Seaside Fight Night: Freyja vs Lerna

Huh. Familiar.

Lerna couldn't help but pause as the sensation of Deja Vu enclosed her. Looking up to the numerous fans that were littering the stands. The crowds. The cheering. The smell of sweat and blood. Ok well not that last one, the proctors were keeping things pretty clean between matches. But all the same, Lerna smiled with a calm confidence as she stepped out onto that field and eyed the opponent across from her.

She had to admit... she nevr thought she'd see a day like today. She had the utmost respect, or at least what most resembled respect that Lerna was capable of, for Commander Murasaki. But even so.... a joint relations event between the Vandenreich and the gotei. The Commander really was something.

Lerna's attention shifted to her opponent as the two of them met at the center of the arena. A calm smile flashing across her face as she listened to the shorter woman's introduction. Coordinator? Eh?! Surprise registered on her face to hear that the woman she was fighting was a higher up. She gave a sheepish smile and held out her hand, offering a handshake. "Unseated Member of Squad Seven, Shino Academy Student, and Substitute Shinigami. Lerna. Thank you very much for participating in this event. I will do everything I can to make it worth your while." She noted firmly, before offering a sheepish smile.

"I hope that I can provide an adequate challenge to you, Coordinator." She added before turning and taking a few steps away from them to turn and get into a ready stance, she slowly crouched, planting one hand on the ground below. Injecting her mod roots into the pagoda and slowly leeching some of the material. A Crackling noise sounding as stonr crept up the length of her arms and slowly coated her all the way up to the shoulders. Building up her mod root by packing the stone with her spirit energy.

She had no plans on actually using her Shikai. If nothing else, hers was .....how do they say. Underhanded? Fire. Acid. Booze. Nothing that was suitable for an event like this. She'd just have to rely on her own physicality. And ..... Kido. She was actually pretty good with the stuff, but with her fighting style she rarely used it. But well, no time like the present right? She raised those hardened fists into a defensive stance and gave a gentle upnod toward the quincy. Giving her the first move.

Grace.
It was the first word that came to mind as she watched the woman taking up her sword. Almost instantly, she could tell that by her instinct alone, that this woman would be an issue to deal with. Not just a gut reaction, but watching the way that the woman shifted. There was an eerie smoothness to the motions. Devoid of that wavering and slight shifting. The motion, simple, and slow as it was, seemed so eerily perfect in the way that this woman suddenly closed in with her. And for just an instant, she reacted on her own pure, practiced instinct. The soft lick of reishi collecting along it's blade noticed by that sharp attention of hers and in a split second, she closed the distance with a sonido and executed two swift punches at breakneck speed. One to spike that weapon downward, interrupting it's slow horizontal speed and slamming it forcefully into the ground with her own sheer strength, as the second punch shot out to sock Freyja clean in the center of the chest with enough force to send her back a few dozen feet.

But well, in the very same vein, Freyja would no doubt see as Lerna had, the sheer gulf between them. There was no real stance. She DID take UP a combtive stance. But she didn't really use it. Those punches were straight bullets rammed artlessly into the flat of the blade and then aimed at Freyja's sternum. There was no grace, no fluidity, just sharp, jarring strikes at a speed and strength that was solidly above even many shinigami. And just like that Lerna would dart back if she was able to, taking the time to watch Freyja's responses to the sharp blows. Not that she figured they would be enough to end the fight, but hopefully she'd get a lot more to work with once she saw more of what Freyja had to offer. Assuming this little simple play didn't cost her more than she was anticipating.

That first strike was successful! And Lerna couldn't help but be a little pleased to see that sudden surge of reishi discharge into the stage rather than at her, that second strike colliding with a raised arm DID cause Lerna to perk up. Oh! She was actually quite quick witted. The automatic responses of practice and poise. But it was her surprise when she felt that chain suddenly slither around her arm. Ahhhhhh, that was unfortunate. And an interesting mix. The woman, based on the force behind that sword swing, was weaker, physically, than Lerna was. Potentially slower as well. But her reflexes were pristine, if Lerna was going to win this, she'd have to just be smarter. Or... more experienced.

