing Michelangelo to back flip away from his opponent several more times, barely managing to evade the flaming fist.

For Michelangelo, this had gone on long enough.

As Ken was descending from his Shoryureppa technique— Michelangelo summoned whatever strength he had within himself as he took in a deep breath of air through his nostrils and now released a heavy sigh. He rushed in at his opponent while coming down from the air, and Michelangelo furiously spun his nunchaku with skill. As soon as Ken landed feet first onto the ground, Michelangelo attacked by snapping his right leg across in a low roundhouse, then he pulled his leg back and then snapped it forward in a side-kick for Ken’s mid-section, before pulling back once more and snapped it across in a high roundhouse, impacting Ken’s head. The Turtle then pumped his right and left arm out, striking his fists directly into Ken’s face, slamming his knuckles into his cheek bones. Michelangelo turned with his weight and he bent his right elbow out, striking it harshly across Ken’s head, but continued to turn with the motion and he raised his left leg up and arced it, performing a spinning back wheel kick as he impacted it across Ken’s head. Michelangelo snapped his left leg in a high side kick, impacting his foot into Ken’s forehead before he swung his right and left arm across with two hook punches, striking his fists across Ken’s face. Michelangelo then finished as he now spun his nunchaku in his left hand, and then swung it up as he pushed himself to a leap, batting the weapon across Ken’s mid-section and head as he soared into the air, catapulting Ken into the air.

It wouldn’t be long until gravity now pulled Michelangelo and Ken Masters down, with Michelangelo landing feet first onto the arena floor, only to clumsily drop onto his rear from all of the exertion the fight had put him through. Ken, meanwhile, hit the ground flat onto his right side like a sack of bricks. Michelangelo breathed heavily, now placing his hands onto the ground as he grunted, working to get back to his feet with tremendous effort. The wily Turtle firmly gripped his tethered weapons, ready to keep fighting despite his lungs burning with pain from the exertion, watching his opponent to see if he would get back up.

But there would be no movement from his opponent.

What seemed like an eternity, Michelangelo had come to realize that he had earned a hard-fought victory. His body trembled from the shock and the excitement as well as the exhaustion he was going through. He dropped to his knees, and now lurched forward, slamming his hands to the ground to stop himself from falling.

“MIKEY!” Donatello yelled out as he ran towards his younger sibling.

Leonardo now stepped on ahead, following Donatello in a calm and unrushed pace. Upon reaching Michelangelo, the two siblings took hold of the younger Turtle and pulled him to his feet. Michelangelo now raised his head, looking at Donatello and Leonardo with a slight grin of satisfaction on his face.

“Did… Did I do good?” Michelangelo spoke between breaths.

“With flying colors, bro!” Donatello responded, smiling with elation for his brother’s victory.

However, the brothers’ celebration of Michelangelo’s victory would be cut short as the last fighter of the opposing team stepped forth. Leonardo turned his head to the right and now looked to the direction of the white gi clad fighter known as Ryu approached them. Leonardo then returned his attention to Michelangelo and Donatello, motioning his left hand to Donatello to take Michelangelo back and tend to him. The intellectual Turtle guided his wily brother away, allowing Michelangelo to get the space needed to recover and gather himself.

“You all have come so very far. Overcome overwhelming obstacles. I have to commend you all for your strength and skills. Even in defeat, you’ve all shown your fighting spirit and resolve to push forward. I respect you all for that. I cannot help but look forward to seeing what this fight can offer us all.” Ryu spoke as a soft smile appeared.

Leonardo just stared over to Ryu. He cannot help but be reminded of another just like him, except this friend of his had long ears. In many ways, the white gi clad Karateka made Usagi Miyamoto come to Leonardo’s mind. The red masked ninja slowly nodded his head, and he made his way to where Ryu stood.

“Our journey’s been an arduous and difficult one, but we’ve learned much about ourselves and what we’re capable of along the way. With every fight, we become better ninjas.” Leonardo spoke.

“So, you came to the tournament in hopes of bettering yourself, developing your skills and uncovering your true potential as warriors. I understand this very well. Then allow me to help you on your journey, if you can help me on mine. Show me your strength. Let this all be a learning experience.” Ryu nodded.

Leonardo blinked as he stared upon Ryu, and he gave a subtle nod in return to express his understanding. Master Splinter had sent them to attend the tournament as a journey of improvement and perhaps even self-discovery. Through out their many battles in this competition, the Turtles fought strange and unusual opponents possessing skills and powers which they had not thought was possible through training… But the people they had come across were living proof that such things were possible and by extension, even the Turtles themselves were proof of that as well, and even overcoming these strong opponents… surely, was no easy feat.

