A Graceful Meeting(Kenichi/Rita)

Kenichi would grin from ear to ear as he brought his fist forward in a grand display. There was merit to Rita's words. Even though he had a selfless heart, he hadn't simply come here without the thought of aiming to develop his own skill and to be an asset to not only her but those in the world who could not properly defend themselves, those who wished to rise from the chains of misfortunes they'd been shackled with. There were ambitious plans to one day expand his own resources and influences so that he could one day pass down his skills to others and guide those who aimed for strength, be it physical or emotional. The mind was as mighty as the fist. He wholeheartedly believed there were those who could affect the world through more than mere physical strength and martial prowess---and he wanted to meet those people. He wanted to be brave and see where the path of the unknown would take him.


"I'm hoping to achieve grand things, of course, Rita. I was never a participant in the world wars. If anything, I was advised by some to not risk my life carelessly and I listened, though I did my best to defend who I could and fight who I could handle. In the aftermath, there were those I've seen and still see who suffer to this day, who curse that... they couldn't readily defend themselves. I'm no hero and I would never claim to yearn for that title as I believe any deed should be one carried out genuinely... from one's heart. That is the true mark of men and women who wear bravery on their sleeves I could tell you that I desire to be the greatest fighter that ever lived, to be some martial artist whose name is spoken of through history books and yet..."

He would approach her, gazing directly in her eyes as his expression remained as passionate and fiery as ever.

"My desire is to pass that strength and the skills I've acquired onto others. To expand my influence, to welcome those who wish to rise up from the misery in their lives and defend themselves. I wish to show those in the world that strength doesn't always have to come from the physical or the supernatural... but from their heart. In the aftermath of it all, I think there are those in the world that deserve to be encouraged, that deserve to have a voice to ease their suffering and tell them - "This is not the end! March on with fire in your heart!" Perhaps it's silly, perhaps it may never happen but... with your resources and my willpower... I do believe that anything is possible."

He would return to his seat as he kept that fiery gaze onto the woman, hoping that she had felt the intent and desire behind his words.

Greatness was something that the human soul sought to achieve in many forms. And in the case of Kenichi, he sought out strength to be able to push others forward through the halls of hell when the drums of war would inevitably come crashing in again. So to her, it made sense for him to summon and find that power in times of peace while nobody is thinking of really pursuing greater feats of influence. The shadows of the war were turning into distant memories, but its mark truly continued to be felt and she could understand the urgency behind him.

In response to that, she'd motion for her vehicle to pull over toward an open meadow nearby so that they may come to a cease. With all of his talk of combating, seeking power, greatness, and all of that; perhaps this was as good a moment as any to give her own aura a taste of what his power even was. If she were to properly help him, she'd need to see what he was dealing with for herself. So, her teal eyes focused in on Kenichi before uttering these words.

"Well, it seems like you aren't short on the heroics. I do say you've at least flared me up to figure out what's going on in that body of yours. So check this: if I'm to help you evolve further, it'll do my own power good to see yours in action. I'm pretty sure my own bag of tricks can help you get a leg up at some point through a simple sparring match. Are you game?"

Now motioning her thumb, Rita opened up the door near them as the light of the setting sun melted over the landscape. With a brief glance, she viewed the glistening of stars from the ever-closer night beginning to seep around them. Truly a perfect time to soak in the air, get a workout in and push each other toward finding something grander in this world to pursue.

"Tick, tock. Time is ticking away~"

An offer to a spar was something Kenichi would never turn down - whether injured, on his last legs, or exhausted, he would welcome a spar from anyone. As such, it went without saying that when Rita presented him with the idea of showcasing his martial prowess and fighting skill, his face lit up with unbidden excitement. Of course he would accept! He rose up from his seat as the came to the stop and she opened the car door, allowing the night air to dance throughout the vehicle. Rising from his seat, he would stand beside her and firmly nod his head, gripping his fists as he grinned.

"Let's do it. I'm always ready for a fight!"

Rita was more than amused to see he was so reeving to go at her after announcing the desire for a sparring match. Given the male's energy, however, it was natural since he seemed like the earnest type to want to push himself. Therefore, Rita's own energy seemed to start overflowing around them as particles of aqua-drenched energies scattered about giving a warm hue to the grassy lands around them. Despite looking rather relaxed, one could tell the muscles in her body and the aura of her power were ready to react at a moment's notice. In this way, the woman preferred to be open, relaxed, and ready to flow like water to deal with anything that may come to her.

