Match 17028 Raphael (Mirage) vs. Raphael (2012)

[RakaiThwei]

It wouldn’t have been the first time in which Leonardo had confronted himself, and it wouldn’t be the last if he could assume that. He watched his opposition carefully, noticing how his stance and posture mirrored his own perfectly. Whoever had taught this other Leonardo, likely another Master Splinter— had definitely trained him well. But the differences between him and the blue masked doppelganger were clear as night and day. The red masked Turtle then dashed forward and he immediately swung his right arm across, bringing his ninjaken for the neck region of his opponent but the blue masked Leonardo moved his left arm out, using his own sword to parry the strike. Metal clashed as the two blades met, and in retaliation— the blue masked Leonardo then leaned forward with his weight as he then thrust his right arm outward, aiming to drive his katana towards the red masked Turtle’s mid-section. The red masked Leonardo pulled his arms back and turned his body to the left, positioning his blades upward and diverted the incoming blade away from him as he pushed the other’s sword forward, forcing him to over extend. Leonardo turned in a spin, moving behind his blue masked duplicate and then leaned forward as he kicked his right leg out in a spinning back thrust kick for the doppelganger’s head.

“UNGH!”

The blue masked Leonardo winced his eyes in discomfort and pain as his head rang from the impact. Fighting through the pain, he shook his head and now turned to meet his red masked opponent. It was at this moment he had widened his eyes to see the more aggressive Leonardo now coming at him. The red masked mutant shifted forward as he twirled his twin ninjaken within a figure eight motion, shifting the blades from right to left. The blue masked ninja shifted back with each step, positioning his twin katana forward as the other’s blade came at him, and he would successfully manage to block each strike, sparks erupting as the weapons made contact with one another. The red masked Leonardo then swung his arms downward, slashing his ninjaken vertically for the other Turtle’s head at blinding speed with the intent to seemingly bisect him in half.

The blue masked mutant moved his arms up, positioning both his katana horizontally in a crossed fashion and the sounds of metal clashing echoed into his ears as he now glared to see the other’s ninjaken swords pushing down against his twin katana. However, the red masked Leonardo then pushed himself with his feet and took to the air, now raising his left leg up but then vaulted his right leg up— the first motion being a feign, but the second was the intended motion, and his foot collided with the other Turtle’s chin.

The doppelganger stumbled back, and he again shook his head to fight off the discomfort. He watched as the red masked ninja now rushed at him again, swinging his ninjaken in his left hand back across to the left horizontally, aiming for the doppelganger’s plastron and then followed by motioning his sword in his right hand in the same direction, and turned in a spin only to then part his arms away and performed a scissors slash for the other’s mid-section again. The blue masked Leonardo swung his katana in the opposite directions, working to meet the challenge of facing the other Leonardo head on and when the scissors slash came— the doppelganger couldn’t help but cross his blades in front again and found himself being pressed against the brick wall behind himself.

“You’re good, junior. But if this is all you have… You seriously need more training.” Leonardo commented.

The younger, blue masked Turtle then rushed forward and he quickly then swung his right arm horizontally across to the right and to the left, performing a double slash attack for the seemingly older, red masked Turtle’s mid-section. The red masked Leonardo reacted by moving his hands out, using his blades to block the incoming slashes. The younger Leonardo, then swung his arms diagonally down over to the right, slashing both his katana down as he aimed to strike at the other’s neck region. Leonardo, the red masked one, moved his eyes up and watched as the blades came down at him from above and he positioned his ninjaken diagonally and raised them—effectively guarding against the other’s attack. The blue masked Turtle leaned forward and then snapped his right leg forward and out, firmly slamming his foot into the mid-section of his red masked counterpart. Leonardo was forced to stumble back and he watched as his doppelganger came rushing at him. The younger Turtle then pounced forward, only to then shift his weight and lean in the air, setting himself perfectly horizontally as he spun downward and aimed to bring his left foot down to the top of his counterpart’s head.

“HNNGH!”

