Hollow Heat [Rita/Amaranta]

Physical it was.

Not wanting to waste her energy, given she had less of it to spare than Amaranta, Rita sought to smash her way through all the debris that soared toward her. She could both perceive and react to the explosively fast projectiles and render them to dust. But, of course, that didn't mean it was easy. The woman was sweating, felt the burning sensation of her knuckles grinding the kinetic burst, and soon they started to redden and bleed from the sheer force she was smashing away at.

After licking her knuckles and just dealing with the pain, Rita felt something in the battlefield change, and her body responded on its own out of instinct alone. At her backside did an explosive wall of teal energy serve as a means to absorb half of the impact of Amaranta's blow. Of course, this meant that Rita was sent flying, but it wasn't as terrible as it could be. And, in fact, due to adrenaline, the woman responded and had a firestorm of twelve spears of aqua energy bomb Amaranta, causing the next city block to be drenched in this teal light of destruction.

'GET THE FUCK UP'

And while flying away, Rita grunted and was sent two city blocks backward as she used her feet to claw into the ground and stop herself by force. Her ears rang, her heartbeat raged, and a bit of blood came from her mouth. That iron taste meant she was still alive, and even the growing bruise on her backside didn't stop her.

If she was going to face bigger threats, she just had to suck it up and had no room to bitch or whine about it. So, after roaring and letting her adrenaline mask the pain, Rita gave herself a breather, twisted her shoulders, and kept her fists close to her face as this teal energy surged like a flaming exoskeleton as she watched the smoke and observed the situation.

Of course, it would be physical. The Burning Lioness had only ever known one form of combat. Banal as it was, physical combat had served as the framework of her fighting style since she evolved into an Arrancar. To Amaranta, there was a beauty in simplicity that could never be overlooked. Some would claim she was simply a meathead incapable of learning anything, while others admired it with a true appreciation for the art of battle. For one whose tastes could quickly grow stale in the heat of battle if they didn't find themselves pushed, the leonine woman roared with laughter as they traversed the air.

Supreme bliss. Immeasurable elation. More. She wanted more. She wanted this woman to keep entertaining her until their energy reserves ran dry! At the moment she thought she found an opening in her defenses, an explosive wall of teal obstructed her path. Half of the force of her blow had been absorbed, eliciting another grin that tore across her beastly features. And that was not the end of it, as the very next moment featured a twelve spears of azure striking at her in rapid succession. Since she was already at such a close range, there was no instantaneous movement that allowed her to evade the counter so easily. Thus, her body was drenched in that light of destruction, sending the woman flying through the air several meters into the distance.

"Hell yeah! This is what I live for! What a fucking riot! Come on, come on! Come on!"

When the smoke cleared, Amaranta stood there in the distance, her body covered in blood and soot in equal measure, to say nothing of the burns that marred her skin. Regarding the woman with a gaze reminiscent of a wild animal that had found it's ideal prey - an opponent worth going all out against with all of her might. Lifting her sword into the air, Amaranta started walking forward as she grinned at Rita.

"Your one hell of a woman, Rita! I can barely contain my excitement anymore! Let's keep going! I'm going to match fire with fire - Fan the Flames, Rebelión!"

In the blink of an eye, a golden orb of reiryoku enveloped her entire her body. A fierce heat wave expanded outward through her entire radius. When the energy dissipated, her form fully epitomized her exclusive title as El Abrasador Leona - Burning Lioness. Whipping her flaming tail across the ground, the leonine bolted forward with reckless abandon, opening her mouth to release a large torrent of fire. As the flame roared towards Rita in the air, Amaranta would slam her fists across the ground, causing countless explosions to turn their personal arena into a warzone of hellfire. Grabbing the heaviest piece of debris amidst the chaos, Amaranta appeared at her from behind, gearing up to throw the debris at the woman with unrestrained fervor. Swinging her arms forward with every fiber of momentum in her hips and the resulting force from her acceleration, she flung that large mass of rock at her like a football.

"Have some of this!"

Rita's heart was thumping faster than a cheetah while the taste of iron rang in her mouth like a bitter, heated flavor making her energy begin to boil and swell up like an erupting volcano. After spitting out another small puddle of blood, the woman licked her teeth and screeched out another warrior-like yell as a blinding teal aura ignited and consumed her body like a burning supernova.

At this point, she knew she would have to give it her all regarding energy potency. Rita could sense that sudden uptick of power and was almost counting on it since they were practically equal before her transformation in raw stats. And while she couldn't entirely level an entire town, there was no need to as she knew that her asset Aura could withstand, at max capacity, a destructive force capable of wiping out a town.

So, when the torrent of flames and debris started roaring toward Rita, she wasn't just going to be a standing target and used this heightened state of being to jolt down to the earth like a bullet, making thunder clap and booms of energy to be left in her wake as she used her maximum short-range speed to burrow into the ground, sending debris everywhere and create a small creator for two city blocks to hide under the inferno.

