Sneaking about (Seijin/Fabiola, otherwise Open)

It could easily be said that Seijin wasn't the brightest being around, by any means. Easily distractable, generally foolish and lacking in plenty of knowledge that was otherwise common... that basically summed him up. Still, he knew enough at least to be certain that if anyone else knew what he'd done even in the past few hours, forming a certain alliance with and even 'bedding' an Arrancar, the race he was supposed to be hunting down, he'd be in serious trouble. Lest he forget the fact that what he was (that was, an anthropomorphic squirrel) was plain for anyone to see with his hood and face mask removed.

Still... he didn't exactly care. It wasn't really in his nature to be concerned about much of anything. All he was concerned about was looking around once he and Fabiola had left that initial room to wander the halls of Las Noches, the fortress of the Arrancar.

"It's... kinda quiet," he observed after a few moments, scratching a little at the back of his head. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, initially, but he had been expecting... well, something, at least. "Are most of them away doing stuff or something? I mean... I don't think Shinigami can usually get to this place, so I can't imagine they'd be worried about much..." he considered.

Luke had been wandering the halls himself, when he received a distressful signal from a nearby Hollow servant. Apparently, unknown Arrancar and Shinigami had entered the premises, and all that were available were busy detaining the prisoners. Luke found it somewhat sad that the Arrancar were supposed to be a super-army, but couldn't detain the few prisoners that were there. First, there was the two that had been brought in by Lance, then the three that had been brought in by Daxel. It was quite odd, in truth, that a Hollow, a Bount, and a Fullbringer would give them so much trouble. Luke made sure to keep updated on the situation via Hollow's that were in the area.

He resumed his wandering, opting not to help, seeing as they had dug themselves into this mess. It wasn't his problem. Normally, he would be willing to help, but he didn't want to reveal himself just yet to them. At least, if he could help it. Three people in Las Noches knew that he was the Cero Espada, but he wasn't going to let everyone else know just yet. It might change their opinion of him, and make life a hell for the Decima Espada.

Luke walked at a somewhat casual space to the spot the two had been seen, not bothering to hide his spiritual pressure. It seemed a bit stronger than the squirrel-boy's himself, which was good to him. If he already seemed more powerful unreleased, then perhaps he wouldn't need to release in order to defeat them, or at least scare them away. "I'm going to have to ask you two to leave." He said, as he walked forward, emerging from a corridor a few yards ahead. "This is Espada turf, and we can't let you be roamin' the halls." He said, his western accent brisk as he spoke.

Fabiola was feeling very refreshed. The past couple of moments had been spent doing one of the two things she most enjoyed, and the remainder was about to be filled with the other. Needless to say she was in a pretty good mood, which helped to lift her spirits higher than they would otherwise be. Some Hollows rejuvenated by eating. Fabiola rejuvenated by doing other...things.

Seijin brought up an interesting point. The halls of Las Noches up until now had been largely devoid of resistance, or inhabitants of any kind. A few Hollows or lesser Arrancar here or there could be sensed in the shadows of corridors, but none dared to approach the awesome might the pair exuded. "You probably don't realize it, but small fry here in Hueco Mundo tend to keep their distance from higher order predators. Cute woodland critters like yourself do not typically stare down lions, right?" She giggled at the jest she made, but got her point across. Most of the beings in the area were nowhere near them in power, and they would be suicidal to even try to attack.

This all changed when she felt a presence ahead of them. It felt pretty close to their level. "This lion looks pretty hungry." When he approached, he seemed to confrim that the Espada indeed belonged here. That was good news for Seijin, who she imagined would be eager to get started. "And, are you one of these...Espada then?" Fabiola drew the massive, mean-looking maul strapped to her back. It thrummed with latent power, but seemed to hold little threat of its own. Fabiola would let Seijin be the one to do battle first if this was indeed one of the few he sought, but she would go ahead and get her mace ready to fend off any attacks thrown her way.

"Hm... true enough," he idly admitted, giving a little shrug. A bit more cowardly overall than he thought indeed, it seemed, not that he minded it too much. All in all, it made things quite a bit easier, though... well, he wasn't exactly doing the job he was presumably supposed to do, was he? Then again, he'd been sent out initially to be away from Seireitei for a little while, so... who knew.