The red masked Leonardo felt something striking the back of his head and he was forced to buckle from the impact. He narrowed his eyes in immediate discomfort and he worked to fight through the pain immediately.

The younger, blue masked Leonardo then rushed forward only to lean with his left shoulder out and then rammed into the older red masked Leonardo, now pushing him back in towards the brick wall behind him. A grunt had escaped from Leonardo, and he watched as the doppelganger then turned with his weight and then bent his elbow on his right arm only to be firmly smacked across the head as the other moved to strike at him. A brief disorientation entered into the red masked ninja’s head, but he would work to push through it as he maintained his footing and now rushed ahead but then the doppelganger snapped his left forward and out—firmly planting his foot down onto Leonardo’s plastron and kicked him back against the wall. The blue masked Turtle then turned with his weight and swung his left arm across horizontally, firmly impacting his fist onto the face of his opponent.

The blue masked Turtle turned with his weight once more and he thrust his right arm in a straight motion, aiming to slam his fist firmly into the red masked Leonardo’s face— but the older Turtle immediately dropped down and allowed the punch to strike into the brick wall. Quickly, Leonardo then twirled his ninjaken within his grasp and he thrust his hands forward, firmly batting the blunt hands of the weapons into the throat of his opponent. The other Leonardo widened his eyes as he gagged, suddenly cut off from the air which he was breathing.

Seizing this opportunity, Leonardo immediately then swung his right leg diagonally up as he turned with the necessary momentum and smacked his foot hard across the face of his opponent— performing a solid roundhouse kick. He then reared his right leg back and then snapped it out in a side kick— firmly planting his foot onto the younger Leonardo’s mid-section and kicked him away.

Without losing a beat, Leonardo charged in towards the blue masked duplicate. He swung the ninjaken within his left hand downward, moving the blade diagonally as he took aim for the other’s chest region. The other Leonardo responded by crossing his own twin katana in front of himself, parrying the strike but then the red masked Turtle thrust his right arm forward for a stabbing thrust. The doppelganger side-stepped to his left and he swung his right leg diagonally upwards, aiming to land a roundhouse kick but he struck nothing but air as his opponent hunched down rather quickly. The two Leonardo’s now collided— slashing and striking with their swords, ninjaken and katana colliding, creating sparks as they made contact. Neither Leonardo was willing to back down, both were matching and anticipating each other’s movements and techniques.

Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello watched as their sibling engaged his blue masked doppelganger in sword combat. They were aware of the other versions of themselves out in the multiverse, and they had only seen the Donatello with the purple mask on the other side— but seeing them fight was interesting. They recalled how they fought against two other versions of themselves, neither team being able to put up a fight against them though… it could be said all of that was due to a misunderstanding, but now they were curious— how were these other Turtles going to fare against them?

But then there would finally be a breakthrough, as Leonardo— the red masked Turtle, managed to disarm one of the katana blades from the grip of the other Leonardo’s left hand and managed to throw the weapon away to the far left. The blue masked Leonardo widened his eyes as he now was left with one weapon. But if anything, he was far from helpless as he gripped both his hands around the handle of the remaining katana.

“Persistent.” The red masked Leonardo spoke.

He spun his ninjaken within his grasp and then immediately rushed forward, only to turn and then he swung his arms down— now slashing his blades down . The blue masked Leonardo raised his weapon and positioned it horizontally, parrying the incoming twin blades, forcing the younger Leonardo to buckle down from the impact of the blades. He stumbled back, and reached to the back of his shell with his left hand as he gripped his remaining blade in his right, now flinging his hand forward and threw out three shurikens towards his red masked opponent.

The red masked Turtle swung his arms across, slashing his blades and managed to deflect the incoming throwing blades, the clang of metal now echoing through the alleyway.