Both the Turtle and the World Warrior now approached the middle of the arena, stopping with only eight feet of space between them. The two took a moment to size each other up as they set themselves into their respective fighting stances.

Ryu turned with his left side facing Leonardo, raising his arms up to keep himself protected while he clenched his fist and then bounced onto his feet. His stance was similar to Ken’s, but his movements were slower, steady. Leonardo moved his hands to his weapons, gripping both the handle of his ninjaken and Haohmaru’s katana, quickly drawing both weapons out as he snapped himself into his own fighting stance. Silence permeated through the arena as the audience waited with anticipation as two kindred souls were about to engage in what could be the final battle in the tournament.

What seemed like an eternity immediately had been broken as soon as Ryu and Leonardo rushed at each other. With a fist swung, and a blade slashing— the battle commenced.

[Callisto]

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

Ryu
Read more about Ryu at Wikipedia
Official Site: Capcom Links: Wikipedia SF on Wikipedia Cyberfuturism

[RakaiThwei]

The next and perhaps the FINAL battle in the tournament of the TMNT Mirage storyline is finally here! I have to apologize for the week long delay for this match up because I simply couldn't find the will to write up the recap and the lead-in to this potentially last match in the tournament. None the less, this one was a difficult one to get down because I simply procrastinated a week before, and wanted to get a bulk of it done last night but simply couldn't because I just didn't really have the will but at least I got a page and a half of it done but the rest took me all day to really get through and put down on MSWord. None the less, it's here and hopefully it will get some buzz going.

Writing out the recap between Michelangelo and Ken Masters was difficult because I didn't want to write out Michelangelo taking too much of an advantage of Ken's injured ribs, but none the less I tried to balance it out by writing Ken to be more tenacious and aggressive in the fight. I also did by best to write out Michelangelo's element of unpredictability and I hope I did a good job in writing out the two to be as they are according to their character. I find that is something most important when it comes to these characters, as I am a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Street Fighter. So hopefully, it comes across that way as I worked to have an emphasis on the two fighting aggressively and defensively, and most importantly, instinctively.

As for the match between Leonardo and Ryu-- I want to say that this fight DID OFFICIALLY HAPPEN in IDW and Capcom's TMNT vs Street Fighter collaboration comic. In that match up, Ryu did go onto say that in terms of skill, he and Leonardo were relatively equal with one another but then Leonardo immediately defeats Ryu in there officially sanctioned fight but only after Ryu, perhaps uncharacteristically speaks on how he and his friends would take revenge on the Turtles outside of the arena, as they believed the Turtles were behind some of their friends missing. However, I will say that it was the IDW Leonardo who defeated Ryu. So now the question is can Mirage Leonardo, after having fought all the opponents whom he's come across, especially someone like Geese Howard after an especially close battle, keep up and be an equal match for someone like Ryu?

I may end up posting some scans for folks if they want to gauge how skilled and powerful is Leonardo, even when he isn't fighting on a team although I STRONGLY SUGGEST looking at the Mirage TMNT Respect thread so that may save me the effort of doing that.

Hopefully, this will be an awesome match.

Remember-- ENVIRONMENT IS ALSO A FACTOR IN THIS BATTLE! Something I feel like people need to seriously consider.

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.

--

Leonardo (Mirage) is Low Tier Superhuman in terms of physicals. Think Above Peak Human due to his mutation and training.

Leonardo (Mirage) possesses his Ninjaken, Hoahmaru's Katana, Shurikens, Smoke Bombs, and Kunai.

 

Ryu is in Peak Conditioning due to his training.

Ryu has his moveset from the Street Fighter games.

Ryu NO LONGER SUFFERS THE DARK HADOU. He's no longer has that power as he's purged himself from it. No Evil Ryu.

Battle Environment Map

[leroypowell3]

These would be two determined fighters.  Mirage Leo would be more aggressive than Ryu though. He would have more to prove. I think Ryu would be proud to lose to such a valiant fighter. 

[RakaiThwei]

4 minutes ago, leroypowell3 said:

These would be two determined fighters.  Mirage Leo would be more aggressive than Ryu though. He would have more to prove. I think Ryu would be proud to lose to such a valiant fighter. 

That's one for Leonardo, I think!

Thanks for commenting!

[DSkillz]

Busy week for everyone, huh? 

But yeah, great set-up as usual, Rakai, and great recap with Michelangelo and Ken. Good to see that you didn't make the fight easy on Mikey despite Ken's injured ribs. I often find myself acting out some of the fighters' strike as you describe them to help get a better picture of the fight in action, and this was no different. 