When a presence came, however, he was... well, slightly at the ready, if anything. Really it was just a matter of him actually drawing his zanpakuto and glancing curiously over to the figure that had arrived for now. He basically told them to leave, but... well, Seijin certainly wasn't planning on going anywhere, except perhaps forward.

"Sorry, but... not goin' anywhere. I've got a job to do, after all... I guess. I dunno why, but it's still a job," he admitted somewhat thoughtfully, seeming to give it some small consideration before shrugging it off. "So... yeah. Cry, Awabomu," he spoke, his zanpakuto in turn, true to its given command, changing shape to form a long jutte... from which a few large (at least for bubbles), translucent blue bubbles emerged upon a small swing, bouncing slowly off the walls in their approach toward the presumed Espada... and set to explode in a forceful rush of air if pierced.

Suffice it to say, the Shinigami wasn't exactly taking this seriously, but that was natural for him.

Luke watched the two as they came up, questioning him about his authority. "Yeah, I'm the tenth Espada. And I can't let you get any closer than you are." He said, frowning, as he pulled a toothpick from his pocket, and put it in his mouth. He turned his attention to the boy as he came forward and released his zanpaku-to. So they weren't going to make this easy for him, were they? All the same, they'd be dealt with. He pulled out the realistically wooden gun from its holster. He shot off a rapid succession of bala to hit the bubbles in mid-air, seeing as they were not especially fast, and were steadily getting closer. He figured if he took them out from a distance, he could avoid being hit.

After the rapid succession of bala, he aimed the gun at Seijin, and fired a cero at the Shinigami. Like Seijin, Luke wasn't taking the fight entirely seriously. Not yet, at least. There was no need to, as long as he didn't have to release. If it came to that, he would take it more seriously, but unless it came down to that, there was no reason to. "One last chance to turn around." He said, as the cero began to dissipate, regardless of whether he had hit his mark or not. The cero wouldn't leave terrible wounds, but it would be rather painful for the young man. Hopefully, it would cause him to straighten up and leave, or to become serious about the whole ordeal. Throughout their exchange of blows, however, Luke did not forget about Fabiola. The fact that an Arrancar was teaming up with a Shinigami confused him, so he made sure to stay on the lookout to see if she attempted anything.

Fabiola yawned as she felt the energy of a round of Bala and Cero form in the battle before her. They were nothing impressive; her own were easily twice as strong, if not more. Seijin could probably handle this fight on his own. Were all of the Espada so weak? She felt inclined...to test that.

Though not really getting involved just yet, as her getting truly involved would result in a lot more catastrophical damage to the surrounding area, the amorous, if lazy Arrancar initiated a Sonido at full speed to appear directly behind Luke. Though the speed could have been frightful, and possibly allow for a devastating attack, all she did with the opportunity was slowly raise her maul into the air and follow up with a lazy overhead swing. In truth, this was the fastest she could attack with her Zanpakutou on its own power. It was easily her weakest move, and all but the lowest of the low would be unable to avoid it. Still, such a huge disparity between movement speed and strike speed tended to be unsettling to most.

"Don't take this personally," she began, whether or not her hit connected. "But If you're the tenth, then we've got a few more to take care of too. Try not to get too far from my little Seijin, okay?" She smiled a devilish grin, conveying the meaning subtley that fighting at a range would be a difficult option for him.

He might have spoke a little himself, but... well, it seemed rather a waste of time when his bubbles exploded into rushes of air; simple speech wasn't going to get past that in the few moments it lasted. Still, it hadn't seemed to work too well all the same, a fact he considered for a moment. Ah well, time to try something slightly different... and meanwhile not mind the cero that was diverted barely to his side thanks to the rushes of air.

"May wanna... well, not be near this," he idly warned, raising his zanpakuto back behind him before flinging it quickly down and to the side. Like a translucent film extending before snapping off his weapon, the stuff snapped quickly into its proper shape, that of a bubble a fair bit larger than the rest. Around half his own height in total diameter, in fact, which was... well, suffice it to say he saw it as a potential problem if he were to stay so close to it. So he didn't, instead using a smaller bubble formed at the end of his weapon's path to snap and burst him forward a bit faster than his own top speed at shunpo, using his path to try and slam both his feet into the Espada on the way in an attempt to knock him into that bubble. Even if it did send himself rebounding slightly off a wall.

So nobody ever said he completely knew how to use his power right.