Leonardo rushed in towards his doppelganger. The blue masked Turtle braced himself as he now took in a deep breath of air through his nostrils, releasing a sigh to relief the tension which was within himself. Collision happened as the red masked mutant slashed his ninjaken in his right arm across to the left, and then moved the blade in his left across to the right before he would part his arms downward, performing a double diagonal slash down for his opponent. The blue masked Turtle worked frantically, moving his blade in the opposite direction of his adversary’s slashes, and then raised his blade horizontally to block the incoming double slash attack. In retaliation, the younger blue masked Turtle would swing his arms across, moving his katana over from left to right to perform a double slash attack as he took aim for the other Leonardo’s neck region, then pulled back only to thrust his blade forward as he took aim for the other’s mid-section. The red masked mutant moved his blades forward, blocking the first two strikes and when the thrust came— he turned and used his ninjaken swords to divert the incoming attack forward and away from himself, forcing the other Leonardo to over extend only to then raise his left knee up, firmly impacting the other Turtle’s mid-section and then slammed both his elbows down onto the back of the blue masked doppelganger’s neck, causing him to drop onto his chest flat on the concrete ground.

The blue masked Turtle firmly planted his hands onto the ground, struggling to rise up to the challenge both figuratively and literally. And when he had done so, he firmly gripped his katana in his grasp and stared upon his red masked counterpart. He took in several breathes, working to calm himself.

The doppelganger then charged in and he swung his weapon across horizontally as he took aim for the face of the red masked Leonardo, but the older Turtle would move his blades across to intercept and clash against the other ninja’s katana. The blue masked Leonardo then thrust his blade forward in a stabbing thrust but the red masked reptile swung his right arm downward, moving his blade to deflect the thrust away from himself before he swung his left arm across as he aimed for the opponent’s neck.  The other Leonardo positioned his blade forward, blocking the strike only to then push it to the side, and he leaned forward intending on bringing his left elbow across— and he firmly smacked it hard across the red masked Turtle’s head. Then, the younger Turtle pushed himself up with his feet, taking to the air and then he threw his weight to the left, bringing his left leg across with his right to perform a brief jumping crescent kick which firmly smacked the red masked Leonardo across his face.

Leonardo worked to fight through the discomfort as he glared to his opponent, and when the blue masked duplicate came at him with his weapon raised— Leonardo raised his left arm up and positioned his ninjaken horizontally as he gripped it in reverse as the other’s blade came down, colliding with the weapon. In fluid motion, Leonardo then twirled his ninjaken in his right and gripped it in reverse, only to then thrust it up for the other’s throat— impact was made and he watched as the other stumbled as what had occurred registered as he now gagged as his air had been cut off from him.

The red masked ninja then would lean forward and push ahead—ramming into the doppelganger and sent him colliding in towards the brick wall behind him. Quickly, Leonardo snapped his left leg forward to perform a front kick but instead wound up hitting the wall as the other spin out of harm’s way.

Leonardo then tensed up all of the muscles within his body, summoning the vast reserves of strength which he had within himself and rushed right in towards his opponent. He turned with his weight as he then swung his arms horizontally to the right, slashing his blades for the blue masked Turtle’s mid-section. The doppelganger gripped his sword firmly in hand, and positioned it to guard against the other’s blades. He buckled from the strike, and worked to resist it by leaning forward with his own weight as he pushed against it. But the red masked Turtle then would swing his blades across to the left, and again he blocked against the weapons as best as he could. Then, Leonardo turned in a spin once more and he brought his arms down to slash his twin ninjaken down for the top of the other’s head in an effort to bisect him in two.

The blue masked ninja raised his katana and positioned it horizontally, and loud clanging sounds were heard as the blades met again— but the next sound came as a surprise to him as he watched as his katana had been broken. He was forced to fall down onto his backside and now watched as the red masked ninja loomed over him. The doppelganger quickly scooted back, and looked over to the other katana which he had lost during the battle—and realized that there was no way for him to get to it in time. Then the tip of one of the red masked Leonardo’s blade was motioned towards the face of the younger Turtle…

“This match is decided. We’re done here.”

