Only Other Thing We Need is a Wardrobe [Mizu, Amaranta]

The bloodied and battered appearance of her opponent after she had taken the Ōkasen spell directly made Mizu confident she really could defeat her. This confidence boost would quickly dissipate as she watched Amaranta draw her Zanpakuto and release a huge amount of spiritual pressure. In the blast of energy's wake stood a fiery Arrancar warrior in her Resurrección form, the likes of which Mizu had only encountered once before; though that transformation paled in comparison to this lioness's blaze.

Mizu was forced to hold her arms in front of her head just to withstand the initial blast of heat and power that came from Amaranta. She immediately knew if she did not respond with her absolute best, then this fight would be over far quicker than she could have imagined. Mizu felt her lip crack as the aforementioned heat wave sapped the moisture on and around her body. Ugh...so hot! she thought to herself as she felt her stamina drain from the intense temperature increase. Even her sweat seemed to evaporate this close to Amaranta.

"Gekiryū Kanketsusen!" Seeing a blast of burning fire coming right for her, Mizu strategized on her feet and cast the one water spell she could think of. Saying it's name created a foot-wide hole out of which a strong torrent of water came rushing. Mizu used it like a fire hose and aimed it directly at the crescent of fire. The heat from the fire suddenly hitting the water caused a huge amount of steam to spread out in every direction, blanketing the vicinity in an opaque curtain. Mizu took advantage of the camouflage to hide her spiritual presence as much as she could and Flash Stepped into the crumbling ruins of a nearby building.

Mizu's head was racing. From inside the building the heat wasn't quite as bad, but she still wasn't sure how to deal with the Arrancar. In her released state she was practically twice as dangerous as normal, and Mizu was not sure her own Zanpakuto release could help her deal with it. It certainly would not help her withstand the heat. So far my individual spells have not accomplished much. She is strong enough to break through most of them without too much of a problem...best course of action is to either use many spells in conjunction again, which seemed to force her to release, or use a single extra powerful spell.

Knowing she did not have much more time to hide, if any at all, Mizu decided on a strategy, and a particularly audacious one at that. She found herself extremely grateful there were no civilians anywhere close to them in this abandoned, defunct town. Using her spiritual detection skill to it's utmost, Mizu tracked Amaranta's location even through the heavy layer of steam and jumped into action. Flash Stepping out of the crumbling building and then into the open street, Mizu made sure to position herself perfectly, about twenty feet behind her target, to give her plan it's greatest possibility of success.

"Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" Before she spoke the spell's name a huge surge of spiritual energy had already begun gathering at her right hand, her left holding it to provide extra support, and by the time she finished speaking it exploded out with a great roar. The noise alone caused nearby windows to shatter as the buildings surrounding the two shook at their foundations. The blast took the form of a shockingly large ray of electrical and spiritual energy, instantly dwarfing it's caster, and would continue on for multiple town blocks. The ground and structures it overwhelms would be reduced to little more than smouldering ash. Though it had not been her goal to cause such damage to the town, Mizu also understood she did not stand much of a chance against such a strong released Arrancar otherwise.

To be certain, Amaranta had already expected her to have some means of defense. She had displayed several of those spells so far. Most were offensive in nature, but this particular one seemed to be defensive in nature. It earned her a momentary reprieve, even though Amaranta wasn't trying to rush after her. To be certain, she had only ever wanted to get this woman off of her ass, but she proved more stubborn than she intended. It agitated her to a significant degree; holding herself back, unable to attack her with the full extent of her ferocity. Amaranta was no fool.

If she killed this Shinigami, that'd create a whole laundry list of issues that simply wasn't worth the goddamn price. She's attempting to evade her and hide, but her perquisa has already alerted her of the woman's presence. Mizu is nearby. Amaranta is already shifting from place to place, waiting for the precise moment when she'll strike. Will she come soaring in for a direct attack or keep her distance and perform another kido spell?

The leonine woman assumes she'll likely choose the latter and she's already preparing ideas in her head to as how she'll approach it. In a flash, Mizu has reappeared twenty meters behind her. Shifting around to face her, Amaranta prepares for the woman's next attack. Spiritual pressure whirled around her short frame. After the energy gathered, she'd called out that spell's name as the turbulent stream of lightning roared through the air. Tch. This is where she despises her inability to launch a cero to match her blast for blast. Whatever. She simply has to make due with what she has. Fire. There is nothing complicated behind the act. By now, part of her already recognized the disadvantage. But so what!? She'll just bring it all to bear and see how it goes from there.