Luke watched as his cero was knocked off-course by the bubbles, frowning only slightly. He tilted his head as the larger bubble was formed, before he heard a voice next to him. Immediately, he darted to the side, thus evading the squirrel boy's attack, and the strike of the woman's club. Given that the female arrancar was right behind him, Luke expected either her to get kicked by the squirrel boy, or for the squirrel boy to get bashed over the head with the club. No matter. He aimed the small pistol once more, firing off another cero, either at where he figured Seijin would land, or at Fabiola, nobody would know. All that was known was that it was headed that way. He turned, looking at the larger bubble. If all they produced was a large exhale of air, then it shouldn't be terrible bad to shoot it.

Waiting until Seijin was once more on the ground, be it standing or laying, Luke shot another cero at the large bubble, figuring it best to get it out of the way. Had he been paying attention, he may have noticed that Fabiola had shunpo'd earlier to where he was, behind him. But, of course, he let his eyes stray from her for one second. He recalled the words of the female Arrancar, grinning. "Nonetaken ma'arm, but don't take it personally when I have to take you two to the dungeons." He said, as he used the gun to push up his cowboy's hat, making it easier for him to see them.

As Luke moved out of the way of her attack without much trouble at all, it seemed that he was not terrible slow on his feet. More than likely, she would not be able to hit him with Sulfuras alone. That being the case, she would probably have to resort to her stronger moves if she wanted to fight him directly. Her eyes caught the sight of Seijin rocketing toward her, apparently his intended target having been Luke. Though his speed was slightly increased from what he was displaying before, she could still react in time. Fabiola side stepped the Shinigami-missile while grabbing his arm at the same time, bracing her strong muscles to hold him steady as he came to a stop. "Careful Seijin, we would not want you to get hurt." She stood on the tips of her feet before pecking him on the cheek after that comment, a sign of affection he likely understood by now.

As Luke fired another Cero at them, Fabiola shifted the weight of her maul to take the brunt of the blast. The energy attack slammed into her hammer, but the weapon could not stave it off completely on its own. It was eventually wrenched from her grasp with the lingering force of the attack, Fabiola's grip not being terribly strong on it to begin with. Sulfuras went flying in an arc behind her before embedding itself into the tiles of Las Noches's hallway. Leaving the Shinigami to continue what was mostly his fight for now, Fabiola casually walked over to her maul in a half-hearted attempt to retrieve it.

"Oh... thanks," he spoke with a little grin as he was caught, blinking slightly at the peck to his cheek. He knew... enough at least to know what it meant, at least, though he still couldn't help but be surprised that an Arrancar of all things had apparently taken to him. Anything was possible, he supposed. "And, um... may wanna brace on something..." he suggested, noting the Espada pointing his gun at the large bubble. In a fairly confined hallway. It occurred to the Shinigami that that was probably a rather bad idea, in retrospect, but it was a bit late to be worrying about that now.

After all, it exploded after a bare moment or two of being hit in a rather powerful burst of air coursing through the hall. Whipping his own tail back somewhat painfully was, simply speaking, the least of what it did... were it not for some claws for natural grip, and a decent amount of strength behind them, he was fairly certain it would have blasted himself back a good ways. And again, nobody ever said he was the brightest around, by any means.

"That was... probably not the best idea, I guess?" he submitted when it passed, scratching a little at the back of his head with his still free hand. "Er... you alright, at least?" he hazarded asking, glancing over to wherever Fabiola was, or otherwise making certain to catch her to the best of his abilities if she got thrown back by the blast.

Upon the bursting of the bubble, Luke felt himself being blown away, rolling a few yards from where he originally stood. After the air subsided, he lay on the ground for a moment longer, before jumping up, dusting himself off. He looked to his gun, which he had let go during the wind tunnel that had been created because of the tight space. Unfortunately, it had been blown all the way down the hall. That was a shame. He looked back at Seijin once more, this time sure to keep his eye on Fabiola, as she went to retrieve her weapon. When he noticed Sejin's eyes focused on Fabiola, however, he struck. It was a bit of a low-ball, yes, but he had to resort to such moves to beat them off.

He put his hand up in the air, thumb sticking straight up, with all of his fingers curled back except his index finger, which was pointing at Seijin. "Bang." He said, as his signature white and black cero shot out, heading straight for Seijin once more. If he kept at this, he was going to exhaust his reiryoku supply. Which was bad. If he did that, then he would be screwed except for his raw physical ability. No matter. He would have to see where the fight went.