Leonardo turned away from his blue masked doppelganger and now stepped his way back over towards his brothers. For him, this was an interesting experience— it was the second time in which he fought himself. It was indeed a very good learning experience for him to have, if he could say so himself.

“You kicked ass out there, Leo!” Donatello spoke out.

“Yeah, I couldn’t have done better out there myself!” Michelangelo added.

The red masked leader turned around to watch as his younger, blue masked counterpart slowly stood up and made his way over to the other Turtles, and was also seemingly being comforted by them. It was so… familiar to see other versions of himself being helped by different versions of his siblings. Perhaps that was another constant in the multiverse. Regardless, he was certain that had he lost— Leonardo’s own siblings would’ve done the same. They had proven it time and time again throughout their journey as ninja.

“Alright, Leo struck out! Guess it’s my turn up to be bat!” One of the doppelgangers loudly spoke.

It was Raphael, or rather— Raphael’s duplicate.

The red masked, green eyed version of the hot-headed terrapin stepped forth as he now sized up each and everyone of the other red masked Turtles. While he had never come across seeing these versions of his brothers, their rather gritty and hardened appearance didn’t make too much of a different to him. He had fought many things in his life, ranging from supernatural creatures, to other mutants and ninja. What difference did fighting another version of himself make?

“Okay, so one of you beat Leo… You guys may think you’re tough! But you haven’t fought me!” The green eyed Raphael proudly announced.

Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello then all turned to look at Raphael— the hot-headed Turtle just shot a hard stare over at his younger doppelganger. If he had ever been like this in his life, then that was something he was going to have to beat the living crap out of his younger counterpart for. The arrogance this other Raphael possessed just… made the older Turtle cringe as he now lightly shook his head in disbelief. He watched as his green eyed counterpart then moved his hands down and took hold of his own twin sai, and spun them within his grasp as he now seemed to perform a sai kata with them… The posturing… To Raphael, it was grating.

“Oh… Oh hell no. I’m not gonna let this go unanswered.” Raphael muttered.

“That’s what I like to hear! A guy who’s definitely not afraid to lose!” The hot-headed Turtle’s counterpart spoke.

Raphael stepped forth and he moved his arms down to now grab hold of the red cloth braided handles of his twin sai and he drew them out, no spinning— no kata. All he did was simply glare at the younger green eyed doppelganger and shook his head in disapproval of the other’s arrogance. From what he had seen of the other Leonardo’s fighting style, it was quite similar to their own and if the blue masked Leonardo was any indicator, they had been trained well. But training didn’t equate to experience.

“Junior, I’d quit that bravado.. That’s a real good way to wind up getting hurt if you can’t back up that kind of big talk. Trust me, I know from first-hand experience. So… wise up.”

The two Raphael’s now glared to one another, sizing each other up.

The green eyed duplicate nodded his head as he formed something of a smirk on his face, and that was something which made the hot-headed original quite irritated. It seemed as if there was no real way in reaching the younger Turtle, and if the duplicate was anything like him— maybe the kid gloves could be taken off. Raphael couldn’t help but just grimace at the other’s arrogance, and he set himself in his own fighting stance.

The duplicate kept that grin on his face, and he too entered into his own battle position— mirroring that of the grittier Raphael.

Now, the two red masked fiery Turtles rushed in towards one another— sai thrust out and both caught each other’s weapons in the other. Muscles were tensed and flexed, both trying to overwhelm the other with sheer strength. But the real difference between them would be discovered through trial by fire. Which Raphael would be left standing and which would fall— was as good as anyone’s guess.

The second match between the two Turtle teams kicked off with an explosive start.

[Callisto]

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

Raphael (2012)
Read more about Raphael (2012) at Wikipedia
Official Site: Nickelodeon Links: Wikipedia

[RakaiThwei]

The next match in my Mirage Turtles storyline is here and this is something which I have been aiming to do for a while, sooner or later. The next few matches are going to be more or less mirror matches. Writing out the recap for the last fight was refreshing because I didn't have to rely on a video for a character's moveset and I could be completely original when it comes to putting something down as far as details were concerned. While the votes between Mirage Leonardo and Leonardo 2012 were a landslide in favor for Mirage Leonardo, I opted not to write that out as such in the recap as I feel like that the 2012 incarnation of Leonardo would've managed to get some hits. None the less, I wrote out the outcome which I feel was proper.