Also, yay! One more Rising Thunder out of Mikey!  

As for the match: 

On 5/26/2024 at 10:44 PM, RakaiThwei said:

Ryu NO LONGER SUFFERS THE DARK HADOU. He's no longer has that power as he's purged himself from it. No Evil Ryu.

You answered one of the questions I had regarding this fight.  It's probably a good idea that Evil Ryu won't be making an appearance here, since Leonardo may not have a great chance of winning otherwise. Even so, this may possibly be the toughest fight Leo's had yet, both from the story's perspective and in the votes. Ryu's quite powerful and skilled and not one to underestimate his opponents, but so is Leo. Also, Ryu, being one of the most popular fighting characters of all time, might get a good fan boost in votes.

Come to think of it, I don't remember the last time Ryu lost the vote in a CBUB Match where he wasn't extremely outmatched in power. 

Heh, I'm gonna have to think about this one (and yes, I know I have less than a day at this point, lol). But win or lose, each of the Mirage Turtles are in the Top Contenders list at this point, so this arc has already done its job at showcasing them. 

As for the other questions I had: 

- Whether or not this is the last match in this arc, is there going to be a recap for the Leo/Ryu fight? 

- Also, is Raphael going to wake up in time to witness part of this undoubtedly kickass fight? 

I meant to ask you these things before this match was posted. 

[RakaiThwei]

3 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

Busy week for everyone, huh? 

But yeah, great set-up as usual, Rakai, and great recap with Michelangelo and Ken. Good to see that you didn't make the fight easy on Mikey despite Ken's injured ribs. I often find myself acting out some of the fighters' strike as you describe them to help get a better picture of the fight in action, and this was no different. 

Also, yay! One more Rising Thunder out of Mikey!

Yeah, I didn't want to write out the fight to be one sided considering Ken's injury of course. I tried my best to write out the characters as they would be accordin to their respective canonical personalities and what they would do. I even had to channel a little bit of Last Ronin Michelangelo into the recap. I'm not sure if it came across but... it was in my mind when I wrote it out.

And yeah, I had to get out a move from Tournament Fighters here.

5 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

As for the match: 

 

You answered one of the questions I had regarding this fight.  It's probably a good idea that Evil Ryu won't be making an appearance here, since Leonardo may not have a great chance of winning otherwise. Even so, this may possibly be the toughest fight Leo's had yet, both from the story's perspective and in the votes. Ryu's quite powerful and skilled and not one to underestimate his opponents, but so is Leo. Also, Ryu, being one of the most popular fighting characters of all time, might get a good fan boost in votes.

Come to think of it, I don't remember the last time Ryu lost the vote in a CBUB Match where he wasn't extremely outmatched in power. 

Heh, I'm gonna have to think about this one (and yes, I know I have less than a day at this point, lol). But win or lose, each of the Mirage Turtles are in the Top Contenders list at this point, so this arc has already done its job at showcasing them.

Evil Ryu no longer is a problem for anyone fighting Ryu canonically speaking, as Ryu literally expelled the Satsui No Hadou from his body and therefore that power is no longer a factor. However, the Satsui No Hadou has become ambulatory and even conscious, forming a body of itself and that character is Kage, who is essentially Evil Ryu free from the real Ryu, the literal Satsui No Hadou embodied as a separate character. And this would definitely be an extremely tough fight for Leonardo as expected, but I feel like some people don't exactly know how skilled Leonardo is, especially Mirage Leonardo and he himself can be akin and kindred to Ryu in that they relentlessly train to become better fighters. I would even go as far as to say that the two characters are quite similar to each other.

As far as skill goes... Leonardo has done things which might even catch people by surprise and he can even fight on his own as an individual without his team. Here's a few instances.

17 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

As for the other questions I had: 

- Whether or not this is the last match in this arc, is there going to be a recap for the Leo/Ryu fight? 

- Also, is Raphael going to wake up in time to witness part of this undoubtedly kickass fight? 

I meant to ask you these things before this match was posted. 

1) Yes, there will be... Especially if the next match has to go to Donatello vs Ryu.

2) Possibly.

[Z451]

I hope Raph isn't too envious of Mikey later on heh, but in all seriousness Mikey did damn good here. In my opinion Raph might also be proud of his brother for this fight too, and for being able to accomplish what he could not do, and learn from his mistakes, I'm looking forward to how you write their interactions following this win. Mikey was weathered for sure, but he still found strength, perhaps internally so, in his spirit, and that is kind of inspiring, to finish the fight with everything. It is that which is what truly shines about the Turtles and their characters, how they can go up against seemingly insurmountable odds and still find a way to win because they believe in themselves. Nicely written man, it isn't just the play by play that you do well, you seem to have a very good grasp of character and themes that also bodes well for your writing style.

