Seaside Fight Night: Mizu vs. Solomon

This is a no-holds-barred match to knock out, concession, or disqualification. The arena is assumed to be sufficiently sized for combat, a 25m square raised pavilion inside of a larger 100m square field. Outside of this 100m square field is a 10m buffer zone for the purposes of ring-out. Beyond this buffer zone is a barrier erected by the Gotei Captains Kuchiki and Urahara, so assume it can withstand all but the most absolutely extreme destruction. Combatants will begin the match each on one corner of the raised pavilion.

A reminder that breaking any of these rules is grounds for immediate disqualification:
1. Anyone who leaves the boundaries of the ring is disqualified.
2. Injuring or involving spectators in the match is grounds for immediate disqualification.
3. Killing blows are strictly forbidden.

Breaking these rules will result in a combatant being immediately rendered unconscious by way of Binding Contract with Albedochiffren Director Kishar.

In the left corner: 5th Seat of the Gotei United's 8th Division, Morikawa Mizu.

In the right corner: Sternritter of the Vandenreich, Solomon Richter.

Morikawa Mizu walked first through an entry tunnel then across a wide field, all the while nervously contemplating her situation. While she understood the event's purpose, it was still a bit of a surprise when she was invited to join. As a child growing up in an inner Rukongai District, wishing to be a great Shinigami someday, she couldn't have imagined her duties would include an exhibition fight against a member of the Vandenreich. I hope I do not embarrass Captain Otoribashi-sama, or the 8th Division...or the Gotei, for that matter.

Though nervous, Mizu was no less confident than usual. She was sure her opponent would be a mighty foe and while she was certainly determined to win to bring pride to her Division, the blond was mostly focused on just doing her best. If she could do her best, regardless of outcome Mizu would be satisfied. Once her eyes locked on her chosen opponent Mizu bowed deeply at the waist and introduced herself "I am Morikawa Mizu, 5th Seated Officer of the 8th Division! Please, let us both do our best!"

Solomon sighed softly as he stepped into the ring. The cheering of the crowd, the kaleidoscopic array of bright lights, a proud member of the Vandenreich standing across from a proud member of the Gotei United. He was no stranger to being surrounded by multiple groups of people by any possible sense, but this was the first time he could recall being spectated, cheered on by his fellow Quincy in the crowd. Hearing those jubilant waves of applause effused his spirit with joy as he measured his breath, studying the pagoda with significant interest in his eyes.

It was a sizable arena with plenty of space, which allowed for an ideal ease of movement between both parties. There was no need to worry about anything but the battle, it seemed, and so, Solomon extended his hand forward. Electrified reishi flared around him as soft whisps of electricity danced about in the air. In a flash, Keraunos - his prized spirit weapon - hilt manifested within the palm of his hand as the blade roared into existence with a sharp buzz. The time of battle was near. He hoped to honor the Vandenreich by putting on quite the performance, though he wasn't entirely selfless in this pursuit either. A prideful man by nature, he intended to enjoy himself and prove that he belonged, viewing this as a stepping stone towards developing in some aspect or another.

His azure gaze finally danced towards Mizu as he smiled, bowing before the woman with a solemn degree of respect. Settling into a empty stance, Solomon introduced himself as he gestured towards the member of the eighth division.

"I am Solomon Richter. Sternritter of the Vandenreich. Show me all that you have to offer, Mizu. Heck, I'll let you make the first move."

Beckoning the woman forward, Solomon prepares himself for the oncoming battle. Like a calm before the storm, he awaits her first move, prepared to strike like lightning and attack with the aggression of a storm.

A Sternritter... Mizu thought to herself, sizing up her predetermined opponent with great, though measured, curiosity. She wondered what kind of man he was, and if he too was here out of a sense of duty and not blood lust. Either way he would no doubt serve as one of her greatest challenges yet. Mizu's inexperience dealing with Quincies was not something she could arrogantly ignore, and knew she would have to stay on her toes. One thing she could be sure of is this Solomon fellow seemed to manipulate electricity in some way, though she could not ascertain exactly how quite yet.

With a look of determination plastered across her face, Mizu acknowledged her opponent's words with a nod of her golden maned head and prepared for battle. Wanting to start the battle with a bang Mizu sucked in a deep breath of air before releasing it and raised both hands in front of her; from one hand a crimson light glowed brightly, and in front of the other a torrent of wind began spinning. "Hadō #58: Tenran! Upon saying this spell's name the wind would speed up and form an expanding vortex aimed in Solomon's direction. As it made it's way to his location Mizu let loose another spell's name "Hadō #31: Shakkahō!", sending the red light around her other hand into the vortex. Instead of creating a single high temperature beam of fire, the entire Tenran tornado would become enveloped in flames and spread the fire across the pagoda and in Solomon's direction. Mizu continued to hold the tornado spell as their battle began in earnest.