With a motion of her right hand, she dared him to come to her first as she focused on Kenichi.

"Go ahead, I want to see the moves you used on that Vanyel person. I can tell by the fire in your eye you have something potent within you, so don't be afraid."

And with that, the stage was set and Rita herself was feeling her heart rate increase, blood rush, and the adrenaline moving in her body as volts of electricity scattered around her body as she was preparing herself to be combat-ready.

The relentless dragon would grin ear to ear, a raging fire burning within those hazel brown eyes. His eyes would observe her momentarily, studying her posture so as to catch any shift in movement that might miss his hawk-like gaze. Such an act would last but for only a moment as Kenichi assumed a stance that concealed the nature of his offensive intent.

Stealthily stepping forward with his left leg, Kenichi would shift his body forward, his body seeming as if it had disappeared in a flash, only for him to appear before Rita, like a lion ready to seize it's prey.

A powerful step-in with his right foot would send his his fist barreling forward at high speed, launched directly towards her shoulder. A basic technique to begin with, it would seem, but this would not be the end of his assault. If Rita chose to evade backwards, Kenichi would use his superhuman speed to dash before her, aiming to keep her in his direct vicinity at all times.

During his relentless charge, he would execute a fierce wave of strikes with his fists, from the left to the right. Though he attacked with aggression, he aimed to strike with precision as well guiding his fists in alternating patterns.

And like that: Rita was in battle mode.

The woman's eyes seemed to turn into a trance as her speed came into play, already understanding that a faint was more than likely in a direct confrontation like this. So rather than relying on her bodily senses, the massive amounts of her energy that was bleeding out acted as her eyes. She could sense his presence, and through this advantage, the woman sought to have a cluster of burning aqua energy act as a wall to smash against his fist that had been launched at her shoulder.

"That's it...."

Muttering to herself, the shockwaves from the hit raddled her as the thumping of her own heart could be felt in the woman's chest. Something burning was raising up as her body continued to tap into its energy to respond to the threats; all those years of training as a mercenary for hire coming to the surface numbing any of her emotional thought. All that mattered was clawing her way through the opponent that was ahead

"Tch."

Although the Kenichi definitely had greater physical strength than Rita, her speed and energy control more than made up for it as she met him evenly for the time being. Each of his strikes would be met with sharp tendrils of energy that dared to burn and slap him away if he continued to touch her with no sense of protection around him. Obviously, it was going to take a bit of power to break through them, but this would allow her the chance to bolt upwards in the head instead of falling backward as he'd envisioned.

If her timing was right, Rita intended to augment her strength through her Source Aura and punch the air in order to leave an area comparable to half a city block flattened with her raw energy attack power. From there, if she failed to get him in that attack, she'd just have herself on guard ready to react on a dime as she was gonna need her speed advantage given her body was burning and aching from the earlier attack she defended herself against.

What made contact with the relentless dragon's fist was not flesh and bone but aqua-blue energy, formed within the shape of a wall to stop his strike from landing successfully. A remarkable technique. One that burned his knuckles on impact. She seemed to boast a superb defense that was every bit as formidable as her offense. The fusion of the two always proved useful in the grand scheme of the battlefield. Each successive strike that followed was deflected with sharp tendrils that possessed a similar burning effect to the wall.

Even if his bravado compelled him to feel as though he could endure pain and strike through the wall with brute force, his body was not yet a masterwork of durability. Therefore, Kenichi would err on the side of caution, choosing a temporary retreat as he utilized a technique similar to the flash step to shift a few steps backward, settling into a defensive stance as he rotated his feet in preparation.

The maniacal rushdown approach proved to be a dangerous gamble thus far. With such a versatile energy source at her disposal, she could freely manipulate and construct it around her body at any given moment. For him to emerge victorious, Kenichi would have to focus on catching her unawares, in that precise moment where her guard would falter, opening the gate towards an exploitable moment of opportunity.

Rita would choose to strike forward as she unleashed a fierce counterstrike in the form of a punch, Kenichi would quickly evade her attack, his fist poised for a strike towards her aim, only to be blown back by the atmospheric force of her strike. He misjudged her attack. She hadn't been aiming at him entirely but the air around them. Landing several meters away after being blown backward by the impact, he'd grin from ear to ear as he assumed another stance.

