Let's Enjoy [Klein, Amaranta]

Ugh. That whole fight had been a mess, but at least things had been handled. Klein had other things to do now though, plenty of research notes to gather on the field here. And, of course, there were still Hollows that weren't actually on their side, so they needed to be handled. Klein could have gotten rid of them on his own, but he didn't necessarily want to. After all, there was someone else who probably wanted to let off a little more steam.

"Hey, pretty lady, how're you holding up?"

Obviously, he knew Amaranta was getting antsy without a good fight. Maybe a little too antsy for his liking. He might have to actually put her more in line, and considering he'd already been honest with Kita about it, it wasn't the end of the world at this point.

Mess didn't even begin to describe whatever the hell that was, truth be told. Amaranta walked away from that battle with those damned brats unsatisfied. Considering the level of activity in that shithole, she expected a great battle against mighty opponents. What she got was a pair of cowards who couldn't finish the job. The brown-haired coward and the dark clown. Neither proved entertaining enough to maintain a lingering effect on her spirit. Therefore, it was no surprise to see her visibly frustrated, pacing across the battlefield in search of anything remotely interesting. From her point of view, she was probably better off fighting the hollows instead since they proved the mightier opponents.

"What does it look like?"

As expected, there was no shortage of frustration in her tone, accompanied by an annoyed expression. The sweet voice and complimentary words weren't didn't really faze her at the moment. If anything, she was particularly annoyed with this little guy. Not only did he play around with his opponent, but let her run wild and strike her from behind. Tch. What was he expecting for an answer? It should've been blatantly obvious. What looked to be an enticing meal was nothing more than a goddamned tease.

"That battle was a fucking bore."

Hm. Klein didn't mind a little lip from her, obviously. If anything, he found it attractive. But this particular lip was different, and between that and her not always being so willing to answer his calls lately, he found it a little less charming. His expression fell slightly, his eyes narrowing as they turned to study her.

"Well, I didn't think those Gotei folks would be like that. Can't exactly blame me for that one, can you?"

There was a touch of accusation to Klein's tone, as if he were outright challenging her to say that this had, in fact, been his fault. After all, surely she wouldn't be doing that. Right?

No, no. She would. Klein knew that. And that was why he'd already begun to start drawing in spiritual energy, letting it slowly coalesce and accumulate for when he inevitably had to show her why he was the one in charge.

" 'Can't exactly blame me for that one can you?' Oh, I don't know. Weren't you the one who said I'd have fun? Far as I'm concerned, I did better fighting for the other side. Those guys got the real entertainment. All I got was a bunch of cowards."

Amaranta recognized the coalescing energy thrumming around Klein but paid no heed to it as she mockingly repeated his own stupid question, ire weighing heavily within her tone. In his words, he promised something that ultimately proved to be so insufferably dull. For one who lived for battle as she did, the reviling thought that she went unsatisfied on the battlefield was nothing short of detestable. Crunching debris beneath her feet, she kept her back turned, gazing back at him with a firm degree of annoyance in those burning sapphires. She couldn't exactly fault him for those bastards hightailing it out of there, but her mind wasn't exactly abiding by reason at this moment.

"What the hell was that out there, anyway? Play around with your food until they become a thorn in my ass? I did better going in on my own."

"Tch."

Klein's expression was one he hadn't worn before around her, a look of earnest displeasure, if not outright disappointment, that seemed to look down on her despite the significant gap between them in height. He sighed more to himself than anything else, toying with some of his hair for a moment before returning his focus more fully to the conversation.

"I have other things to do than show off to the Gotei. But fine. You want a good fight? Want me to take things a little more seriously?" As he spoke the next words from his lips, Klein's voice was simply different. Gone was that childish, youthful voice, and in its place was that of a man, deeper and much more mature as he continued, "You got it, kitten."

In but a moment, Klein's body grew incorporeal, seeming to dissolve into red mist for only a brief moment. Just as quickly, it reformed into a much taller man, that same expression of discontent on his face as he raised a finger toward Amaranta, blood-red energy firing toward her all at once.

"Let's get it all out of your system."

"Heh, now you're speaking my language."

Annoyance was repainted by amusement as Klein's voice and form shifted within an instant. What an interesting shift in form. When did this this little man grow all of a sudden? Evolution? Form change? Whatever. It wasn't as if any of that particularly mattered right now, though. His upraised finger signaled the beginning of their exchange.

A sudden shift of her feet carried her forward in a fierce burst as she roared, hand and finger poised like a gun. Energy of an orange colored hue formed at the tip, releasing the ray in a interrupted stream targeted right for his chest. Whether his came before her own was largely inconsequential. She'd easily use Sonido to side step it and overwhelm him in a wild rush assault. Knowing him, he'd likely resort to that damned mist that proved the bane of her existence the last time, and by extension her defeat.

"Let's dance."

"Dance? This isn't a dance, kitten. Takes two to tango. This is discipline."

Klein's voice was sharp as he met her beam with his arrow, but he wasn't waiting for anything. As she came toward him, Klein studied her attacks carefully, using speed and footwork to evade even if he knew he couldn't match her attacks. It didn't matter, though, because he knew perfectly well he had several legs up on her. He smirked to himself as she came toward him, and he held up his hand once again, the familiar silver of his Hollow Cross' weapon form manifesting. Rather than creating the claws he had always used, however, a sleek katana shot outward toward Amaranta, ready to skewer her if she kept moving forward.

