The Trouble I Love[Amaranta, V ]

"Come on now. Didn't you tell me you were going to kick my ass? Where's all that fire at now, huh? Or was that just hot air this whole time? Or maybe..."

V's faulty counter would connect with her midsection, but the panicked nature of her sloppy strike only elicited a chuckle from the fearsome arrancar as her long arm winded itself around her thick leg. Using the forward momentum of her hips, Amaranta shifted her shoulder straight into the woman's chest. to send her falling to the ground, throwing her free leg off balance with a kick to truly send her toppling over if the first tactic proved unsuccessful. Should the method prove successful, with an entwined arm and leg, the leonine woman would shift her opposite arm around the woman's hip, whispering into her ear. In a voice that was utterly serious despite its mocking nature, Amaranta posed but a single question.

"Or maybe it's because this is uncharted territory for you? Let me guess. You're probably used to kicking the average superhuman or two's ass, aren't ya? Someone as strong as me is making you second-guess yourself, hm?"

Since she held the advantage in terms of sheer strength, Amaranta didn't follow up immediately with another attack. No, she held her in place to sate her curiosity. The proximity of their frames pressed against the other or the notion of personal space didn't matter, only the answer to her inquiry.

V really shouldn't have done that. She *knew* she shouldn't have done that, but she had done it anyways purely out of fear. It was very normal for her to worry or be nervous about things, it was just a human feeling. But fear? She hadn't felt this in a long, long time. Amaranta would be able to tackle V to the ground without much struggle, the bunny flinching and ready to retaliate but her head hitting the dirt and getting sent spinning. Eyes fluttering, V tried to regain her composure, clawing at the ground out of stress as she realized the situation she was in, that she was about to get pummeled, and-

"Huh?"

The bunny blinked in surprise at the arrancar's inquiry. Uncharted territory, huh...? "There... is only one other person who's put me on my ass like this." The bunny huffed in frustration. Remembering she was supposed to be fighting back, V tried to wedge her free leg between her and the lioness, to very little avail. "And I haven't seen her in a long ass time. I know for a fact she'd beat the shit outta you, but she's..." Bunny pausing to reminisce on the last time she saw Elyss and that whole day they had spent together. "...one of those Shinigami Captains or whatever the fuck they're called. So yeah. Go figure."

Shaking her head, V wrapped an arm around Amaranta's shoulders and a leg around the woman's waist and practically threw her own weight around to try and roll them both over. She didn't want to be on the back foot any more than she already was. A cool chick like her wasn't supposed to be beaten like this, or taking it in any definition of the phrase.

"Shinigami Captain, huh? Of course, she's strong. I've met a few soul reapers myself, but captains have remained pretty elusive so far. Then again, I'm not exactly stirring up too much shit to attract their attention, either."

Forming a wide grin, her sharp canines on full display, Amaranta remained relatively unfazed by the woman's struggles. Even when the positions suddenly shifted between them, she simply allowed V to turn the momentum of the skirmish in her favor, rolling along with the woman until she chose a position suitable to her preference. Ground and Pound? Multiple strikes against the face? Which would she choose? Ah, well, she supposed strategy was pretty inconsequential at this point. There wasn't much to gain from overwhelming her. Their last exchange was undisputable proof of that.

Battles without some level of tension were no more appealing to her than watching glue dry. At the same time, it wasn't particularly entertaining to assume the punching bag role, either. In other words, she was at an impasse. All was not lost, though. Her strength was far from anything to scoff at, which meant that presenting an opportunity like this might well merit the mighty display of strength she was looking for. Arms stretched outward, she challenged the woman to take advantage of the opening, much like she did at the outset of their battle. It would be the last opportunity she would get in this duel, after all. Make the best of it and leave it all out on the table. That's what she wanted out of V. Anything less was simply out of the question.

"Come on. Show me what you got. Surely this can't be the extent of your strength, right? Leave a mark. Make an impact. Even in the face of something you fear, it's better to keep punching through until you emerge victorious. That's the only way you evolve. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?"

V managed to get away from Amaranta at the very least, much to her own relief. This was not a battle she'd win. If anything was proof of that, it was the fact the catwoman hadn't taken more than that one single hit this entire fight. V just couldn't seem to land anymore blows. But that didn't mean she'd stop trying. What was a fight if there was no fight? You had to throw kicks, punches, your whole body if you wanted, else it wouldn't be much of anything but standing there looking retarded.