 

Both are highly skilled and very powerful fighters, and each has taken down opponents far beyond their expected means, however I will go with Leonardo here. Ryu is powerful for sure, but power isn't everything in certain kinds of fights, as Leo has experience in facing opponents who are stronger than him and overcoming them with skill and well timed tactics. I predict that he and Ryu will be well matched in terms of timing and ability, but Leo will have to work to evade Ryu's energy based moves, something I think he is able to do even better than his brothers to some extent, as he specializes in balanced movements as opposed to strength or speed. It will be quite a fight though, and I don't believe he can win without sustaining some damage, but I do think that it is possible for to win here if he works on keeping to his balanced style of operating as opposed to the styles exhibited by his brothers.

[RakaiThwei]

6 minutes ago, Z451 said:

I hope Raph isn't too envious of Mikey later on heh, but in all seriousness Mikey did damn good here. In my opinion Raph might also be proud of his brother for this fight too, and for being able to accomplish what he could not do, and learn from his mistakes, I'm looking forward to how you write their interactions following this win. Mikey was weathered for sure, but he still found strength, perhaps internally so, in his spirit, and that is kind of inspiring, to finish the fight with everything. It is that which is what truly shines about the Turtles and their characters, how they can go up against seemingly insurmountable odds and still find a way to win because they believe in themselves. Nicely written man, it isn't just the play by play that you do well, you seem to have a very good grasp of character and themes that also bodes well for your writing style.

I wanted to write out that even if Ken was injured, he was still able to provide a hard fight for someone like Michelangelo. I even made sure to make an attempt to not have Michelangelo strike at Ken's injury but he would ultimately take one hit at it to get some leverage. I also really wanted to show that the Turtles definitely could have a breakthrough and maybe even grow in the midst of a hard and difficult battle, convey a sense of tapped potential that could bring them higher in terms of experience and skill.

8 minutes ago, Z451 said:

Both are highly skilled and very powerful fighters, and each has taken down opponents far beyond their expected means, however I will go with Leonardo here. Ryu is powerful for sure, but power isn't everything in certain kinds of fights, as Leo has experience in facing opponents who are stronger than him and overcoming them with skill and well timed tactics. I predict that he and Ryu will be well matched in terms of timing and ability, but Leo will have to work to evade Ryu's energy based moves, something I think he is able to do even better than his brothers to some extent, as he specializes in balanced movements as opposed to strength or speed. It will be quite a fight though, and I don't believe he can win without sustaining some damage, but I do think that it is possible for to win here if he works on keeping to his balanced style of operating as opposed to the styles exhibited by his brothers.

An excellent breakdown of things to come and how this particular match up could go! I really wanted this to be a much more even fight than what IDW showed off in their official fight between Leonardo and Ryu, and I felt like IDW definitely dropped the ball with their interpretation of the fight.

Thanks for commenting!

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
5.00 - Z451
5.00 - Boratz
4.90 - DSkillz
5.00 - JohnnyChany
4.50 - Pizza Guy

FPA Calculation:
5 Total Votes cast
24.40 Total Combined Score
24.40 / 5 = 4.88 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Leonardo (Mirage): 7
Ryu: 4

[RakaiThwei]

On 6/1/2024 at 8:15 AM, Callisto said:

MATCH SCORE
Leonardo (Mirage): 7
Ryu: 4

Well, after that hicciup with the forum, I can definitely say that I honestly had been expecting Ryu to win! But this is a very big victory for Leonardo, and perhaps might be a sign that the Turtles are ready to potentially take on some more popular characters. Aside from Raphael, the Turtles have managed to defeat the popular and flagship characters of Street Fighter!

Thank you all to everyone who has been watching me through this arduous journey with the Mirage Turtles! Now I can take a hiatus and perhaps think about where the brothers can go as far as continuing their journey goes. They've now got the experience in fighting other styles in Martial Arts, some of these fighters possessing wild powers!

I will be writing out a recap soon within the week!

Thank you all for being there with me!

[IKA]

On 6/1/2024 at 10:42 AM, RakaiThwei said:

Test on quote.  

Typed after quote. 

 

Edit

[RakaiThwei]

10 hours ago, IKA said:

Typed after quote. 

 

Edit

Thanks for providing the text outside of the quote box, IKA!