The next match was something of a slight choice between either doing a Michelangelo match or a Raphael, and I opted for the latter as I felt like it was the natural way to go as far as the direction was concerned. So, now we have a match between two versions of Raphael here. And I hope it's something the readers will enjoy.

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

Raphael (Mirage) possesses his Twin Sai, Shurikens, Exploding Shurikens, Smoke Bombs, and Kunai.

 

Raphael (2012) is Low Tier Superhuman in terms of physicals. Think Above Peak Human due to his mutation and training.

Raphael (2012) possesses his Twin Sai, Shurikens, Exploding Shurikens, Smoke Bombs, and Kunai.

Battle Environment Map

[JohnnyChany]

Apologies for not getting to the Leo vs. Leo match in time, but I enjoyed your use of KOF lore to get the alternate version of turtles into the universe Although I do have to question Chizuru's decision making.

As for this fight, if the previous fight is any indication then all of these might end up as glorified squash matches. Such is the respect that the Mirage incarnations have over their 2012 counterparts. Predictable outcomes are ok if the fight summaries continue to deliver, but may I also suggest the possibility of mixing and matching turtles if you continue down the path of the Mirage turtles fighting different versions of themselves. Such as could a non Mirage Leo take down the Mirage version of Michaelangelo. Otherwise a good continuation.

[RakaiThwei]

24 minutes ago, JohnnyChany said:

Apologies for not getting to the Leo vs. Leo match in time, but I enjoyed your use of KOF lore to get the alternate version of turtles into the universe Although I do have to question Chizuru's decision making.

As for this fight, if the previous fight is any indication then all of these might end up as glorified squash matches. Such is the respect that the Mirage incarnations have over their 2012 counterparts. Predictable outcomes are ok if the fight summaries continue to deliver, but may I also suggest the possibility of mixing and matching turtles if you continue down the path of the Mirage turtles fighting different versions of themselves. Such as could a non Mirage Leo take down the Mirage version of Michaelangelo. Otherwise a good continuation.

Thanks for the comments!

Honestly, I had no intentions for these to be squash matches but I think that the votes on the Leo vs Leo match was a bit surprising on account that the 2012 Turtles are pretty popular and have a sizable family base. So the votes really caught me off guard and the 2012 Nick Turtles do have some respectable feats and skills. I honestly would have thought that 2012 Leo would have gotten some votes because of popularity and his skill.

So when writing the recap, I didn't reflect the votes and opted to have 2012 Leo get some good hits in to surprise Mirage Leo.

[DSkillz]

Another great set-up, Rakai. The Leo vs. Leo recap was properly intense, as I'm pretty sure that 2012 Leo would at least give Mirage Leo a good fight.

As for the match, I think 2012 Raph would give Mirage Raph a good fight, too. 2012 Raph has some good solo feats of his own, after all, such as beating both the massively-strong Cockroach Terminator and the powerful Lord Dregg (both of whom initially gave his entire team fits).  In the end, though, I think Mirage Raph's superior skill and experience should prevail.

[RakaiThwei]

Just now, DSkillz said:

Another great set-up, Rakai. The Leo vs. Leo recap was properly intense, as I'm pretty sure that 2012 Leo would at least give Mirage Leo a good fight.

As for the match, I think 2012 Raph would give Mirage Raph a good fight, too. 2012 Raph has some good solo feats of his own, after all, such as beating both the massively-strong Cockroach Terminator and the powerful Lord Dregg (both of whom initially gave his entire team fits).  In the end, though, I think Mirage Raph's superior skill and experience should prevail.

Thanks DSkillz!