The bunny recovered her stance and took a deep breath. She needed to calm herself at least somewhat, but that wasn't going to quell her rage. V was just setting it aside for later. That way, she could at least land another few hits. "You talk a lot, kitty." The bunny said, reaching up to wipe some sweat and blood off of her chin. "Doesn't even matter if you win. What kinda loser fights with their words and not their fists?" Or in V's case, her legs. But she supposed the point was made regardless.

V steadied her stance enough to make her next, potentially final move, more stable. Readying herself before she moved, V took a step, then another, all in the span of an instant. Then, rotating her whole body, swiveling her hips up to aim herself, V threw a kick that would damn near pass the sound barrier. Too much air resistance would stop her from doing so, but her leather boot-clad foot shot forward in a well poised straight kick aimed purely at Amaranta's skull. And another, then another, until V was firing machine gun kicks strong enough to simply eradicate any form of living matter via sheer brutal force.

" Oho? Now that's the spirit. Show me what you got, Bunny."

Nothing else was said. Normally, she rarely talked this much, but there was something innately amusing about the woman and her similar train of thought toward battle. Though their capacity for patience clearly differed, neither one of them extolled the notion of backing down from danger. How long had it been since she met someone who amused her to such a degree?

Ah, that's right. Sola was the first. A likeminded man who would sooner die than admit he was defeated or even say a battle was unwinnable. Reflecting on him was amusing, but V occupied the full scope of her attention at the moment. She'd have to pay that bastard a visit soon, wherever he was.

For now, she contented herself with observing the bunny girl as she positioned herself in preparation for a stance with far better coordination than she had observed thus far. The leonine woman grinned from ear to ear, shifting her body forward to meet the attack head-on.

Positioning her body in preparation for a wicked clothesline, Amaranta freely allowed the woman to exert as much force as desired behind those machine gun kicks that broke the sound barrier. Were she of lesser durability with a poor refinement over hierro, any one of these strikes would have turned her head into a grotesque pulp of flesh.

As it stood now, most of them only amounted to bruising her head slightly, drawing out a long trickle of blood. Nevertheless, it was an admirable effort, and the lioness would have certainly allowed her to keep attacking until she broke a bone in her head, but she wouldn't want that, now would she? After all, she only demaneed action now. The time for dialogue had passed. Licking her cheek the trail of blood dribbling down her cheek, a gleeful smile tearing across her lips, Amaranta's arm shot upward to seize that thick tree trunk V called a leg.

With her opposite arm, already poised for a counterattack, she ferociously swung the limb into V's neck, aiming to send the woman barreling backfirst onto the ground. If the counter proved successful, the leonine woman would take a moment to observe whether or not she was still conscious.

"Is that more your speed, sweetheart?"

V felt dissatisfied with the way her kicks were impacting Amaranta's skull and yet not actually doing very much damage. What was the point even? How could she not fucking kill someone with blows like that?? The bunny was baffled, in disbelief even. Someone stronger than her? In the middle of a fuckin' town?? Well, not anymore, but still.

V's leg was grabbed again, but she learned from the last time, and so bending her knee and hopping off the ground, the bunny practically stood while using Amaranta's body like a footstool, or at least used Amaranta holding her leg like a brace to keep herself upright, causing her to narrowly avoid getting punched square in the neck. No more words, just action, she reminded herself. As much as she wanted to taunt the leonine woman from her position, V instead decided to raise her other leg and swiftly bring it down in a powerful axe kick that would crack the earth should it actually hit Amaranta, even if it was blocked. The power in her legs was noticeably much higher than that of her arms. Her punches could break down concrete walls. Her legs? Could bring down buildings if she really tried. V would like to see Amaranta handle that.

Truthfully, Amaranta expected her strike to land with relative ease. To say she envisioned anything less would've simply been untrue, yet V met her offense within an impressive counter that earned the leonine woman's approval.

Now, that was a counterattack. Oh, hell yeah. It was super impressive. The axe kick crashing into her shoulder was enough to tear into her skin, rupturing a small measure of bone in the proccess. Like a kid who had just been presented with the greatest christmas gift in the world, Amaranta grinned with joy.

"Holy shit. That one actually did fuckin' heart! Show me more of this, Bunny Girl!"

Exclaiming that in an uproarious voice, Amaranta was nevertheless intent on ensuring V's counter was met with a ferocious offense of her own. Using the opportunity, if it presented itself, to grab her other leg, the burning lioness would attempt to seize both of her legs in an efficient stream of movement, intent on hoisting her up and slamming her onto the ground, as though she were performing the equivalent of a powerbomb.