However, being that Amaranta was in her released state, there was no doubt she could keep up. So, in light of that, Rita roared back to life and struck the debris that the hollow released at her with everything she had. This would result in a damaging sonic boom to ignite in the underground space around them and obliterating everything. This may send Rita and Amaranta out of the hole in the ground or deeper into it based on their positions. In Rita's case, she was flung outwards and back into the air.

Panting heavily, sweating and bleeding heavily from the fist that struck the debris, Rita took on damage, but nowhere near as what would be if her Asset Aura wasn't activated to create that exoskeleton shield around her body. She was thanking the black gods above that the mastery of her powers allowed for them to be so potent, or she'd be beaten into a bloody pulp into the ground and probably passed out by now.

Rita could feel a ringing in her bones, the aching of joints, and the straining of muscles as her hearing buzzed after so many loud explosive sounds. Yet, at this point, she wasn't relying on her natural senses. No. It felt as if she could perceive everything through the particles of her energy in the air and was on guard for anything.

"COME ONNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!"

Roaring for Amaranta to follow back in the air, all Rita could do at this moment was recover, think of how to deal with the next exchange and continue to keep her guard up, as this wasn't the time to slack off and lose focus. If she was going to get stronger, there was no way she could do it never pushing beyond her limit.

Maintaining that expression of unrestrained joy, Amaranta offered a blissful smile in response to the woman's countering her large mass of debris by sending it right back at her with overwhelming aggression equal to her own. Finding that to be absolutely endearing, the leonine woman punched through the large debris as the large crater expanded around them, forcing her to descend through the fissure in the ground while Rita's body was tossed further upward. Of course, between her own uncontainable excitement and the uproarious imploration of the teal-haired woman above, Amaranta was far from prepared to fall into that chasm in the ground.

"AYE!"

After roaring back at the woman with enough force to rob any unsuspecting victim of their ability to hear, Amaranta used each piece of debris in this whirling chaos of dirt and pavement to guide her further upward. Each movement was accompanied by the accelerative boon of Sonido, allowing the battle lust-induced lioness to reach the woman with little issue. Grinning from ear to ear, like a child who had received every gift they could ever ask for in one lifetime, Amaranta took a moment to analyze her form.

Did the exoskeleton surrounding her entire frame act as her shield? She wasn't one for housing any particular strategy, preferring a spur of the moment approach in every battle, but Rita entertained her, kept her on her feet. In other words, it was a battle worthy of offering every fiber of intelligence to draw out a victory. She supposed it was time to turn it up a notch further. In the blink of an eye, an inferno of flame fluctuated around her body in perpetual motion, shrouding the woman in fiery reiryoku until the silhouette of fire materialized into an avatar of fire resembling a mighty lion. It was going to tax her spiritual pressure somewhat to maintain, but that didn't matter at all. As long as they were having fun, right!?

"Are you having fun? Come on. Let's keep going until we've worn each other out, until we're nothing but empty husks of flesh! Rita, was it!? Keep showing me what your made of! Ahh, I can't get enough of you right now!"

Swinging her arm forward, the lion avatar would mirror her movement, collapsing toward the woman from above with the force of a guillotine. The speed was compromised slightly as an expenditure for thunderous strength and calamitous impact. With her other arm, she would force her avatar of fire to swing at her from the side, in an aim, no doubt, to limit her overall mobility. No matter what, she was going to enjoy her fill, and she couldn't help but think Rita felt the same way.

The Burning Lioness was surging through the debris and stepping up to the heavens to where Rita stood. It's at this moment something clicked within the woman: the sky. It's as if time stood still for her, and she knew she wanted to be above it all and free to fly away from the world's restraints. Of course, it was stupid, right? But like that damn corny song, she wanted to fly like an eagle and soar above the crushing weight of the earth.

After laughing aloud, the woman's backside seemed to have two angelic wings made of an intense teal flame. Even being near her at this moment could cause damage from the extreme heat as she summoned the utmost potency of her powers. In this way, the sounds of eagles calling caw could be heard in the distance around her.

"FUCK YEAH, I'M HAVING FUN, LET'S DO THIS!"

In a roar that shook the air around them, the gritty snarl of Rita's aggressive tone ripped through the explosive sounds of their battle and indicated she was ready to strike.

Then, with a sonic boom, Rita didn't bother waiting and decided to destroy everything around her as the hellish burst of her speed burnt and scattered everything near the woman. She needed to make a decisive strike here, and there was no room to run away. So, the projection of an eagle avatar forged from out of the woman's wings and flew around her as she went in for a powerful strike.

