Seaside Fight Night: Mizu vs Rafaela

Why bother using fodder Hollows for training when she could enter exhibition matches against powerful opponents without worrying about dying? That was Morikawa Mizu's thought process as she signed up for as many exhibitions in the Arena of Lights as she could. Not only could she train against worthy opponents who would push her to her limits, but each match could help strengthen the bond between the Gotei United and Vandenreich. If that wasn't a win-win she wasn't sure what is.

Thus with little ado she marched her way onto the designated battlefield, up the steps to the pavilion, and towards where she would meet her chosen foe. Someone named Rafaela. Outside of the woman's name she knew nothing of her. For all Mizu knew she could be a spiritually attuned human, a Quincy, an Arrancar, or even a demon. The Vandenreich does allow all kinds, after all. Either way, she wasn't terribly concerned with the little details, an exception she had been making exclusively for these matches. Instead she stood in meditative silence as she awaited today's foe.

After everything that had happened, some of the First Reichsritter's boundless confidence had been shaken. She hadn't been able to protect her Emperor, or the people in this city she'd spent so much time in. Rafaela had made her entire reputation one of a proud warrior, someone that anyone could look to as inspiration, but she'd be lying if she said she felt inspirational right about now.

Well, that didn't matter. She had an image to maintain, and she wasn't ever going to let that slip. She stepped into the Arena of Lights with a wide grin on her face, and as she sized up her opponent, she spoke out loud, turning to face the crowd.

"Finally, the First of the Reichsritter has come back to the City of Lights!"

Waving to everyone as she got some cheers, if only because people found her confidence entertaining, she turned back to her opponent and pointed dramatically toward Mizu, her grin still wide.

"Listen up, shinigami! I'm sure you know plenty about fighting hollows, but there's nothing hollow about my reputation! If you think you're ready to fight Rafaela Leone, the brightest warrior in the Holy Roman Emperor's service, then come and try it! The toughest, the fastest, and the most impressive of all the Free Imperial Knights is ready to send you back to Soul Society on a stretcher!"

Even when she was feeling a bit down on herself, Rafaela still knew how to keep up the intensity, at least. Hopefully that got some energy going here in the ring.

Mizu's first impression of Rafaela was of surprise. Her view of the Vandenreich had been skewed by Solomon's less calmer, perhaps even less vibrant personality. When Rafaela turned to talk to the crowd Mizu was a bit taken aback. To her this was meant to be less a show of entertainment, and more a platform on which these two historically-at odds organizations could forge a friendship. Still, she was impressed by the woman's confidence and found herself being drawn into her words just as much as the crowd.

When Rafaela turned and pointed at her Mizu raised her hands as if she were surrendering as she appeared quite startled. Toughest? Fastest?! she thought to herself, worried about what she had gotten herself into. This woman clearly did not lack in the confidence department, and though she was practically cartoonish in her taunts Mizu was taking them quite seriously. After a bow at her waist to signify the match's momentary start she responded to the Vandenreich officer with a less aggressive statement of her own "I-I'm afraid you will be the one going home today, Leone-san. I may not be the toughest...the fastest...or the most impressive the Gotei United has to offer, but I'm a match for you!" In her head that sounded much cooler, but the empty air as crickets filled the stands with the audience said otherwise.

Steeling her nerves Mizu drew her weapon and stared her foe down. She realized Rafaela resembled her a bit. Though the Vandenreich officer was a fair bit shorter, they were both diminutive blond women with golden eyes and soft features. She wouldn't be surprised if the audience thought they were sisters being catty. Regardless of their similarities, it was apparent their personalities at first blush weren't quite so alike. Before she allowed too much time to pass Mizu rushed at Rafaela and swung her sword diagonally at her, not quite going all out yet.

Hey, that wasn't a bad little retort there. It sure could've used a little more energy behind it, more confidence, but the spirit was there, at least. Rafaela's grin only widened as Mizu approached, and she drew her sword from its sheath in a flash, her signature purple energy crackling over it like lightning. She could have gone all out right from the get go, but that wouldn't be very sporting of her. Instead, she met the shinigami's sword directly, clashing with it and using that meeting of blades to test the other woman's strength.

"Pretty bold of you, I'll admit! It takes a lot of guts to say you'll so easily handle Rafaela of the Violent Lightning, savior of Italy and hero of the Fourth World War!"

Not that she really felt that way about how things had gone, if she thought about it. After all, look at Italy now. She hadn't been able to do much of anything for it, but that was how things were. Her attention was squarely on this bout, in the here and now, and she stepped back just enough to hopefully throw Mizu off balance as the pressure of her blade lessened, following it up with a wide arcing horizontal slash. Thankfully, her sword was perfect for fights like this. A dull wooden blade, coated in spiritual silver and gold, wasn't going to cut anyone unless she wanted it to.

Of course, that didn't make it any less of a dangerous blunt weapon.

Mizu was dismayed. Why did it seem like everyone in the Vandenreich had lightning powers?! First Solomon with his crazy electrical attacks, and now Rafaela with her own so-far-unknown lightning abilities. The title "Violent Lightning" was clearly not just for show as Mizu had seen the purple electrical Reishi when the woman revealed her stately weapon. The blond had little time to consider this though as she felt her Zanpakuto give way as the weight it pushed against lessened. She should have realized this could happen, this was hardly her fight sword fight. Finding herself forced off balance for a moment, Mizu reacted instinctively to Rafaela's follow up attack by releasing her sword's handle with her left hand and immediately summoning a thin Kidō barrier to block the woman's sword.