As the air blast came, Fabiola let it push her the rest of the way to her zanpakutou. Firmly embedded in the ground due to its immense weight, she allowed her hand to catch on the hilt and rode out the remainder of the explosion. Being the furthest from the epicenter, she got the least of it.

"It seemed to give your target over there some trouble with his toy gun." She did not know why he used the thing to shoot his attacks, as all Hollow kind of their level should be perfectly capable of it on their own. As if confirming her knowledge, the Espada let loose another Cero, this one aiming to hit Seijin while he addressed her condition. He was so sweet, her little Seijin. Getting hurt out of concern for her would not do, no, not at all.

Gripping her Zanpakutou hard with her immense physical strength, Fabiola tore Sulfuras from the tiles and hurled it to intercept the Cero all in one movement. The makeshift projectile slammed into the blast mid course, and though weak on its own merits, the strength with which she threw it slightly made up for that and canceled out the Cero. "A Cero like that," she began, watching as the maul landed midway between Luke and Seijin, "Will never be enough."

In otherwise normal situations, Fabiola would not have played her hand so soon, but this man was making a great deal of effort to harm her newfound companion, rather dishonorably she might add, and for all she knew the poor boy would take the hit because he was too caught up in worrying about little old Fabi. For that reason, when she next vanished into Sonido, the reappearance was anything but slow. The attack came with little warning, a single open hand darting toward Luke's back from off to his left side behind him. If one's eye was quick enough, they would see a curious sight; steam was emanating from her hand, and making contact would be none-too-pleasant.

"Whoop... oh."

So the squirrel-like Shinigami let out, certain he felt something coming and beginning to move before tilting his head curiously to the side and glancing over in the direction he swore it was coming from only to find... nothing in particular. The Espada in that direction, and Fabiola over there shortly after, but... ah well, no use worrying about it. It did create a certain problem, though, it occurred to him. His zanpakuto wasn't exactly... controlled. It was, simply put, something meant for pushing back or simply annihilating whatever was in its path, regardless of what that was.

Ah well, he'd managed without it before, he could do that now.

With that little thought in mind, he disappeared in his own flash step, coming in from below while his companion came from the side. Not with anything like a sweep, but rather a rapidly rising, straight kick right toward the Arrancar's chest, the Shinigami meanwhile bracing himself and adding to the usable force with his hands pressed to the floor. He rather preferred regular combat to his awkward to use zanpakuto anyway.

Luke looked to the maul, frowning as it so easily dissipated his cero. He then looked to the unharmed Seijin, shaking his head. He turned to look back to Fabiola, just in time to see her disappear. He turned around, just in time to see the hand aimed at him. He was about to move from its path, when Seijin struck from the front, kicking him back into her, and her hand. The burn was immense, but it was greatly lessened due to the fact he had hierro. Still, a singeing sound could be heard as the hand left an imprint on his back. He had not only been burned, but the kick caused him to lose his breath, also. Quickly, he used Sonido as fast as he could to get away, which wasn't very fast at all, compared to Fabiola's speed. He was breathing rather heavily. He wasn't especially damaged, but was attempting to regain his breath. "Alright, alright. I can see I'll hav to be more serious with you two." He said, as he reached to grasp what looked like a handkerchief or bandana wrapped around his throat, and was tied at the back. He lifted it up, to cover his mouth.

As he did this, a burst of spiritual pressure burst forth, shaking the entire area around them. His reiryoku had been rather slightly above average before, but now it was stronger. The air around seemed to be stifling somewhat, as the Decima Espada shed his meager skin, and changed into his revived form as the Cero Espada. The reiatsu seemed to become visible for a moment, turning into what looked like a fog, though it only obscured Luke from view. By the time it cleared up, Luke stood there, but now he was taller, and wearing a long coat. Fabiola and Seijin, due to the nature of Luke's spiritual pressure, would begin to either feel a little bit on the queasy side, or a sense of dread would fester inside of them. This was the nature of his corrosive aura. Various Hollow's, weak enough to not be sensed, or managing to hide their spiritual power, that had come to watch the fight fell down dead on their spots they had been at, immediately decaying at a quick level.