Combining the potency of her advanced power mastery, speed, and force, the woman gave everything she had in this punch to deliver this explosive hit meant to swallow everything for three city blocks in a blinding flash of aqua light. It would be as if a bomb detonated. While Rita certainly could not cover an entire town in its area of coverage, the destructive power could briefly match the potency of Amaranta's.

So, as a result of being pushed to her absolute max, Rita's right arm would have mounds of blood rip open, and her face would be drenched in the stuff. Hissing deeply, the woman felt the surging pain but blocked it out as she knew it would hit her like a brick when the adrenaline from this exchange was over. Regardless, at some point in this exchange, her eagle sought to clench its claws into the woman's lion avatar and drench the woman in a deep, smoking crater. As in the fallout of the explosion, Rita would have likely sustained severe injuries; but she was banking this critical hit on at least putting a heavy dent in the hollow.

Hence, this time around, she would likely be sent flying backward into a deep carter as her bones would begin to scream out in pain, her hearing became muffled, and her mouth/nose soon began to bleed as her body was being pushed to the utmost limit. At this point, all she could do was keep her consciousness up, prepare to defend herself, and hope for the best.

Whenever the smoke of this strike would clear, there was no getting around Rita being injured. It was just a question of how wrong, and that verdict was still out as Rita ran on sheer adrenaline to keep her up.

Blazing lion and Soaring eagle collided in a thunderous flash of roaring energy that swept across the entire atmosphere that surrounded them. A maniacal grin maintained across Amaranta's leonine features as this whirlwind of overwhelming force swallowed the two of them within an assembled tidal wave of spiritual pressure and incandescent energy. In a contest between avatars, Amaranta longed to emerge victorious, tigerishly placing her all into cutting her relentless opponent down from the skies.

Much like Rita, Amaranta suffered her fair share of damage in the engagement. Several cuts and burns opened across her imposing frame, but that tear of a grin across her lips did not lessen in the slightest. The immense pain assaulting her body was but ambrosia, the sweetest bliss given physical form. An explosion followed as their avatars shattered under the duress. The tumult of energy offered its blessing to no one as Amaranta's body was simultaneously sent soaring through the the air as well.

Like a shooting star, she crashed against the earth, laying across the ground with an indescribable euphoria painting her blood-covered countenance. Her body quivered as if she was coming off of an intense high, basking in an afterglow that words would never properly illustrate. Rising up from the ground, a roar of laughter escaping her lips, Amaranta turned her gaze at Rita, approaching the woman again. Burns covered her entire body while blood leaked from the slowly regenerating wounds on her arms and legs.

A heavy blow was dealt, certainly enough to force her out of her avatar and to deal her a great amount of damage, but she had no inkling of desiring to give up. Clenching her fists in preparation, Amaranta charged forward to slam her fist right across the woman's head. Fist fight. Avatar Fight. Animal Fight. Fuck it. Whatever. This fight was a fucking blast, and she wasn't going to be the first to pass out if she could help.

"Let's keep this shit up! Don't go falling out on me now! The battle ain't over yet, right, Rita!?"

She's still standing, huh? Rita definitely felt something break in her arm. After all, Rita was going at her maximum strength possible with that last strike. The wings faded behind her at this point, but her energy was still pulsating. Even as the exoskeleton cracked and shattered open around that right arm, the rest of her body still seemed to be reinforced for the time being, and she managed to restore at least twenty percent of what was lost around her arm. It wouldn't help much, but it was better than nothing. Not like she'd be using that arm anyway.

Soon, the clouds above them started to darken, and a humid downpour began. Wet, exhausted, and beaten down. Seriously, Rita contemplated giving out here, calling it a day, getting healed up, and relaxing on the beach or something. That felt so much better than the blinding pain her arm gave her at this point.

But what would giving out here solve? Would she get stronger doing that? Could she support the people who depend on her with such half-hearted measures? She wanted to soar, fly and be something and make the investment of her life be of value to others. Maybe it was self-serving, selfish, or cruel, but she couldn't let go of that feeling.

Exhaling steam from her mouth, the woman let out a hissing sound. Then, like a bat out of hell, she moved without warning as her legs contristed around Amaranta's fist. At that moment, she'd do her best to try and nullify the force of the hit by forcing all the energy within her body to her legs and amplifying the potency of her Source Alter to try and crush the bones in the woman's fist.

There was no running away from this shit, so Rita then had her legs become drenched in an aqua inferno meant to burn through and melt the skin of the hollow as she then forced her upwards to deliver another hellish strike to the woman's face with her left arm. This one would result in a strong earthquake around a city block region. Yeah, it wasn't as strong as the one prior, but that wasn't the point. It was meant to stack on top of the damage and force herself to battle through the pain.

She figured the hollow would undoubtedly fight back, but both of them were worn down as shit at this point, and there was no point in avoiding the inevitable clash. Hence, even if Amartanta attacked, Rita would viciously keep moving forward and laughing.