Due to the haste with which she created the barrier, it would likely absorb much of the impact before shattering and pushing Mizu back a couple feet. Knowing she isn't the greatest close quarters fighter, Mizu decided to give herself some help by casting a spell "Bakudō 55: Sei-kotsu Sōkō!" For a brief moment upon casting this spell Mizu's body would be shrouded in a bright light, which would quickly dissipate and reveal her now clad in a suit of armor made of Kidō barrier plates. This basic looking armor covers her head to toe and would provide a layer of defense against attacks like the one Rafaela just came close to hitting her with. "Well I am Morikawa Mizu, 5th seat of the 8th Division, and that title means more to me than any other!"

Armor, eh? That was pretty neat, and Rafaela raised her heavy sword once again as she studied her opponent briefly. She'd definitely need to pick things up a little more. Even that one exchange was enough to tell her she wasn't facing a total novice, and hearing her rank was enough to make that much even more apparent.

"5th Seat? That's pretty impressive! I'll be glad to say I was able to take down someone with that much prestige!"

While Rafaela always maintained her intense bravado, it was never something that she did for her own sake. It was something she did to lift the spirits of others, and it was only natural for her to boast in a way that would focus on her opponent's strength. With a mighty shout, she took a quick step forward, the elegant imperial uniform she wore suddenly seeming to glow brightly as she filled it with her own energy, hardening it to create impromptu armor of her own.

Once she'd gotten closer, her blade swung upward in a wide arc, her burning energy flying out of the sword as she did so. Contrary to its appearance, however, it didn't form into a lightning bolt, but simply launched forward more akin to a cero. Rafaela's attacks were not complex, and elemental power wasn't something she knew anything about. A simple and straightforward power, for a simple and straightforward woman.

Though in the midst of battle, Mizu could not help but feel pleased with her opponent's complimentary boast. The fact it came in the same sentence as a declaration of her imminent defeat was irrelevant. "Well when I beat you Leone-san I will make sure everyone knows what a mighty foe you were! So there!" Rafaela's imitation of her armor was surprising, but Mizu knew nothing of her powers and wouldn't be caught off guard. Instead she stood her ground and prepared to match the woman's ferocity with some of her own homegrown gumption.

Having sprung forward herself, the gap between the two quickly shortened as they both ran with purpose. Mizu saw Rafaela envelop her weapon with energy and took a guess as to what was to come, and chose to respond in kind "Hadō #32: Ōkasen!" With one hand she caused an orb of yellow energy to materialize on her Zanpakuto which then spread along the weapon's edge, and with a flourish she sent this energy forth in an arc that would clash and collide with Rafaela's attack. The resulting explosion would cause Mizu to change direction and begin running perpendicularly and away from Rafaela. After changing direction she recast the same spell and fired off another arc of yellow energy at the woman, this time intent on hitting her with it.

Even if her foe didn't seem too sure of herself most of the time, Rafaela could certainly see the fire buried in there somewhere. She felt obligated to draw it out, and the diminutive woman's cocky grin only grew further as she watched her attack be negated. Not bad at all. She took a quick step to change direction, though she'd be lying if she said it was her best. Slamming her foot into the floor, hard enough to send up rubble, Rafaela quickly grabbed one of the largest pieces of stonework and infused her energy into it, hardening it and making it glow with that same brilliant violet energy.

Then, with all her strength, Rafaela hurled the stone directly toward the incoming Hadō. Even if it certainly wouldn't be enough to actually stop the attack, it was enough to give her a window to step away, though she noted her uniform didn't quite make it out without a scorch. That was a shame, but no time to think about it. Keeping her distance wasn't going to work, she'd definitely lose if she kept that up, so she took another step forward, muscles tensed as she shot directly toward Mizu at her fastest.

She didn't really expect that to be enough to catch the shinigami entirely by surprise, but she was hoping her speed and strength would be enough to make that not matter too much.

Though not a deductive genius, Mizu was at least able to make out a difference in speed between the two significant enough to know keeping her distance was unlikely. If she just kept running eventually, sooner rather than later, Rafaela would reach her and negate any kind of advantage she currently had. Aha! Mizu exclaimed to herself, seeing an opportunity to strike using Rafaela's own movements against her.

As she continued sprinting away Mizu raised her left hand and cast another spell, this time aimed not at Rafaela but at the pile of rubble she had kicked up "Hadō #57: Daichi Ten'yō - Genso Kakusan: Apply Fire!" Upon saying this command the pieces of the pavilion Rafaela kicked up would glow, levitate, and unceremoniously catch on fire as the spell did it's work. All the floating rubble would then home in on the Vandenreich officer and fly in her direction like heat-seeking missiles. At the same time Mizu changed direction and started Flash Stepping as quick as she could in the direction of the stones, hoping Rafaela would have to deal with them before reaching her.

Oh, this was definitely bad. It was one thing to deal with kido directly, but it was much harder to deal with projectiles in this number, especially from a trained shinigami. Taking in another sharp breath, Rafaela stabbed her blade into the ground, tearing up more of the floor and grinding heself to a sudden halt. She then pulled the blade upward with all her might, stones and brilliant violet energy flying up in a veritable geyser to meet the kido Mizu had cast.

That wasn't enough to stop the flaming stones, but Rafaela could handle that. So much of her energy being thrown up into the air, even temporarily, had to be enough to keep the stones from finding her specifically. In that brief moment of cover, Rafaela brought herself lower to the ground, shooting out through the huge cloud of debris like a brilliant purple bullet as she shot another beam of purple energy toward her shinigami opponent.

She was definitely running out of steam, but she wasn't going to let that show. That just wasn't Rafaela's way of doing things.