Whirling fire and reiryoku meld together as Amaranta generates a large orb of fire around her body. It's all the fire she can generate in one go. Scorching her own body in that meteoric ball of hellfire, Amaranta releases it into a blast equivalent to what would constitute a gran rey cero. In a contest of opposing forces, she is the one being pushed back as she feels the brunt of electricity assaulting her body, but she's pushing past the pain to force her all into this all out blast of fire.

An explosion occurs. Naturally, the leonine woman is caught within the whirlwind, and sent back several meters as a result. All in all, Mizu can tip her hat. That wasn't a blow she could readily overcome. In the aftermath, her form is still maintained but her body is visibly wounded. Not even her Hierro had been able to mitigate the damage entirely. She is short of an arm, but at least she's still breathing. It'll grow back soon. Climbing up through the rubble, she's maintaining her gaze to look around for the Shinigami. The outlook isn't good, but...she isn't backing down. That much is clear.

As the explosion rocked the area Mizu barely hung on thanks to a timely Kidō barrier that protected her from the brunt of it's force. Though it shook rather violently from the turbulent winds given off from their clash, Mizu was able to remain in place as time ticked by and eventually the dust and smoke cleared revealing a badly harmed Amaranta, though an Amaranta still standing. Dang! I hoped that would be enough! Mizu understood her own limitations quite well, and as a result foresaw herself losing through exhaustion if she could not figure out a way to defeat this Arrancar for good.

Knowing Arrancar are often capable of High-speed Regeneration, Mizu figured if she had any opportunity to win every second mattered. With a start she rushed forward, arm raised, and shouted "Bakudō #62: Hyapporankan!" This spell formed a glowing white rod about two meters in length in her left hand, which she immediately threw directly at Amaranta. As it traveled through the air the rod split into half a dozen, then again into a dozen, then again into a hundred flying energy rods all aiming to pin her against the rubble behind her.

As her last spell still flew at Amaranta Mizu leapt into the air and cast another, this one aimed for the ground directly below her "Bakudō #37: Tsuriboshi!" From her hand a ball of blue energy shot toward the ground and expanded into an elastic cushion which Mizu dropped onto and, using it like a trampoline, took advantage of it's springiness to slingshot herself into the sky directly above Amaranta. As she flew through the air she repeated words she'd spoken earlier "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Hadō #63. Raikōhō!!" With all her might Mizu fired a full powered Raikōhō at Amaranta, sending forth a mighty lightning bolt at wherever the Arrancar found herself, either pinned from a previous spell or elsewhere.

Mizu was proving to be quite the annoyance, on a level akin to what she experienced at the hands of that bimbo she met during one of her first few times on earth. What made fighting this brat particularly difficult was her inability to go all out. It was almost as if she felt like she was allowing her body to be used as target practice, reminded of her inability to match this small woman in a battle. It wasn't an entertaining bout for her. No, to be certain, outside of merely desiring to see what she'd been following her for, she detested the thought of having several of these damned spells launched her way. If her regeneration was inadequate, she may have died in the midst of that explosion. Excuses. Excuses. Fucking excuses. She finds herself tired of this, and thankfully her attention is seized by the wave of rods raining from above.

With one arm and a regenerating arm, her options are limited, but that didn't matter anymore. Now, her pride was at stake. Slamming her fist towards, the rubble in rapid succession, a series of small explosions had been created, large pieces of debris flying indiscriminately through the air, becoming the targets of Hyapporanken, diverting each small rod off it's intended course. By now, she was not expecting this to be the end of it. This Shinigami was becoming quite predictable. Since all she had employed were primarily spells, it stood to reason she might not be all that adept at close-quarter combat. Therefore, if she could meet her directly, she could finally impose her will on this battle.

As if on cue, her senses shift towards the airborne Shinigami, chanting an incantation, but Amaranta is prepared this time. If it's long, it's probably strong. Swiveling her single arm around, a large tornado of golden fire is created. Shifting her hips in reverse and then forward again, as though she were a one-armed quarterback throwing a football, she swung her hip forward, launching her first through the air to punch that tornado towards her Raikoho to meet her attack with her own. In the midst of lightning clashing with flame,


She won't fall victim to taking another explosion from a colliding attack this time. No, her next intention was to pinpoint Mizu in the sky. Using Sonido, the leonine woman vanished and reappeared behind her, aiming to grab onto the woman, and roar toward the ground in preparation for a body slam. She's already expecting a defensive measure, however, and in a few more moments, her limb will regrow itself. If need be, she'll simply let go.

