Prime Target [Klein, Amaranta]

Much as Klein enjoyed the back and forth of this, and the nice little affectionate gestures from Amaranta over the course of their conversation, he wasn't just here for some idle chit chat and a scratch under the chin. Being underestimated was a good tool for weaseling his way in, but part of playing your hand right was knowing when to actually show a card or two.

"Hey, c'mon. You don't think I can fight? I've been told I'm pretty scary sometimes, you know."

Even if his tone was still chipper, the diminutive Arrancar knew perfectly well how challenging his actual words were. A woman like this wouldn't let that kind of claim go unaddressed, but he also wouldn't have it any other way. She was definitely strong, but Klein was fairly good at sizing people up. She didn't seem like she was so out of his league that he'd lose, and besides, he knew perfectly well that just about everyone underestimated him in a fight.

"Oh?"

A mildly humorous grin lined her lips as she observed the diminutive arrancar. He had already told her he wasn't much of a fighter. Truth be told, a couple of glances at him were enough to give his admission weight. On the other hand, this was Hueco Mundo. He could be relatively harmless, or calculatingly dangerous. It's a tossup. Still, her interest is piqued, and she's already thinking of ways to make sure she's getting what she wants out of all of this. He's charming with a cute appearance, but she never considered herself to be one so easily swayed. She'll call his bluff. Who knows? If he proves entertaining, he can at least earn a spot under her arms. He's a complete unknown, and that's enticing enough. He's lucky he has the advantage of mystery on his side. Now, she hopes he'll back it up.

"You could've fooled me, Klein. How about you give me a display, then? Nothing too crazy. Consider it a game of sorts. Let's see, if you can land say a couple of blows that can test my regeneration and push me into a corner, I'll play along with giving you some one on one time, and I get the lady's name. That's a win for all parties."

Well, Klein didn't mind that arrangement one bit, but he allowed his smile to grow into a bit of a smug little grin as he thought on the arrangement she'd proposed for a moment. It wasn't bad, per se, but he knew he could do better.

"Well that's a little bit of a win for you no matter what, huh? I mean, I'm glad to help a pretty lady out, but I feel like if I'm givin' you this info no matter what then I'm not really earning too much for a win, know what I mean?"

He began to pace in a small circle in a fairly lackadaisical way, his casual stride covering the fact that he was fully ready to begin fighting in earnest now, his mind racing with strategy and his whole body prepared to start blasting with cero from every direction.

"But I guess I can figure all that out when I win, right?"

Not 'if.' 'When.' He knew perfectly well that would goad her, and that was fine with him. He already had his Hollow Cross in hand, thankful that it didn't look anything like what one would expect of a zanpakuto, and he was prepared to evade just about anything that was gonna be coming his way.

"Heh, I suppose you have a point there. Even in a loss, those terms only benefit me. And I don't like that. It's no fun if it isn't challenging, so you know what? I know what I want. If you win, I'll let you think of those particulars for yourself."

That's right. She was always striving towards endlessly challenging herself so she could evolve and progress beyond whatever constituted her current capabilities. There isn't much to savor in a victory where she's the sole benefactor or if she's the one rigging the bet. He seems fairly confident he'll win, but she isn't going to make it easy for him. If nothing else, she loves the confidence. Her tall frame is burning with excitement now, and the time for words are over. After his bold statement, Amaranta is already flashing toward him through a fierce burst of Sonido, launching a devastating haymaker towards his face. The sheer size difference forced her to lower her body a bit, but that was hardly an inconvenience.

She was fast. As soon as she stepped toward him with that Sonido, Klein knew that this wasn't going to be an easy fight, but he'd never expected that it would be. He'd been prepared to avoid a hit, and he thankfully evaded that impact. That said, it was still more difficult than he'd have liked, and he thought about how best to handle this. Start weak?