Rather than strike away with reckless abandon, he chose to let her execute the next attack. One flaw, one crack in the foundation... if he could find just one, perhaps he could turn the battle in his favor. For now, it was clear momentum was favoring Rita so far. Be that as it may, he had always stood in defiance of adversity, and this battle would prove no different. In a quick moment, an idea blossomed within Kenichi's mind.

Channeling all of his energy into a charge, Kenichi would run towards Rita, utilizing his speed and physical strength to gather up momentum, but rather than rush towards her directly, he would halt his charge and begin running circles around her. How far could her energy reach? He wondered.

Did it have a limit? How malleable was it? If he could catch a moment where she was thrown off her guard, that could be the ticket... but for now, he'd run around and keep his eyes on her at all times. Physical strength and endurance would be his combination from this point forward and then technique. A method to the madness, so to speak. Who would be the victor?

Breathe in, breathe out.

Focus.

That was all that Rita's mind felt as she felt the bloody drive of combat awaken her instincts. The woman's entire body felt electric as she could feel the stinging of pain in her body, the rush of inducing damage on her foe, and the hellish thump of her heart beating as this sense of power rushed to the surface. Remembering this feeling brought back different situations of the past that came to combat, but all of those were brushed to the side as she observed her opponent and analyzed that he was beginning to become more cautious when realizing the threat he was up against.

Neither one of them were infinite beings of energy, durability, speed, and destruction; so this may outright come down to a battle of attrition as each of them was evenly matched when it came to the volume of energy in them. This would perhaps come down to skill, experience, and the mental endurance to withstand a battle of this magnitude. After their last skirmish, she figured she had the edge on energy usage and speed; so she damn sure was gonna capitalize on that fact.

Of course, as soon as Kenichi started charging at her, the woman assumed he was gutsy enough for another direct attack. So, without thinking too hard, the woman punched the air which caused a sphere of energy to come out of her palm. It reacted at a blazing speed, though it seemed to miss its target as it seems his intent wasn't to attack her but size the woman up. Running laps around her, the woman clenched her right fist and disbursed the energy to save for later as particles of light flew into the sky.

Maybe he would assume there would be an attack from above, but with a stomp of her foot rows of sharp energy spears jolted up from the ground in an attempt to touch the male and create an explosion that would go for half a city block.

Of course, given Rita's speed, she'd give herself a small break in between the explosion to rapidly move upwards and use another surge of force to hopefully evade being caught in the debris; utilizing her own hot aura to hopefully melt any rubble. The ultimate intent was to see the boy's durability would be, how he would react and what he could do as she assessed the situation further.

FOCUS. Find the moment of opportunity and seize it when it presents itself!

Kenichi continued his moving at a rapid pace, circling around the woman as she continued to observe her movements, noting how her attack had missed its mark, no doubt a result of believing he would strike her the moment he charged in. Even with his temporary deceit, his hawk-like gaze remained poised, reading any shift or movement he could perceive. He wondered... would she utilize that aqua-blue energy source? To strike him from above or from below? There were multiple strategies she could employ with such a malleable source of energy. As such, it was crucial for the Rising Dragon to remain diligent, maintain a steady awareness at all times and act immediately at the moment she chose to go on the offensive, in the hope, perhaps, of landing a resounding counter, one capable of turning the tide of battle in his favor.

The hot-blooded martial artist surmised that this battle might well come down to a battle of attrition, of who would falter first and exploit that moment of opportunity. Well, he supposed it was time to put his durability and physical endurance to the test, huh? Focusing on her movements, Kenichi would witness the woman stomping her foot onto the ground. Quickly shifting his eyes downwards, he would perceive several rows of sharp energy spears suddenly rising below him.

Kicking his feet off of the ground at the last moment, avoiding the spears by a hair's breadth, Kenichi would still end up blown away by the rebounding effect of the explosion. His body would find itself propelled upward into the air, forcing him to redirect his position in the air so he could maintain a laser focus on Rita at all times. This woman was relentless! Kenichi had to be aware of every angle on the battlefield with this woman. The sheer destructive force of her attacks alone would lead to a quick defeat if he let his guard down, even for a second.

He had to keep moving, even from his aerial vantage point in the skies. In a display of ingenious dexterity, he would utilize the remaining pieces of debris flying haplessly through multiple directions in the air as footholds to guide him towards her. Of course, It wasn't an instantaneous speed that'd allow him to immediately close the distance between them, but it was the best he could do given the circumstance. Lacking certainty as to whether he'd reach her in time, Kenichi would utilize one of the stronger techniques in his repertoire.