There were a variety of attacks Solomon expected. A slash with her blade at any angle, the release of her zanpakuto, or even a flash step within his collective range to catch him at unawares. Combination Kido was certainly not one of them. Nevertheless, he admired her approach. The crowd was here to be entertained, after all. To start their battle off with a flash was undoubtedly a welcome act in the Sternritter's eyes. Ideally, his first option would have been to break her attack down into reishi, but he wasn't quite at that level of reishi absorption to effect kido techniques to such a degree. Therefore, his option was simply to match fire with fire---or in this case, lightning with Kido.

Accumulating an ambient wave of reishi onto his blade, Solomon generates a swathe of thunderous electricity around his spirit weapon, swinging the gathering of voltaic energy forward to cleave through the fiery tornado. It wouldn't entirely subdue the attack, but at the very least, the elemental clash would keep him from suffering the full blunt of her attack. One swing, two swings, and three, Solomon sliced through any flame that sought to burn his skin, avoiding the heated wind cutting him up too much.

"An impressive way to start the battle, Mizu! That combination of Kido is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Keep it up!"

Turning his eyes towards Mizu, Solomon would utilize Hirenkyaku to close the distance between them, generating a javelin of electricity within the palm of his hand, hurdling the weapon toward her from in a straight line. Far from one to let that settle in as his only attack, regardless of however Mizu chose to approach it, Solomon utilized Hirenkyaku once more, vanishing again, prepared to strike at her from behind with the blunt of his blade. The rules were clear, and the Sternritter had no intention of resorting to any form of cutting at her that would be seen as distasteful. Even at the outset, she seemed to be quite an interesting opponent. Thus, he wished to make this every bit as entertaining for her as it was for the raucous crowd in attendance.

With golden eyes focused on her target, Mizu remained unwavering and determined. She had hoped her magic would do more, but alas she still was not certain about this Solomon's abilities. She knew about Quincy abilities, and in conjunction with his use of electricity through his sword she was beginning to at least get a picture of her opponent. The question now would be how to deal with the man's electric attacks.

At Solomon's comment about her combination magic being a "crowd pleaser" Mizu considered what he meant. Her duty was to fight this Quincy with her utmost ability to display the Gotei's strength, build relations with the Vandenreich, and see what the Quincies were capable of. She had not approached this mission intending to show off for onlookers like a stage actor or trained animal. For someone like her that would be wholly unnecessary and not worth her time. Her only focus was putting her best foot forward and doing the Gotei proud.

Knowing the danger of staying within close quarters of an unknown combatant Mizu had no intention on letting the man close the gap between them. Each time he used his Quincy movement technique she would counter by moving a similar distance in the opposite direction, first nearly to the edge of the pagoda and then back to the middle when he got behind her. At least thus far they appeared to be evenly matched in their movement ability Have to stay away! she thought to herself as she readied more Shinigami magic.

This time Mizu planned on being a bit trickier with her Kidō, opting for a combination of Hadō and Bakudō. With her left hand pointed at the ground Mizu vocalized a spell's name "Bakudō #21: Sekienton!" which immediately created a plume of red smoke which would quickly cover a wide area and obscure her body. From within the smoke she would quietly set a trap by casting Hadō #12: Fushibi which would cause the smoke-covered area to burst into flames should Solomon step into it, meanwhile Mizu had already moved back out of the smoke where he couldn't see and cast another spell: Bakudō #26: Kyokkō which hide's the caster's physical and spiritual presence. In the past using this many consecutive spells would spell her doom by quickly exhausting her, but Mizu was still managing to feel confident about the situation. Still, she wouldn't allow herself to grow arrogant. This Quincy was clearly powerful and if she lost focus this bout would be over all too soon.

His javelin had been evaded it seemed, and so too was his strike from behind. Even so, Solomon was pleased how well the woman could adapt so far. Employing their race's most prized speed technique, they matched one another pace for pace. Of course, Solomon's intent was to close distance, but it would seem as though Mizu's movements were made in an attempt to deliberately stay away from engaging him at close range. For a moment, he wondered about her ability in close combat as a whole. She was complete unknown, but did she lack the ability to match him by any chance? There was not a credible ounce of info to confirm this just yet, but his mind wondered about it nevertheless.