No, no, that was a bad idea. Physical strength was definitely not on his side, and speed apparently wasn't either. But what Klein had was guile, and he knew how to use that. As he evaded, Klein intentionally tripped, falling onto the ground in a position that he was in fact very used to getting up from and bolting. It was the sort of thing any half-decent combatant would immediately capitalize on, but Klein was used to that.

That's why he'd already begun manifesting a cero on the opposite side of Amaranta, floating mid-air and ready to blast into the lovely lioness if she actually kept on the offensive. And besides, he was still ready to dodge if he needed to. That was one of the biggest benefits of not actually attacking much.

Klein evaded her rudimentary strike, but that was fine. It was pretty standard. The equivalent of feeling her opponent out. The evasion is impressive, but turning her head she holds back the urge to laugh as he trips over, falling into the ground. Of course, she's gonna capitalize on that. In a seamless shift, she's roaring towards him again, aiming to strike at him from behind, but she's met with some impressive resistance in the form of a cero.

She brings an arm up to deflect that beam of energy, boldly soaring in after tanking the blow. The leonine woman could be a little bold thanks to her hierro and regeneration, but she'd have to be careful. What did this twerp specialize in, anyway? She's generating a cero around her fist and punching it toward him. Obviously, her ability to utilize cero to any degree was porous. If he was keeping a close eye on her from earlier, he might very well catch onto the fact that this was a feint. She was certainly going to test how well he could dodge and evade her attacks. No sooner after that attack is launched, she's repeating her high-speed movement with Sonido to meet him in midair, launching a kick towards his abdomen.

It was like reading a book, fighting someone like this, and Klein would be lying if he said he didn't genuinely enjoy the opportunity to string her along. He'd already planned around falling over like this, and so it was easy enough for him to keep moving, avoiding the follow-up attacks as well, though admittedly they were coming closer than he'd have liked. He was already starting to externalize his hierro just a touch, an inch or two further away from his skin than a typical Arrancar could manage. Nothing crazy, but he was still keeping things secret for now.

"You're quick, pretty lady. See how ya got such nice legs."

Pulling on the Hollow Cross that hung around his neck like a pendant, Klein allowed himself another cocky grin, knowing full well that he was playing the first of his little surprise cards. It was kinda fun, seeing how people reacted.

"Feast, Lämmergeier!"

All at once, he plunged his own hand into his chest, releasing the Hollow Cross and leaving it there as he drew his hand out. The wound quickly healed over, and as his hair lengthened dramatically, the whole of the area began to fill with a thick crimson fog, so dense and impenetrable that one would have trouble seeing even their own hand outstretched in front of them. Klein's own spiritual presence, already relatively minor, seemed to fade into that spiritual mist, and he slipped further away from her as he began manifesting no less than four cero throughout the mist, aimed at Amaranta from wildly different vantage points.

Klein himself was keeping his distance, even externalizing his hierro into humanoid forms to flit about in the mist. He was sure she could beat him up, but she'd have to actually catch him first.

"How perceptive of ya, little guy. I'm glad you appreciate em~!"

A fun sequence of banter in the heat of battle, but the leonine woman is maintaining her focus, looking for any subtle lapse in Klein's movement. It's only a short sample, but he's quick on his feet. Was she truly striking at him with everything she's got? No, of course not. He hasn't displayed anything that would force her to do otherwise. May that end up being her undoing? Perhaps, but it remained doubtful. Appearances could be deceiving, but he hadn't displayed anything that she felt couldn't be overcome. Of course, her opinion of the diminutive arrancar was quickly shifted the moment her blue eyes noticed him raising a cross to his chest.

Was that his Zanpakuto? She'd fought many of her own kind in the past, and not one of them seemed to wield something so unorthodox in it's make. In an instant, the cross was stabbed into his chest and her surroundings were suddenly blanketed in a crimson haze. The Burning Lioness raises an eyebrow, temporarily pausing in her charge to slowly traverse the mist. Her clouded vision wasn't particularly bothersome, but her Perquisa's inability to pinpoint him directly is another story altogether. Already, four beams of energy are fired towards her at random angles. She's initially able to shift out of the direction of the two cero through reaction time alone, but the other two land against her frame without fail. He's landed two blows, and now her excitement is rising. Perhaps, he'll prove to be more entertaining than she first thought.