Immediately Luke's clothing began to look worn, the long coat having some holes in it in some places. Everything began to age, and look moth-eaten, and dusty, including Luke himself. He had taken on a grey pallor that left his skin looking dead, with his eyes turning yellow at the sclera. The smell of rot began to permeate the surrounding air, as in some places, the flesh even peeled down his face/hands, or fell off entirely, revealing muscle, and sometimes bone when even the muscle was eaten away. Essentially, he looked like an undead cowboy. "That's better. This flesh... it gets stifling. Why don't ye' let me help you take off yer coats?" he asked, as two loud shots rang out, two holes appearing in Luke's coat. Bullet's had been fired, and aimed directly at the throats of Seijin and Fabiola. The bullets themselves were highly condensed reiatsu, even stronger than a cero Luke might have fired in this form. They had great penetrating power, being pointed like most bullets, but if one knew they were coming, and where exactly from, they weren't extremely difficult to dodge, aside from their speed.

As Luke was overwhelmed by their combined assault, Fabiola was almost worried that it ended too soon. Still, there would hopefully be at least nine more Espada to content with right? As if calling upon bad luck itself, her inner thoughts turned against her as the Arrancar released his Zanpakutou. She could feel the air around them...dying. It was as if his very presence killed off most life nearby, and if it weren't for the fact that Fabiola herself was quite strong, she might have been hampered by this effect. Still, it did fill her with uneasiness, if only in the same way smelling 30 year old garbage piles did.

"Some sort of pestilence...You've been holding out on us." She then heard the structure around them began to groan as its integrity was compromised by the release of the Cero Espada's Ressureccion. Well that could probably be worse. She guessed he knew what he was doing or at least was strong enough to survive being buried alive by tons and tons of sand. Whispering to her side at Seijin, she made him aware of something important. "If I grab my Zanpakutou again, keep your distance from me or you'll get hurt."

With that, Fabiola fully activated her Hierro Caliente, her entire body becoming like a moving furnace. Her hands especially grew hotter, enough so to block most weapons and melt normal metals. It was a good thing then, that she had done this, or else she may not have handled Luke's next attack so well. The bullet sped towards her, almost faster than she could register, but she could still deflect it. Moving her hand lightning quick, the tempered Hierro of the pack of her palm ground against the bullet. It was strong enough to even pierce her skin slightly, gouging a sizeable scratch in her hand. She would probably have to dodge those from now on. His gun had too much penetrative power to properly block them. None the less, the bullet was diverted far enough to whiz past her neck. Seijin would have to fend for himself, as it was all she could do to protect herself. With his speed, he should survive.

Fabiola wasted no time after that attack, flashing towards Luke at high speed and lashing out with a tapered hand. The force of the attack, combined with the way she held her hand like a knife blade, and the Hierro Caliente superheating her fist, it would be capable of running him through if unmitigated.

'Queasy' was one way to put it, considering... well, he was a squirrel. The sensitivity of his nose wasn't exactly by human standards, but instead a decent bit higher. This... was probably going to be a bit difficult, and while his first instinct as an ordinary squirrel would surely have been to flee, his first instinct now was to rid himself of the aggressor. Unfortunately, given that his shikai wasn't exactly very offensive, when it came to it, he needed a little... more.

After quickly forcing himself up a little to barely avoid that shot out of nowhere, which still left a small cut on his neck even then and a decent few strands of fur that would be shorter than normal.

Still, even given the smell, he was plenty aware, and gave a little nod as Fabiola whispered to him. Indeed, she was an ally... difficult though it was probably going to be, he'd have to be a little careful.

"Well, if we're all starting to use our powers, then... bankai," he spoke, his jutte breaking apart into two, one the ordinary light blue while the other was red. "May wanna be careful, not much is gonna stop these," he warned, whipping his red jutte off to the side and leaving a trail of small red bubbles that would push against whatever they touched rather than just stopping, unless they were triggered by something with spiritual energy... most easily of all, his own. Wary even of his own power, he quickly retreated a few steps from them as the bubbles floated forward, accompanying them with a few of his translucent blue bubbles on the way.

Things were certainly about to get... interesting, if he had anything to say about it.