The idea for these mirror matches was to have the Turtles face aspects of themselves, specifically their flaws which if you ask me is a constant trait through out the multiverse as far as TMNT is concerned. Turtles Forever established that every incarnation of the Turtles shares traits with one another which are sourced from the original Mirage Turtles, and I kind of wanted to play back with that a little bit in these match ups.

[Pizzaguy2995]

Same as before, gotta side with the Mirage Turtles. They’re just all around tougher and more brutal then the Nickelodeon Turtles.

[RakaiThwei]

21 minutes ago, Pizzaguy2995 said:

Same as before, gotta side with the Mirage Turtles. They’re just all around tougher and more brutal then the Nickelodeon Turtles.

Yeah, then we know how the next two matches are going to go.

[Z451]

You really do well with this recaps Rakai, as with each one you seem to find ways to incorporate a great deal of emotion and intensity. At times, you can feel the fighter's struggle internally as well as externally in their bouts, broaching the idea, that each and every one of these fights is more than just a playful skirmish between fighters, but rather an all out, play for keeps, intense brawl for supremacy, as both sides want, with everything in them, to overcome the other in every way, but only one can do so in the end. It is that, that really does shine throughout the match recaps that you so Rakai, and it certainly does work for making these matches seem like more than just matches, so it can be deemed as admirable in many ways.

An added note about this setup here too, is that the pairing of the two counterparts, works well in a storytelling atmosphere too, as it allows the fighters an outlet to bounce off of each other, and to experience the internally conflicts they have in their own heads, in an external way, as they are forced to confront, in many ways, the same types of challenges with these other forms of themselves, that they are already confronting inside their own heads currently. Such a thing, provides the characters an extra challenge, as well as an extra form of insight into their own dilemmas and problems, as they need to conquer some or most of them just to win the fights they have put in front of them at any given time.

 

Now, just from the outset, I do believe that the Mirage Raphael will prevail here after a decently grueling fight, as he is wiser, more skilled, and much more level headed than his 2012 counterpart, however, the 2012 Raphael should not be discounted either as is noted as one of the best ninjas in the world, and one of the top fighters on his team, attributes that did allow him to gain certain advantages against Super Shredder. The advantages in question stop in the fact that while he is a powerhouse in brute strength, and while his anger can increase his strength, said anger is also his weakness, and, when paired with his ego, it leads him into battles that he often can't win, because strength alone isn't enough to win every fight. Hence, the Mirage Raphael has a clear advantage over him here, in terms of not only experience in fighting, but also experience in personality growth, he has grown to a point where his emotions are far more in check, and said emotions don't get in the way of his fighting ability. 2012 will tax him greatly in the short run with his brute force and anger boosts, but can not win overall, so long as the Mirage Raphael outwits and outfights him by utilizing his calmer demeanor and more  relaxed style and form of fighting and facing off against opponents.

[RakaiThwei]

18 minutes ago, Z451 said:

An added note about this setup here too, is that the pairing of the two counterparts, works well in a storytelling atmosphere too, as it allows the fighters an outlet to bounce off of each other, and to experience the internally conflicts they have in their own heads, in an external way, as they are forced to confront, in many ways, the same types of challenges with these other forms of themselves, that they are already confronting inside their own heads currently. Such a thing, provides the characters an extra challenge, as well as an extra form of insight into their own dilemmas and problems, as they need to conquer some or most of them just to win the fights they have put in front of them at any given time.

This is EXACTLY what I was aiming to do with these kinds of mirror matches. It's all about personal growth here and having the Mirage Turtles confront aspects of themselves if they want to and need to improve if they are going to progress further and face more powerful and skilled opponents.

Thanks for commenting, Z451! You definitely understood what I was going for.

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
5.00 - DSkillz
4.60 - JohnnyChany
4.90 - leroypowell3
5.00 - Z451
5.00 - Boratz

FPA Calculation:
5 Total Votes cast
24.50 Total Combined Score
24.50 / 5 = 4.90 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Raphael (Mirage): 11
Raphael (2012): 0