"Hiding from me already, Klein? I thought you wanted some one on one time, remember? How are you gonna admire the merchandise if you can't see me, huh?"

Playful banter aside, she's vanishing from point a to point b, shifting towards him in an attempt to pinpoint where he might be. Like a lion sizing their prey, she's maintaining all forms of ideal movement, biding her time until he gets a little bold. It isn't much, but in response, she's punching a myriad of bala in various directions, wildly flailing them about to gauge where he's attacking from.

Normally, Klein would have given a clever little retort back, said something about her legs, probably her ass too, but this was a fight. He knew talking would give away his position more than attacking from all angles, and so he stayed silent, kept low, his attention only on winning this bout. The second she started firing bala wildly, Klein couldn't help but grin to himself. As each bala flew into the distance, missing him or simply striking his decoys, they ended up being consumed by the red mist, and he in turn used that new energy to create more externalizations of his hierro, more false Kleins to dart around.

Of course, this was still for his amusement, and he eventually moved in near-silence behind Amaranta, his hand reaching out and throwing what could only be described as a "withering" slap toward her ass. Naturally, he wanted that to connect, and he even made sure to empower it with a bit of his Mercurio to really make sure the sting of a good slap got through.

"Trust me, I'm gonna do more than just admire."

But just as quick as he'd stepped in for that, he was already backing up, more fake Kleins made of hierro dashing away from where he'd been, while he himself quietly moved away and began firing even more cero from all around Amaranta. Some arrancar liked to revel in the fight, really engage with their opponent, but Klein? He just wanted to win.

As expected, Amaranta had received no response from that playful little arrancar. After all, any extended dialogue might well give him away. Currently, she is no closer to discerning his whereabouts amidst the crimson haze. Any Klein that she does charge toward is merely a decoy, an illusory construct employed to throw her off even further. Again, as before, her perquisa cannot detect his spiritual pressure. For all her natural born senses, she may as well be a fish on dry land at the moment.

"Ungh!?"

Of course, for a moment she was alerted to his presence, not through spiritual pressure but----a withering slap against her ass. To wit, it wasn't even a light slap either. If his aim was to earn a reaction through the act, Klein achieved that tenfold, as the woman grabbed at her backside. Of course, she was far from the modest type, and she rather appreciated bold action even in the midst of battle, even if it caught her off guard.

What was it with these male arrancar and their freebies, huh? Ah well, at least the lot of them had good taste. Rubbing her backside, a boisterous laugh escapes her lips as she turns around to punch towards the source only to be met with another series of hierro-influenced illusions and an additional wave of cero soaring toward her. As before, she's able to dodge some of them through reflex, and yet still some of them land against her body all the same.

"Good. I like when my men are bold! I can't recall a time I've had my ass slapped in the midst of battle. Taking firsts, already, are we? I'll find you one way or another, though. You can't avoid me for too long, babe."

She pondered her next move. Her ressurecion' could alter this battle, perhaps, but she wasn't ready to resort to it yet. It was she, after all, who set out the little particulars. If he tested her regeneration and backed her into a corner, victory was his. Of course, that had been under the assumption that the diminutive gremlin was a poor fighter. Currently, that wasn't the case.


His misdirecting offense is impressive. For now, she simply draws her sword, dragging the sword across the ground to create friction, generating a swathe of fire around her blade. Applying sonido again, she's vanishing and reappearing once more, swinging an arc of golden fire toward him through the red mist. By now, she isn't even certain what the target is, but she's not going to go throwing out her cards yet. It was all a matter of pride to her. If she could drag him out, and beat him without a release? It'd fall neatly into her "defeat the enemy on all fronts" objective. Even so, perhaps that might not be the way here. Only time would tell. The hits are piling up with each moment that passes by.