Luke watched as his bullets were deflected and barely dodged. Perhaps this would be easier than he thought. He tilted his head as Fabiola seemed to disappear. Though Luke's own eyes registered what was happening. With speed to match her own, he jumped back, just out of reach, as two more holes were created in the coat, another two bullets being shot out, aimed directly for Fabiola's torso this time. "Bad move, partner. Getting close to me is never a good idea." he said, as his feet touched ground again, a few feet away from Fabiola. Another two shots rang out in the air once more. One of them was sent speeding quickly at the bubbles, while another was sent Seijin's way, aimed directly for the squirrel Shinigami's right shoulder. Oddly enough, throughout this whole ordeal Luke's arms, which were clearly visible in their sleeves, had not moved an inch, neither was there movement beneath his jacket to suggest that there was something below there, at least at the moment. Earlier, had one been paying close attention, just before he shot at them, there was a faint ripple on the fabric, as of something inside touching it, but that was about it.

His speed increased greatly. For whatever reason, the Arrancar they were fighting was exponentially stronger in his released form, so much so that the gap in power he had seemingly transcended was difficult to grasp. She was forced to respond in kind.

As the two bullets hit, Fabiola grunted as she angled her body enough that they only impacted her left arm. That hurt, but it would not put her down. Luke was fast, but only as much as she. When he turned his sights on Seijin, she was already moving again, flashing just in front of the bubbles in time to retrieve her weapon before Luke's bullets hit their mark. Having not stopped mid-Sonido while grabbing Sulfuras, she vaulted her way over the bubbles just as the Espada's bullet penetrated them. The backlash probably did more to her than it would have to Luke, as her back was seared by the lightning from the exploding objects. Still, it was a risk she had to take, and between Seijin's bankai and Luke's deadly guns, she would be better off achieving some distance and weathering the blast.

Coming into a roll after the blast cleared out, Fabiola sprang back up to her feet, hoisting the Zanpakutou over her head. "Now this is more like it!" Her demeanor had changed, perhaps shockingly to Seijin who would be familiar with the docile Fabiola. "It's been a long time since I've had to do this!" Her voice seemed as if it only came out in shouts now, and it was only getting louder from there.

"Seethe!"

The massive maul came down, plummeting to the tiles below. As it struck, the earth itself seemed to crack as a plume of lava exploded all around her. "Sulfuras!" The combined releases of the strongest Espada and the high-power Arrancar were more than the far halls of Las Noches could withstand. The corridor roof gave way, reishi stone falling all around them and revealing a moonlit sky. As it turned out, Fabiola and Seijin had traveled far enough on their quick feet to reach the above-ground corridors of Las Noches, and were in fact not below sand any longer. Lucky for them, as the structural integrity was just about finished at this point. Hopefully Seijin took her warning to heart and would put some distance between them, now that they were outside and no longer completely confined to the halls. The explosion of molten sand had blasted out the walls and the ceiling, and it became apparent that the hallway was mostly above the surface, and only a short ways from leading into the main complex of Las Noches. In the near distance were the towering walls of the palace.

Fabiola was finally visible when the lava decided to settle the fuck down. She had gained a collar of bones spouting a cloak of flame, as well as a halo of fire. Sulfuras, her Zanpakutou, was glowing with runes and jets of flame lined its head. Fabiola herself glowed almost like a flame. Her personality had taken a radical turn.

"Behold the rage of the Firelord!" Thrusting her hand before her, thin tendrils of fire shot from her fingers, weaving through the air at a decent speed, seemingly forming a tangled mess of burning vines. The tendrils were on approach to Luke's location, and would attempt to follow him, but by no means were they particularly fast enough to catch him if he kept moving.

And soon enough, so came to fruition his bad feeling about using his bankai while he had an ally in the area. Still, the burst of lightning protected himself rather effectively from the second bullet that was intended for him, leaving him free to move as he needed... or at least try, considering the bursts of air soon erupting from some of his blue bubbles being triggered.

Ah well... it was just requiring a different thought process to try and figure out what to do about all this. Insofar as he ever really used much thought for anything in the first place, that was.

"Hm... alright, time to go, then..." he muttered to himself, before disappearing with a flash step. Here, and there, and practically everywhere he darted about aided by the bursting of his blue bubbles, even darting through the tendrils of fire as they came, until... well, there were a lot, suffice it to say. He was slightly exhausted, sure, but...

"Seeya," he spoke with a little grin as one of the tendrils of fire hit one of his red bubbles. And then... well, they exploded. All of them, in a large burst of lightning and air mixed.

Widespread destruction... that was what his bankai was good for.