However, most of his thoughts on this crucial factor would be cut short the moment Mizu executed another wave of Kido spells in rapid succession. Each of these names did little to give him an idea of what the spells entailed. A plum of smoke formed before him, but Solomon felt it was risky to go in without a plan of action. Even if he stepped in, he contemplated several factors as to why the plum of crimson smoke might be a trap. As if to confirm his suspicions, the plum of red smoke would be set aflame as Solomon maintained his movement around the ring, utilizing hirenkyaku to avoid being burned by the flames. However, each time he traversed the pagoda, he couldn't see her. No, it was more than that. He could no longer feel her spiritual pressure, too. He couldn't immediately attack because he held no particular idea of where she might be. Did she use some sort of spellcraft to cloak her body and hide her spiritual pressure? If so, then where?

Solomon allowed a smile to caress his handsome features. Well, if she wanted to play the waiting game. Why not go at her with some spellcraft of his own? Of course, this particular spell wouldn't be immediate. It'd take some time to manifest. As such, he made a concerted effort towards accelerating that process by consuming the ambient reishi around him into Keraunos, storing energy into the blade with each passing moment. The technique would not be immediate, but it would come soon enough. His main course now was to wait in preparation, to test Mizu's movement out. Solomon remained stationary, almost as if he was trying to bait her to come out and attack. If her last few techniques were anything to go by, he expected Kido... but perhaps she may have intended to defy his expectations. He remained in an empty stance, his sword and eys poised for whatever came next.

Darn, another failure thought Mizu, still hidden away safely by her Shinigami magic. Thus far nothing had worked against this man. Though she had only used a handful of spells so far she was a little short on ideas because just using more and more Kidō hoping for something to eventually stick did not seem a fortuitous plan. Still, at least for now, she thought, it was her best way of staying safe while trying to gain an advantage against Solomon.

Once she noticed her opponent begin to move energy around him, a feat she owed to her innate Shinigami ability to sense spiritual matters, she decided to make her next move. In one motion Mizu both pulled away the curtain of invisibility and released her next spell "Hadō #24: Jūrensha!". This time a blue circle formed in front of her left palm, from which dozens of smaller spheres of energy would launch in Solomon's direction like a machine gun firing round after round. While each individual sphere wouldn't pack that much of a punch, Mizu hoped by pelting the Quincy with many of them he would take some damage as they explode upon contact.

Just need one opening!

Solomon didn't notice the hand immediately, but he certainly registered the voice. Turning towards its direction, the Sternritter didn't have time to erect a proper defense. It was a well-timed sneak attack, but he had no intention of going down that easily. He shifted his sword before him to block a portion of those blue spheres shooting toward him in ceaseless wave. In spite of his attempt to block most of them, the sudden nature of the attack did not prevent him from going completely unscathed, evident by the bruises and the light burn marks on his skin.

Focusing his eyes towards the hand, Solomon utilized Hirenkyaku to flash forward, aiming to pull Mizu out of the veil and strike toward her with a roundhouse kick to her rib. Of course, if she evaded, he'd simply engage her in the same game as he had done before, aiming to keep pace with her while he did his best to avoid the combined wave of Kido. It was quite the remarkable thing to specialize in, but he still wondered about her skill in close quarters. If he could get her into a compromising position, he almost felt as if his victory would be assured. Of course, mere assumptions would only spell his defeat. If nothing else, he wanted to test her and put on a show for the crowd.

"I respect the approach, but you can't evade me forever, you know. Sooner or later, you'll have to engage."

He spoke competitively, with a firm degree of respect in his voice. He wanted to see the extent of her abilities beyond kido before he displayed his on spellcraft. His spirit weapon continuously collecting reishi in preparation for his trump card, one that would hopefully force her into facing him directly, where he truly thrived.

With Kyokkō's hidden veil pulled all the way back Solomon wouldn't need to pull her out of it's confines, but the following kick came nonetheless and she was only lightly prepared because of his speed. Almost out of reflex Mizu reached for a memory of when she found herself assaulted like this and then proceeded to respond the same way she had before; instead of allowing herself to take a direct hit, all the while hoping she would be strong enough to not get knocked down immediately, she went for a less obvious and riskier move.

With her left hand raised to practically catch Solomon's leg Mizu would channel spiritual energy around her palm and "attempt" to cast Hadō #31. Shakkahō, but the attempt would be in name only; instead of a fireball that would do little to protect her Mizu purposely miscast the spell, causing a significant explosion to erupt between them. If all went according to plan, both would be harmed by the energy and the resulting blast would force them apart, possibly even sending them flying because of it. Pain immediately surged up her arm as her sleeve and arm were burnt with her rear barely cushioning her as she landed hard on the ground a distance away.

"How's that for engaging...?" the blond Shinigami muttered to herself as she dragged herself to her feet, wincing throughout. Mizu forced herself to shake her arm even as it still stung severely, her grip opening and closing as she did so, to push through the self-inflicted damage she had incurred. Though her head rang a little she refocused her gaze on Solomon and stood, Zanpakuto in hand, ready for whatever came next.