Blood Under The Moon [Rita/Sabre]

Act.

That was the only thing that flowed through Rita's mind as she eased her emotions. She initially believed that the hollow would slaughter the humans, but after hearing their yells, Rita froze as a sickened expression came across her face for a few moments. Acting swiftly, she had pieces of her fading aura bolt around them so that they would be protected from any future effects of her attacks by being marked with her influence. As, at least, she would be able to fire off her energized attack without having to be concerned.

Still, that didn't do anything to quell the rage, anger, and fear of screwing up and harming those she wanted to protect. She knew moving forward, a more delicate approach would be needed. How to achieve that during combat would be tricky, and she would have to recall back to her time as a trained mercenary to cool her nerves. This woman was no different than the demonic scum that once plagued this earth. This meant that letting the taunts of a deranged bitch be effective enough to fuck with her head wasn't the move, even if every fiber of her being wanted to rip that obnoxious mouth of hers clean off.

Instead, Rita took a deep breath and momentarily considered her opponents. She could go on the offensive and destroy everything in her path, only to end up hurting the people around her. That wasn't ideal, as while Rita had no issues killing, it was another thing to drag innocents into her brawl. So she had to use her best skill: her power.

"Everyone, I recommend leaving this area. The name's Rita Grace, and ya ain't got no reason to listen to me, but unless you have enough power to deal with that Arrancar, I can't properly fight that bitch."

Pointing her finger up in the air toward Saber, Rita amplified her voice through the area so that all remaining people could understand what was happening.

"Please take the injured and sick away from here. I'll back you up if need be, and the same goes for you Gotei folk up there. I don't know what she has planned, but it's nothing good."

With the pressure of her energy being echoed in the distance, Rita wanted to back up her words so that the others in the area would begin to heed her words. All the while, particles of her energy scattered to at least protect them from her influence when she decided to go back on the attack.

After eating a green gem, the woman's energy seemed to spike before she focused all her energy into an augmented dash toward Saber. As she'd shoot off dozens of tendrils from behind, that moved far faster than Rita could ever move with her physical body. These were made to restrain the woman and attempt to slow or cease her movements altogether. With Rita going from offense to defense, she knew whatever the woman had planned for the Gotei members ahead wasn't good, so she had to get out of her own feelings and protect them.

'Give me the strength not to fuck this up, please.'

[Item used]

Spoiler:

There were many things Rita was trying to control in the situation, but the sudden downswing and cut were a pain in the ass to deal with. Blood dripped from the woman's shoulder, but her hip remained untouched as she had sense enough to stomach the burning discomfort and lean away from the incoming assaults and allow her tendrils to try and constrain the woman.

"Resourceful bitch."

And while the initial release of her transformation destroyed most of the tendrils, Rita was able to have around two of them rescinded back as she trusted her gut and waited to use them at the right moment. It wouldn't be too long after that Sabre's clone thrust forward at her, seeking to clean straight through her. With precise timing, the woman used the hardened appendage to block herself from being hit and was instead flung backward toward the rooftop of a car. As she grabbed her shoulder and looked at the injury, she knew the woman got her good there, and she was no slouch.

And while Rita needed to get patched up later, her focus remained on Sabre as she panted a little and shook her head at the woman ahead. Did she even have any idea why she was here? Good fucking god, it was irritating to her prattle on. So, after having a moment to compose herself and catch her breath under all that talking, the woman used this time to sense that they were pulling back from this fight. And with her rapid flare of energy having marked them, Gracen Arms was already sending messages to the Gotei, Vandereich, and others in the area that they'd help with treating the injured in this clash.

So, even if Rita lost this fight, that didn't matter. She needed to ensure everyone made it out of this hell zone and that those who were caught up would recover.

Hence, in a swift action, Rita broke the last remaining tendril around her into a circle of flames which acted as a medium to release more of her energy and a means to potentially shield herself from surprise attacks from that water. Then, when ready, she jolted at Sabre; aiming to use her propulsion to deliver a hard kick to the woman's jaw; using that circle of flames to potentially shield her from the waters so she could get a clean hit on the woman.

"Stop trying to assess what I am or aren't. This is a war ground, and from the looks of it, you don't give a shit about fighting fairly, so why should I listen to anything you have to say when your actions have been nothing but lies until now? If you wanted an honorable battle against warriors, then we could of had a direct one-on-one ages ago. Don't pull this noble fighter bullshit on me now."

And regardless of what was happening, Rita would utter these words. Her intent was to get that strike in, retract backward to a building and defend herself. Of course, if it wasn't as smooth as that, she was prepared to endure a wave of pain if she had some sneaky attack. But regardless, she narrowed her eyes and continued.

"Now, don't act as if you care about the people around us. They'll be taken care of, I assure you. If anything, I have all the reasons to stay here and fight, even if I lose this battle. I'm sure you'd try to strike me again or them while my back is turned. You've done it before in this fight. So as you said to me then: fuck you, asshole."

The thick presence of that overwhelming water caused Rita's eyebrow to raise as she snarled at the clash of their energies clashing against one another. At this point, she was a bit exhausted, and without a release form of her own, it was hard not to be stretched thin by now. So, there, a sense of regret loomed in her thoughts as she should have played this less aggressively and made more concise efforts to reserve her strength; but it was a bit too late for that.

By the time her foot had planted itself in the skull of Saber, the woman felt the clamping of a claw dig into her skin, and she let out a pained grunt, seeing blood spurt out as the woman's eyes turned teal and instantly punched the air so hard that her energy made a pressurized force of momentum, energy and kinetic strength that was meant to crush in the chest or skull or whatever she could get her hands on.

And after that point, the woman just hit the ground with a thud as she panted and coughed up a bit of blood as she was beginning to feel tired from all this. Maybe if she trained to gain a transformation or something, she could pull a win out of her ass. But for now, she could feel her body becoming winded, and it was already feeling like shit after her previous fight with that Amaranta chick.

So, as her eyes narrowed into a scowl, she spat blood in Saber's face if the woman was still standing there.

"Study that, cunt."

Clearly not in the mood to talk, Rita just focused on the fact that by now, most of her allies and men alike had vacated the area and managed to get away. If nothing else, she was willing to lose this battle here if it meant she did her damn job. Her men would see to the care of those she accidentally injured, and that they would be paid handsomely for their troubles.

As for Rita herself? She just looked at Saber with a tilt of her head. She didn't have much gas in the tank to last anymore, and it was apparent that she had just misplayed the situation too aggressively from the start. So rather than lying in fear, there was just a cold acceptance that whatever happens from here is just a result of her actions.

With a chuckle, it ain't like she had any loved ones to be concerned with. So while her heart raced from survival instinct, the mind of Rita was at ease. Her parents were taken care of since they had more money than they could ever know what to do with, and her business could still be managed, and all the people who assisted recently, like Vanyel, Kenichi, Sora, Ikari Lukas, and the rest, could take care of themselves. So even if a hint of sadness showed itself in her eyes briefly, her actions and decisions were already made.

Hence, with a middle finger pointed at Saber, she just got on with things since she wasn't going to cry, curl into a ball of fear or show remorse at this point. As the woman didn't want to die or lose this fight, but If she had to go out, she wasn't going to go out like a bitch and was sticking to her guns at the very least.

"Talking to you is a waste of oxygen at this point. Either have the balls to finish this fight, kill me or shut the fuck up already. You know damn well you aren't a woman of your word."

And with that, Rita leaped up, grinned, and aimed to strike the woman straight in her jaw with a powered punch.