Seaside Fight Night: Kanae vs Natasha

If it was Natasha's goal to taunt and anger Kanae, her efforts would prove fruitless. If she was merely trying to get Kanae to stop playing with her food, then in that regard she would find success. The Fourth Division's newly crowned Captain faced down her opponent, all amusement gone from her soft, cold face. Her disappointment in the Quincy's refusal or lack of transformation grew with each passing moment. The only reason she had even joined this ostentatious exhibition was to observe the Vandenreich's capabilities, and thus far this Natasha woman was slow-burning this battle.

Kanae decided it was time to step up her efforts in dealing with the annoying projectiles fluttering about like bothersome insects. She remained on the ground below Natasha, standing as stoically as she had before, with her sheathed Zanpakuto held in her left hand. She took a relaxed stance and gripped her weapon's handle with her right hand, breathed softly, and stood silently as she waited for the trio of projectiles to reach her. Based on the her distance from Natasha, the two tracking projectiles fired earlier would reach her first. Perfect. she thought silently to herself.

Seconds ticked by like an eternity for the audience in the stands. They were all well aware the power of a Gotei Captain, but in their eyes Kanae was waiting for her own impending doom. This doom would not come, however. The moment the two bullets came within range of Kanae's blade, she drew and swung it cleanly through them. A sinister glare shone in her eyes as the bullets vaporized instead of splitting and reforming as they'd done previously. The answer to why this happened was simple: When Kanae swung her Zanpakuto, a layer of highly corrosive acid was coating its blade. This caustic material possesses the power to even dissolve Reishi, and would be the difference maker in destroying the bullets for good.

There was still one problem left for Kanae to deal with, the newly created third bullet coming straight at her from Natasha. Having replaced her weapon in its holder, Kanae was prepared for when the third bullet reached her. As before, she drew and swung her acid-coated sword straight through the projectile, eating through its form with no issue. Unfortunately Kanae had no way of sensing the bullet was set to go off as an explosion on contact, having only been able to deduce more Reishi was in it than its predecessors. A blast of energy enveloped Kanae's form, much to the shock of the crowd.

Natasha held not a degree of interest in provoking Kanae, far from it in fact. Kanae had already displayed her true colors at the outset, each shade more grotesque than the last, and if it weren't for the difference in spiritual power, the Sternritter coordinator would have been aggressively pursuing a win here. Since that was far from the case, Natasha was content with the thought of landing a myriad of strikes on her, to drag her down from that murderously lofty pedestal she haughtily stood on.

Pride compelled her efforts now, and so too did the excitement of the crowd cheering her on. Even as the woman was enveloped in the light of her explosive bullet, Humanity's Strongest Soldier was far from interested in spectating whether or not her bullet had wholly sought purchase against the woman's frame.

She desired something far greater than one bullet. Even if she lost three, she still had four. There were still multiple guns to employ. She may have been the decidedly weaker opponent here, but she prided herself in versatility. Adrenaline bursting, her heart racing, Natasha went skyborne, Starpacker poised in Kanae's general direction, bringing the entirety of her focus as a marksman to bear.

Collecting the necessary reishi - with that single finger pressed against the trigger - in that moment, the crowd bore witness to a technique reminiscent of Licht Regen as a numerous wave of bullets descended from the sky, drowning the arena they occupied in a seemingly endless cascade of azure light, each targeting Kanae with the intent of layering the woman in an all-out assault. With four more bullets, and a few more guns in her arsenal, Natasha was prepared to give it everything she had, even if a victory didn't await her at the end of her pursuit...

"I came here to put on a show, after all~!"

As the fight between the two warriors continued to go on in truth, Tento was just happy he could keep track of what was going on! Spicy words were on like someone dumped extra peppers in the jumbo!! A heat, none literally of course, was swelling in the stage and Tento's nose was full on sniffing all of it up. The showing of character, face and heel, pushing back and forth between each other letting out sparks of fireworks to the eyes of the audience.

How much was for show or for real would be a question though. Heavens....knowns the vibe Captain Kanae has going on. He shook his head, "mm mmm mmmm", never saw a face so pretty that also could give him the shivers.

It seemed that Natasha's bullets were once again being counter by Captain Kanae's blade and agility. The acidic nature of her Zanpatuko probably adding something to that too... Just how was one supposed to deal with that? A massive amount of energy that still landed after being reduced...or a material that couldn't be melted. But it practically worked like a hollow's acid touch. Was that even possible?? Tento's eyes trained on the scene to see so himself. See the heights above that was still there to climb towards day by day!

With a slice Kanae hit the third bullet just as it reached her. Drawing in a quick flow drawing motion that was practically becoming her trademark at this point. She loved pulling it out to use before placing it back. It was like she was saying it was all she needed to do. That or, perhaps her sheath was a container to re apply the acid that was the core of her ability? Theories. Theories and experience given with each sight seeing this woman fight. And each time it seemed he just got more and more impressed. As the reshi bullet was sliced it looked as if it just hovered in place. Still.Right before a bright light flashed as if a match was lit. Fused and fueled by determination and energy. This was Natasha's power. An explosion rocked on, causing a shockwave to, from his position, felt like it shook the whole stage and even the audience. Shouts, gasps, and cheers rained for all around. It seemed she finally landed a blow on the Gotei United's Captain! With an excited breath of his own his Captains formed disappearing under the cloak of the blast of energy. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT!?!?