"Always so aggressive. But I like that about you."

He wasn't going to simply wait for a response, though. Whether or not the stab struck her, Klein swept the blade aside, drawing a swift line through the air that made an arc of his crimson spiritual power shoot forward as it moved. He had so much to work with like this, he almost looked forward to using it.

"Discipline? Me? I like the sound of that. Show me what counts for discipline, then, Klein. Make my time here worthwhile!"

Two rays of energy collided, and Amaranta was already transitioning into her next series of actions. A new form likely came with its fair share of tricks. Observing him would be pretty crucial here if she wanted to pull one over. Prior experience made her assume that his default option was to transition into his resurrección yet reality revealed a katana sweeping toward her in an unperturbed arc. Did it possess that nature as those arrows that chiseled away at her energy the last time? A bold charge was oh so tempting, but she'd play it safe by now, employing Sonido to vanish out of the radius of his sword strike and the crimson arc it created, reappearing behind him to shoot another beam at his back in that same motion as before. If it connected, good. She'd aim to go directly for a leg sweep to throw him off balance. If not, back to the drawing board.

"Of course. Restraint's no fun, babe. Holding back just isn't my style."

"Oh, believe me, I've noticed."

She was fast, but so was he. The two of them were quite evenly matched in that regard, something he had little choice but to make apparent now. As she moved behind him, he didn't wait to see what she might do, sonido carrying him away as he whipped around with a cocksure grin on his face and an outstretched right hand, a golden coin held between two fingers.

"Restraint has always been my style, though. Know why?"

Clenching his hand into a fist, the coin quickly began to glow, as a burning red sphere like a miniature sun quickly formed in front of him. It wasn't comparable to that in scale, naturally, but the swirling flame gave little doubt that something similar to the fusion of a burning star was taking place. As quickly as it had formed, however, the sphere burst forward, the air shimmering behind it from the distortion of the heat. When it impacted, the force was nothing short of immense, but he didn't think just one was going to catch a predator like her off guard.

"It's because I don't like catching the wrong kind of attention. I don't need hangers-on. Espada, Fraccion, it's all just words for people who follow you because they're weaker than you, and they know it. Me? I want people who can handle themselves."

"Heh..."

Elusive as always. Of course, that was to be expected. He always proved an evasive foe to lock down. She was no stranger to that. In a contest of speed, he was proving her equal in these short instances, a fact which brought her no small degree of joy as she maintained her own elusory pace. Studying him with observant sapphires, Amaranta discerned the phenomenon unfolding, the golden coin manifesting into a swirling sphere of crimson. A whirlwind of energy portending something destructive, perhaps? Golden-hued energy generated around her fists in preparation. Destructive or not, it isn't enough to throw her at unawares.

As that crimson sphere roared through the air, Amaranta launched golden orbs of energy from her fists in a bid to match the capacity of that attack. An explosion followed as energy collided, the immensity of the attack becoming wholly apparent as Amaranta felt the whiplash of impact pushing her back by a few meters. Well now, that attack felt relatively more destructive than anything he employed the last time they fought. Where did this crafty bastard pick that up? She wasn't so bold as to think her Cero, even with moderate improvement, was anything to match the nature of an attack like that, but it was worth a shot in the end to gauge its destructive capacity. At worst, the resulting shockwaves pressed her back and distorted her balance. Something to take note of, yes, but nothing to sway her entirely, either.

"Followers without any strength to their name can be a pain in the ass. I get that. The stronger you get, the more likely it is you'll get your fair share of riffraff gravitating towards you in search of a protector, someone that'll make their life a little easier. I get it. I want capable people following me, too. Even so..."

Following her momentary pause, the leonine woman's zanpakuto manifested within the palm of her hand. Lifting it towards the sky, a wide grin tore across her face as Rebelion's release phrase danced from her lips. A golden sphere surrounded her body until it dissipated to reveal her emblazoned leonine form. When they last fought, Amaranta had toyed around until it worked to her detriment, underestimating his capability until it was too late.

"What I won't do is restrain myself for the masses. If the hangers-on want to follow, I'll whip their ass into shape. I'll find exceptions to the rule. Those who recognize their limitation, but wish to step beyond it. For the weak, I'll simply be the example to follow. What strength borne of weakness can achieve. Those who wish to evolve and adapt can stand at my side. Those who don't can simply perish. Nothing more, nothing less..."

Now? Amaranta viewed him as someone who was more than capable of holding his own, a different type of example of what it meant to be strong. It wasn't the type of strength she was accustomed to, and she wasn't entirely sure she understood the nature of it compared to the more vigorous displays of power she could find elsewhere. In other words, what will satisfy her today is...

"Which is why I do genuinely find you interesting, Klein. Wanting to put someone in their place who won't rest until they reach the top. What does that amount to, I wonder? I want to see how far I can press it. If the Gotei couldn't draw it out, I'll do it myself!"

Sonido accompanied her exclamation as she roared forward, swiping her claw through the air to release a column of flame in the wake of her strike. What will satisfy her today is seeing what the extent of his willpower is. Clearly, she isn't satisfied with what she saw watching him play with his food. Thus, she has removed all inclinations of the intention that she'll be holding back. That's right. What she wants now... is satisfaction.