"You're a real pain in the ass. It's time for you to take a timeout, kiddo'."

Upon hearing the signature boom of an Arrancar's Sonido technique Mizu preemptively drew her Zanpakuto and prepared for her opponent's arrival at her location. Just in time, she managed to swing her weapon as Amaranta attempted to grab her, deflecting her hand in the process. "You thinking I'm just someone who will roll over and be beaten is your undoing, Arrancar! Learn humility! Crystallize, Shousenmaru!" In a burst of spiritual pressure Mizu's Zanpakuto released it's Shikai, causing it's blade to shatter into many tiny crystal fragments that immediately began surrounding the Arrancar like a tornado.

With a flourish, Mizu commanded all the crystal shards to converge on Amaranta in order to tear her to shreds by continuously striking her body like a torrent of glass. Though she felt herself get more and more exhausted as the battle continued, her Shikai's power boost was welcomed greatly by Mizu. She didn't like having to use it before absolutely necessary due to how exhausting it can be, but the Shinigami knew she needed to give it her all. Luckily her Kidō spells would have a little bit of extra oomph now so Mizu, with renewed confidence, Flash Stepped mid-air a short distance away and commanded her Zanpakuto's shards to continue tearing at her opponent's body.

"Heh, I WISH it was that easy," she quipped, playfully exchanging words with the determined Shinigami, her tone possessing an air of annoyance that had yet to subside. In the next moment, Mizu's Shikai has been activated, and the leonine woman now finds herself fighting against another threat in the form of sharp crystals, fired from all angles like ceaseless gunfire. Remaining stationary would be foolish, and she's already bringing everything to bear with her Sonido, creating speed clones in her wake to evade full scale damage.

She doesn't emerge entirely unscathed, of course, but neither does she suffer the full brunt of her assault. Once more, she's reminded of her inability to match the scales due to her inability to launch projectiles outside of her fire. The heat wave doesn't seem to be having any noticeable effect she can discern, and she's already in her Shikai. A power boost for a power boost, but she has that damn magic on her side.

In comparison, Amaranta has the flames of her resurrecion' and her hand to hand combat. Well, at least this was a battle of adversity. Just how she liked it. It's time to take the battle to her, though, and Amaranta is using her perquisa to track the woman's whereabouts, beaming toward her at a breakneck pace.

Expecting those shards to trail behind her, she keeps her freshly regenerated arm in an upward angle, forming a wall of fire in her trailing charge. With the other hand, she's firing beam of golden flame from her hand. It's not a cero, but it's the best she can manage with at the moment. Now, she's simply aiming to pressure her as much as she can in direct engagement. Speed is the name of the game, and recklessly pursuing her and offering her a taste of her own medicine is the best bet. If she evades the beam, good, Amaranta would simply vanish and reappear closer in. Anything to keep her in her ideal range.

Mizu had had enough of this Arrancar and this fight. She knew she was already pushing her limits and beyond, with both heat and exhaustion causing her head to swim. Though the fierceness she'd had all fight were yet to leave her golden orbs, Mizu could sense the rest of her body failing her. No! I can't lose! she exclaimed to herself, believing a loss means her death. If she were to die here she would never reach her goals, breaking her promise to Kyo, nor would she ever see her family again or see her lifetime of effort pay off. She couldn't give in.

Facing her opponent head on, Mizu held both hands out, one still gripping her blade-less Zanpakuto, and willed herself to aim one more haymaker at the Arrancar. Right before the golden beam would strike her Mizu shouted to Amaranta "Just...fall already! Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!!" Blue energy accumulated around her hands as her Shikai-boosted spell was cast. Instead of fighting through the golden beam, Mizu opted to spin and move to her left slightly, avoiding the brunt of the beam but still suffering damage and burns to her left upper arm. This caused blue trails to radiate from her hands, and when she finished her 360 degree spin, Mizu fired a powerful concentrated blast of energy right at Amaranta barreling towards her. She hoped between the blast's significant width and the Arrancar woman's trajectory, it would be difficult to dodge. With how little in the tank she had remaining, Mizu knew if she couldn't inflict a decisive blow her own number would be up.