Oh boy was he in for something...

As Natasha went up into the air, Tento pratically let out an overwhelming excited gulp filled with antipcation. Positive. But a gulp all the same. Her form and gun skyrocketing up in the air as he gun continued to be trained and locked onto where Kanae was. Aim bearing its fang at the dot. Through the barrier, his ability to sense energy was still as sharp as normal. And the collection of reshi he was gathering was a full on flagging flag that shit was about to go NUTS. As the crowd bore witness to its unleashing strike. Numerous wave of bullets descending from high above the sky. Tento still did not see his Captain. But still he could feel her energy. But still, he had no idea why. An idea of comradery. Tired of hearing everyone in his seating area only cheer on Natasha. Tento had to jump up, foot over an empty seat as he took a DEEP breath, letting out a raging roar filled with a type of warrior spirit you could only find in the combat division. Unknwon personal feelings set aside, she was still his superior, leader, and comrade.

"STOP PLAYING AROUND CAPTAIN, MOVE!!!!!".

Was there a small unneeded concern there? Maaaaybe.

A curtain of billowing smoke continued to cover and camouflage Kanae's position even as her opponent rose into the sky and began to unleash a barrage of attacks from her spiritual weapon. These shots rained down into the smoke cloud, which had the effect of kicking up even more dust, expanding the smog to further hide the Gotei Captain. To the observers it seemed the Shinigami had been unable to recover quickly enough before Natasha fired her barrage of energy bullets, leaving her a sitting duck waiting for her fate.

And yet, no call to end the match ever rang out. Natasha's victim never cried out, and her spiritual presence never wavered. Beneath the cover of smoke Kanae was striking with her Zanpakuto like a maelstrom of steel, her acid-covered sword cleaving through bullet after bullet as they entered her range. Drops of acid whipped through the air and splattered across the ground, burning holes into the stone pavilion like it was swiss cheese. None of this would be clear to anyone outside the smoke as it continued to expand from the corroding concrete giving off even more of a smog. One thing clear to Kanae, as she felt the tingling pain from burns on her hands and arms, was the hate-filled anger filling her mind.

When Tento screamed out to his Captain, a sudden stillness came to the air in the Arena of Light. A heaviness fell upon the battleground as if a lake had been dumped on it. Fissures spread out across the stone pavilion with the camouflaged Captain at its epicenter, the strength of her full spiritual pressure crushing the dissenting rock beneath her feet as it released from her body like an aura of pure malice. A crashing sound filled the arena as another mass of cracks spread from Kanae's location, this time as a result of her using all her strength to launch off the ground like a rocket. Wind whistled around her as she flew, aiming directly for Natasha with all the speed she could muster. Bullets fired at her mid-air would fall prey to her Zanpakuto, and upon reaching the Quincy she swung with all her speed and might at her gun and across her torso in one strike.

Heh. For a murderous woman who wasted no time in her attempts to get under the woman's skin, Kanae was relentlessly determined. Starpacker's ceaseless wave of reishi gunfire was one of the mightier techniques in her repertoire, and the combat division captain seemed to emerge relatively unscathed. Heavy spiritual pressure filled the air, emanating malice throughout the entire arena that contained them, crushing rocks under the woman's feet as she launched towards in a single imperceptible flash. There was no immediate opportunity to activate the defensive system of Blut. The sheer difference in power between them rendered the act meaningless, all told, and Natasha was no fool in believing she could overcome that difference today.

In the blink of an eye, her rifle was cut clean in half, ambient reishi particles dissolving before the woman's eyes as Kanae's blade cleaved through her frame, opening a grisly wound across Natasha's torso. Descending from the sky, Natasha held her arm out with one hand, forming a spring board of reishi to brace her fall as she bounced off of it, landing onto the ground. Small trails of crimson trailed down her lips, but she rose up from the ground, gazing up at the crowd. She couldn't help but admit she was a little curious about that roaring voice that supported her captain.

It seemed even venomous women like that were capable of earning some praise, too, huh? She hadn't particularly paid any attention to whether Kanae would pursue her relentlessly. Perhaps her aim was to finish it all in one strike, but those hazel brown eyes did happen to notice one thing when she soared in. The haughty madwoman hadn't emerged entirely unscathed. Did she really enjoy the taste of a moral victory? Of course not. She desired to grow stronger, to transcend beyond her current state of power. Her only gripe to be found here, perhaps, was the choice of opponent she'd been given, but she could reflect on that later. Otherwise, she'd faint from the blood pooling through the hand that covered her wound. Regardless of where Kanae was, Natasha grinned back at the woman, flashing the middle finger as she stepped outside the stadium.

"Not bad for a disgusting quincy, huh?"

And with that, the announcement was made. Kanae was the victor. Natasha expected that result, to be certain, but at least she didn't walk out of here without getting layered in a pile of gunfire. She had to get this wound treated immediately, though. Sheesh. Fortunately this was a battle setting, because Natasha didn't doubt for a minute that this woman would have cut her in half otherwise. Or maybe tortured her. She didn't really want to start thinking like that murderous woman. Hopefully... none of her peers would have to face her moving forward.