When that chain slithered around her arm, binding it, she instinctively PULLED as Freyja went for that strike. Pulling the woman toward her so that punch would hit FAR earlier than intended, the disk slamming into Lerna's chest before it could reach full velocity, neutering the force behind the strike as Lerna's hand snapped up to clamp onto Freyja's neck just as it made impact. Thanks to the chain, there would be little to no room for evasion as Lerna simply tanked the hit, that disk of reishi crackling into the stone wall of her own sturdy frame reinforced with rock and reiryoku.

And then Lerna executed a quick, brutal TWIST of her right arm that was chained to Freyja's, no need to even go for a grapple there since the quincy had tethered herself to Lerna of her own volition, intent on bending Freyja's arm almost the wrong way. Not intent on breaking anything, but simply forcing the woman's body to contort to accomodate the pressure on her joint as she twisted, putting her full, brutal strength into both arms. It was fine if the chain suddenly dissolved. If Lerna had managed to grab the other woman's neck, even if blut would keep her from clamping down, the Mod Soul would still be able to simply SLAM Freyja solidly head-first into the pagoda. Dialing her strength back at the last second. She wanted to stun the woman, not kill her, after all. Either way, Lerna would release her hold, if she ever had it in the first place, and similarly dart back to reset the engagement. Fighting the instinct to keep trying to pummel Frejya into the ground. But that wasn't what she was here for. She wasn't here to win, she wasn't here to survive.

She was here to bring out the most in this Quincy. So that both of them could show off. A big grin spreading across Lerna's face. "That was a pretty cool move with those chains. That your special power?" She hazarded a guess.

Hm. Made note of the shift in her opponent as they suddenly seemed to allow themselves to go for the ride. They took the chokeslam pretty well at that. Maybe she didn't need to hold back as much as she thought she did. All the same, it all felt so ....unnatural. She didn't usually fight like this. She usually just ran in and started breaking things. Vicious wildness that was just a rough tumble blur of action. But this was different, she had to be entertaining. Not only that, but this was about cooperation. She flashed a smile as Freyja offered her explanation. Crystalized reishi? She pondered that, wondering just how durable they were, watching as the woman produced the weapons and even floated a set to her?

She blinked, brows raising up as she reached out and lightly grasped the edge of the shield and grabbed the sword by it's guard, not really seeming intent on using them as she eyed the structure. Interesting. It reminded her a bit of some kido constructs. At least some defensive types. "Huh, I appreciate the look. It definitely looks interesting." She grinned, and then perked up when she saw the woman getting into a ready stance before charging toward her! The clear adjustment was very obvious. The woman was taking into account Lerna's reactive style she'd taken on. She'd even given her weapons. Huh. Well, she wasn't going to be rude and not use them. As Freyja closed in with that vertical cleave, Lerna blitzed toward the woman, closing the distance with a shunpo to once again try to interrupt the momentum of the attack, but this time her eyes widened as that shield shifted into place Oh? She raised a hand up and slammed that crystalized sword up and into the blade that was swinging downward. Using every bit of her strength to SMASH the weapons into eachother and send a powerful reverberation up the length of Freyja's arm. Of course, if the weapon that Freyja had offered was weaker, thered be nothing stopping that blade from cleaving through and then slamming into the hard surface of her armored shoulder, potentially even biting clean into her thickened skin and drawing blood!

But Lerna was prepared for that, and instead RAMMED her leg into the shield at Freyja's side. Certainly, it was there to stop an attack, but how strong was it? IT seemed sturdy enough, but what about the forces causing it to float? Curious to see if her own brutal strength could ram that shield right into Freyja's body. But there probably wouldn't be much time to celebrate if she managed that. That follow-up horizontal slash cleaved in and sliced cleanly into Lerna's side, her brows raising for just a moment as the blade bit into her hardened skin. Blood splattering onto the ground aas most of that density had been centered on her arms and chest. Her side tore open as the blade bit into her, but still only managed to cut in a little. Partially from just how dense Lerna's body was in general, and part because Freyja likely wasn't going for killing blows. All the same, Lerna hooked in a left cross to her right side, dropping that crystalized shield in favor of executing a sharp hardened jab into Freyja's wrist, hoping to knock the floating blade out of her hand and then follow up with a forward BUCK, aiming to ram her forehead into Freyja's face in a brutal headbutt. Using a bit more force in anticipation to Freyja's defenses, seemingly entirely undeterred by the sword biting into her side. Potentially another also biting into her shoulder.