Amaranta too, was somewhat close to her own wit's end. Exhaustion hadn't set in fully, but her body was working overtime to maintain the regeneration, to say nothing of the assault that nearly left her with more than the loss of an arm if she hadn't brought a significant portion of her reiryoku to bear. Sheer will is what kept her from bowing out. To her, a loss here meant she'd be purified. Considering the way this woman carried herself from the outset, that seemed like a distinctly realistic possibility.

To avoid that conclusion, she had to give it her all. She couldn't fall. She had to make sure this woman was unconscious so she could get out of here. Amaranta wasn't going to compromise the livelihood she was building here because some Shinigami couldn't realize not every arrancar was coming with ill-intention. Mizu avoids that beam of fire, spinning around it to execute a counter in the form of a shikai-powered kido spell - Soren Sokatsui.

The significant width of the blast and the fact Mizu hadn't evaded her beam of fire entirely threw Amaranta off. Unable to avoid it, the only thing she does is what she'd did the last time. Focus the remainder of her reiryoku into her resurrecion, into her body, forming a sphere of golden flames around her tall form to meet the energy head on since avoiding it at the last second was not an option.

Emerging from fire and lightning, her body's bloodied, her energy is spent, and her body is wounded. She swings her body forward in an attempt to close line the woman, but if she missed on it... she truly didn't have much to offer as her body would go swinging towards a building, remaining conscious but far from great condition. Rising from the rubble, she's stumbling forward, holding her body upright with her zanpakuto.

"This fight has been fun and infuriating at the same time... sheesh."

Despite everything, Mizu thought she could keep going forever if need be. Her will to win and survival instinct were both working overtime to ensure she didn't collapse in a heap after the beating she'd already taken and the energy she had to expel to get to this point. In fact, she even felt kind of good. As if pushing past her limits had opened her up to a whole new world where nothing could stop or slow her down.

As Amaranta neared her Mizu raised her left arm and summoned a small Kidō barrier in front of her and confidently prepared to take her attack directly. If she could just get the Arrancar to come within arm's reach, Mizu thought, she could finish this fight with a final spell too close to dodge. That's all I need...I'll finish this in an instant!

Mizu braced herself for impact when Amaranta closed in on her. Right before she would be struck however, her Zanpakuto's blade suddenly reappeared and she felt her Shikai automatically seal itself. Then, during a moment of distraction, Mizu felt the Arrancar slam in her Kidō barrier, shattering it as she did, and then into her chest. All at once she felt the air knock out of her lungs and her remaining energy leave her. Barely conscious at this point, Mizu could do nothing to prevent her body from being tossed into rubble below from Amaranta's attack. Now laying in a pile of broken wood boards and bricks, and with her focus failing, Mizu resented her defeat and cursed her lack of ability before finally falling unconscious.

From the way it looked, Amaranta had finally won out against that Shinigami. The leonine woman hadn't expected a battle of that magnitude from a woman of her stature. Mizu may have cursed herself in her last moments before losing consciousness, but Amaranta was far from disappointed with the results. Did she welcome that all hollows were evil mindset? Eh, who was she to judge. Everyone was free to their own philosophy. In a way, she definitely made it so the day wasn't an absolute drag.

It was, all things considered, an exciting battle that left her on the verge of defeat. From this battle alone, she acknowledged that there was room to improve, namely in her ability to form and execute beams of energy her own. Stabbing her zanpakuto into the ground, Amaranta can discern the woman's faint spiritual signature.

Walking towards it, she kicks away the pile of bricks and wooden boards to see the small woman who'd given her one hell of a fight. Stroking her chin softly, Amaranta picked the woman's body up, bringing forth every ounce of sonido she has left in the tank to place her somewhere far away from danger. It's a deserted town and all the energy left behind could attract hollows. Amaranta doesn't want to see her meeting her end here, not after that fight. Nope. She was a rival now. Someone to fight again if they crossed paths. After finding a long bench where she could let the woman rest without being pursued by something else, Amaranta ruffled her hair, grinning from ear to ear.

"Your personality was annoying as hell, but you gave me one hell of a fight. We've gotta do this again, sometime. Hopefully, I can contend with all that fuckin' wizardry ya' had goin' on, kiddo'."

And with that she takes a deep exhale, cleaving a garganta through the air with her claw. it was time to go home and take a long bath. A win was a win, but that fiery little runt definitely left her eager to touch up on her own skill. For now, she'd rest. Until next time... she'd find her again. And she'd see how she improved, and she'd show her how she improved. That was what it meant to evolve, to transcend beyond one's current level of skill. If that determination in battle is anything to go by, that girl has a lot to look forward to...