"Sometimes I can be a bit of a pampered princess, y'know? I could be getting my feet rubbed, sipping margaritas, and chillin' on the beach. Yet, I'm here in the dirt of it all, finding what it means to be alive. So if you think I'd bitch out now, you are out of your ever-living-fucking mind!!!!"

"Hahahaha! Wonderful! That's what I like to hear!"

Amaranta offered the woman no quarter in her defenses as she constricted her legs around her fist. Since her body was still maintaining it's Ressurecion, her entire body was still covered in fire. Any strike executed against her frame therefore came with the risk of burning Rita in the process too, but she clearly didn't seem to care and neither did Amaranta. This fight was way too fucking good to get caught up on particulars right now. Lifting her flaming tail upward to shield herself against the woman's strike across her face as the city block impact sent her barreling a few meters back ward.

Unwilling to lose her momentum,, Amaranta spun her body around to swing the woman off of her arm, but if she chose to remain there, she would leap upward and across the air to body slam the woman against the ground to shake her off. And if she still stayed there? The leonine woman would growl with unrestrained glee, turning the heat up around her body as she used her free arm to punch and strike at the woman wherever her hits might land, aiming to swing a haymaker or two across her face. And if she was still there after all of that? She'd keep swinging her around for the ride!

"Damn right. Your the hardest bitch I've fought yet, but I won't get strong picking easy fights, so fuck it."

That exoskeleton of hers came in a fucking clutch. Rita was moving on instinct, and it shielded her from the burns after being thrown off. So Rita focused on attacking, not worrying about moving her energy to flee or defend.

'Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight. Again, again, again, AND AGAIN'

Those words kept repeating over and over like a mantra in her mind as the woman's eyes became drenched in a teal light. At that moment, she was like a centipede constricting around its prey. And it is for that reason that her energy started to resonate with that visualization as the particles of aqua blue light around her forged into a centipede-like creature that was meant to catch the hollow by surprise from behind. As before Amaranta punched her off, Rita used her feet to deliver a hard kick to her face meant to push her back by a half city block since her physical stamina was struggling; but that didn't matter.

No. Even as Rita seemed to have a nosebleed, her vision blurred, and her body felt like it got smacked by a Mack truck; the woman refused to give out. Instead, she focused her vision and had the creature of her energy bite down on the neck of the hollow and ignite in an explosion meant to consume a city block. In this way, even the rain around it would dissolve and move away, sending Rita further backward with a hard thud as she suffered more bruises, scrapes, and strain to her body.

Yet, despite that, the intent was to wear down the woman further, get her own physical strikes in and keep going as long as she could sustain it. This was undoubtedly one of the most brutal battles that Rita fought, so she knew she had to keep pushing her soul further. That is the only way to get stronger, to forge will, and to keep moving ahead.

'Get up, get up, get up, GET UP'

Sweating, bleeding, and under unbearable pain, Rita grunted and forced herself up to her feet as the woman panted heavily and looked with an exhausted expression toward the sight of her last attack. Was it successful? Did she get more hits in? Hard to tell, but at least she was on her feet. Even if she only had one arm left, that's all she needed.

"That's right! True strength is only attained when one is pressed to their absolute limits! When they are forced to adapt to the world instead of begging for the world to adapt to them! That's what it means to be strong! That's what it means to be warrior whose worth a damn in a world full of those who have proven themselves! Hahahaha! You get it!"

Rita truly had the right frame of mind. That was to say, she had the one true frame of mind Amaranta could genuinely respect without restraint. Her entire life had been a trial of obstacles, and it only ever turned around for the better when she decided to go beyond her station and strive for the top! There were those who proclaimed they were strong and those who embodied what it meant to be the strongest. Her entire existence was rooted in that single-minded conviction. Fighting. Losing. Winning. Surviving. Evolving.

In order to reach that one ideal, that one precipice, she would constantly throw herself into battle in order to go beyond the upper limit of her own capabilities. Even as she flung the woman off of her arm, Rita was fighting against the jaws of defeat like a wild animal, unleashing a parting kick against the woman's face to push her into the trap of centipede composed of detonating energy that bit onto her neck at the last moment. She was unable to react to it in time, but she wasn't aiming to evade any of her attacks, anyway. If she wasn't going to back down, then why chicken out now herself? Only a coward would do something like that.

Following an explosion of aqua that enveloped her body, Amaranta would fly out from the dissipating particles of energy like a bat out of hell. Her form bloodied, her regeneration pressed to it's absolute limit, her arm blown off in the sheer chaos of it all. Amaranta paid little heed to any of it. Nothing else but the thrill of battle filled her mind. Short of one arm, she swung her remaining limb forward in preparation for a fierce haymaker to Rita's jaw. It could regenerate with time, but that didn't matter. Even if she was short of a limb permanently, it was but nothing to compared to the thrill this battle had awarded her. There was no greater bliss!