The Celestial Dragon Striking at the Apex. Execution-wise, he had typically regarded it as a simple technique with a simple concept. To strike at the center of something and shift the force impact into a single point - be it through an object or the opponent's body.

A fulcrum-based transference technique using energy transmission, Kenichi shifts the point of impact by striking at the dead center of an object or his opponent, transmitting the accumulated force through
a target. A simple technique teeming with versatility, it allowed him to collect velocity from his rotational acceleration, accumulating atmospheric force within the shape of the celestial dragon, Shenlong.

The atmospheric force is then directed into a straight line - by executing a punch through the air - where it is then hurdled towards the enemy at resounding speed. Winding up his arm through the air, Kenichi would send that accumulated atmospheric wave of impact towards Rita, hoping it would at least cause her some form of disruption.

Landing on the remaining parts of the ground around them, Kenichi would attempt to rush her down again, this time from her left side. He wanted to gauge her reaction time, a gamble to see how would she could operate against multiple attacks. To be certain, his overall speed had been somewhat compromised by the mid-air acrobatics. He couldn't use any instantaneous movement techniques as well as he desired. Even so, he remained confident that he could reach her in time. Attacking from two angles, could this be his moment to soar in and turn the tides? Would she be caught off guard or would she display another trick to set him back? Knowing how perceptive she was, perhaps this might backfire in his face, too. Still, he had to take the risk! Thus, leaping in with his fist held backward, positioned for an overhead strike, Kenichi would lunge towards her, gambling on whether or not his two strikes would land successfully.

The battle was speeding up as the earth was shaking around them. While her power lacked the capacity to engulf entire cities, an area akin to a few city blocks felt the rumblings of power in the ground, the rapid heat of explosions from their attacks, and witnessed the dazzling lights of the two's hits roaring across the open field as the twilight skies bled to the night. It was this type of intensity that brought the heart rate of Rita thumping to life; making her body sweat from the heat as an adrenaline-filled grin smeared itself across her face as she witnessed her opponent riding the explosion.

To her observation, the male yielded a good deal of durability to be able to still keep moving at the speeds he was following that attack. However, his speed just wasn't on par with hers as she could notice that despite his rapid movement; it was only coming from the explosive force of her own assault. Still, his physical strength was nuts. For, as soon as he reached within striking distance, Rita's own body was caught off guard by the explosive atmospheric force as she sensed a great deal of energy being invested into this attack.

Not having much time to react, she used her nimble speed in order to migrate the damage from it by letting out one hellish roar and putting an energy barrier around herself. Due to the lack of time she had to prepare, this did not fully block out the attack, but it certainly caused some damage given her own durability. The pressure on her joints ached in pain, her ears were ringing, her mouth dripped with a bit of blood and she could feel her whole body burning with pain. Still, it wasn't enough to put her down given the fact she had the advantage of speed. It hurt, it took it's toll; but she was now more pumped up than before.

"Ahhhhhh, NOW THAT HURT!"

That's all Rita could yell out before she focused internally on herself.

'Focus, focus, focus, focus, focus.'

With her only thought now focused on being battle-aware, the woman's body was totally in the game as she then jolted to life with laughter as he tried to attack her left flank; assuming that she wouldn't be able to keep her mind wits about her. That, unfortunately, was not the case. She was trained to deal with pain and push through it, so Rita infused a quick sum of energy into the earlier attack that had missed Kenichi. Being that he did nothing against this cluster of energy that went to the heavens, it came jolting back down to earth like a hellishly swift bolt of lightning sent from the gods themselves to smite him. Together with the kinetic force of her speed, the impact strength of it hitting the ground, and the explosive power of Rita.

The woman made sure to hurl herself away from the male as it sought to stab his right shoulder and explode regardless of whether or not it hit it's intended target. In doing so, an aqua inferno of energy would surge into the skies for half city block or so as the intense flames and forces engulfed the area; even making Rita herself fall on her ass as she panted and still kept her energy swirling around her body like a sea drenched shield ready to protect or go on the offensive at a moment's notice.

With her nose bleeding from all the heavy impacts from both her own and Kenichi's attacks, she wiped away the blood and cackled:

"Ahhhh, shit, you are actually making me work for this! Fucking bring more of that on!"