She didn't usually like to show off this particular aspect of being a mod soul. But they had a crowd to please. And taking these hits meant assuring her own. Nothing got a crowd going like a bit of suspense and confusion. And no doubt, she hoped to give the Coordinator a bit of a spook with how she was taking these hits. She was strong and durable. Frankly, trying to outpace the woman seemed.......suspect at best. The woman was skilled, probbaly skilled enough to just outplay her. And ....well...she uh.... sucked with that kinda finesse. Her trying to win at a game she sucked at wouldn't get the crowd going. So instead, she would fight like this. Hoping to push Freyja to showing some more of those flashy quincy spells. Goodness knew Lerna's Kido was ass.

What a gal~
Lerna's smile widened ever so slightly as the attacks followed through and she managed to counter with a good amount of success. Knocking that weapon away, and landing that strong headbutt even against that thick blut. A slight cut forming over Lerna's forehead. Hm, that girl could really summon up a solid defense. She hadn't thought to harden the skin on her forehead. She licked her thumb and wiped away the blood, the flesh closing back up and stopping the bleeding as she shifted around the material in her gigai a bit. Seemingly healing the wound immediately. Though that cut in her side, shallow as it was, would continue to bleed. She wasn't gonna waste attention on fixing that, THAT blood wasn't gonna get in her eyes after all.

"MH!" Lerna's cheeks puffed cutely as she was caught by the sudden reengagement from Freyja! That sudden leap back into the fray and that sword ripping in going for another hard strike! Lerna staggered back and raised a hand, catching the blade in her forearm. The sheer finesse and viciousness of that slash continuing to keep her from outright catching the blade in her palm. But it still stopped along that hardened skin and she PRESSED forward, bulling into the woman's swing and angling her arm so that the edge slid up her wrist, scraping along the stony mod shell until it snagged against her palm, at which point she promptly clamped down, hoping to hold the woman in place , long enough for her other hand to snap in and grasp Freyja by the throat.

She did notice that little pattern, but she simply presumed it to be another use of that blut stuff. No hesitation as she aimed to grab the woman by the throat and SLAM them into the ground. But that wasn't her ultimate goal. Whether she managed to lock the woman in place or not, she'd promptly open her mouth and let out a sudden harsh SPRAY of fluid in Freyja's face! Her Zanpaku'to's sealed ability. Of course she'd considered that her zanpaku'to was a little underhanded. She used the only REAL applicable iteration that she could muster in a situation like this. If Freyja was close when Lerna spit, she'd suddenly be overwhelmed by the scent of alcohol and she would be drenched in the stuff. Not only that, but she'd feel a sudden wave of dizziness and confusion wash over her.

Lerna had considered using her flammable sake, but this seemed the far more...appropriate for a friendly match. Yowaseruhime, one of the types of liquor that her body could produce through her zanpaku'to's ability. A special alcohol whose vapors alone were designed to get her opponents buttfuck drunk. It was a bit of a gamble though. Some people got real woozy and frankly just helpless when they were smashed out of their minds. Buuuut some people could get real angry and violent. Just the kinda gamble Lerna was MORE than happy to take~ After all, she wasn't here to win. She was here to see what this Quincy was capable of.

" I don't know if you've noticed, but you're not gonna win with just a few slashes. Why don't you show me what you can REALLY do?" She taunted the woman. After all, Yowaseruhime DID have a habit of lowering inhibitions and some people got REAL easy to coerce. And she was gonna use that to try and goad this woman into showing off her trump card.