Luke, seeing the lightning fly at him, used sonido to gain a vantage point on the two, by going far above, out of the hole that had been made by Fabiola's release, as the structure began coming down. Luke tilted his head as the woman released her Resureccion. It made no difference to him. He would wipe her out, and the Shinigami out, and take them as prisoners. Nobody else had brought a Shinigami, had they? He didn't know if it was for a reason or not, but he would take them, all the same. Though he may just off the Arrancar, since they had plenty of Arrancar. He didn't like the idea, but there was no way he could just let her walk free, nor rot in a cell. He looked down, as the bubbles were floating towards him. . He began setting his sights on the female arrancar, before bubbles started appearing everywhere, thanks to a la Shinigami. This... was not going to be good. When the flicker of flames, that Luke had evaded in getting to the vantage point, hit a bubble, he figured he was going to get a lot of hurting, though with the amount of bubbles that had been created, there was no way both of them could completely evade the blast, so he was at least not getting hit alone.

With the force of the bubbles popping, Luke was sent flying in the air, pieces of body parts and blood raining down upon the two. Luke was by no means dead, though it would certainly seem that way. Little specks of skin and innards were raining down, but with his zombified condition, skin was easier to pull off. Luke stood up, his overcoat having been blown to smithereens, revealing two extra sets of arms, holding revolvers. Most of Luke's skin was gone on his face, and were it not for the tough, aged leather of his vest, most of his chest skin probably would have been blown off, also.

"Bit of a nasty blast, yeah." he said. Made no difference. He looked at the blood coursing down his arms, as each pair of arms put on revolver back, and the pair that wasn't holding one grabbing a revolver from its holster. He took a step forward, and when it looked like he was going to take another step, he disappeared in a Sonido. One gun shot into the air at random, the bullet disappearing from view fairly quickly. It was heard somewhere off to the right of Fabiola, but Luke didn't stay there for very long. After he charged this shot, when Luke held still long enough, one would be able to note that the reishi of all nearby structures/the air seemed to be pulled into him, though for what, one couldn't tell. He reappeared behind Seijin a few yards away, both arms holding a gun. He pulled the trigger, the blood-covered gun producing a large beam stronger than a Gran Ray Cero that he himself would have performed, which is pretty mighty itself. At the exact same time, another blood-smeared gun was pointed at Fabiola, a beam flying from that one also at the exact same time one flew from the other, obliterating most of the rubble in its path entirely.

Lance probably could not see it well from his perspective, what with the great deal of flickering light and refractive bubbles filling the space between them, but Seijin's bubbles had largely gravitated toward Luke's vicinity. Apparently Seijin had learned from his earlier error and adjusted for it this time. Smart boy. Fabiola would have a moment's time more than Luke did to evade, and with her skill, she could do it.

Fabiola combusted into a raging inferno, the heat projection of her Hierro Caliente doubling in area in the process. In the span of an instant, the conflagration took on the shape of an egg before unraveling into an avian form. Blasting out from where she was standing, Fabiola ascended to the sky at her maximum possible speed with a Sonido. The sheer velocity of her movement was staggering, easily being the fastest she had moved the entire fight. The force of the explosion licking at her obsidian talons, Fabiola barely outran the harmful zone of the explosion. She briefly wondered how Seijin, the one probably closest to the epicenter, planned on escaping, but presumably he had already had something in mind.

As she reached the peak of her ascent, the charged blast of energy rang out below her. At the same time, the space between where she was standing and where she had flashed moved suddenly ignited. A column of fire reaching from the ground to her perch in the sky made contact with the charged beam, resulting in an explosion around the vicinity in which she had been standing. They were just causing all sorts of damage today.

Fabiola could not fathom what tricks Luke was playing with his gun, but he probably also was not expecting her to suddenly shift forms and take to the sky. If she had chosen any other form, the explosion would have hit her, and likely the beam soon after. It would be unwise of her to stay close to Luke; she still had the ache of those bullets from before. They had scarred over thanks to her Ressureccion, but the damage was still done. If she wanted to survive this fight, she would have to play it at a range when possible and harass him while Seijin made it difficult for him to move where he wanted. If Seijin kept him on his toes with the bubble bombs, he would be less capable of lining up a proper shot with the timing he needed to hit her.

Fabiola hoped Seijin learned from her mistake of approaching too close earlier and would not so readily try the same thing. Using that assumption, she held her place in the air and strongly batted her wings below her. Consequently, a downdraft of superheated wind descended upon Luke's current position. While the superheated air on its own was usually ineffective against stronger foes, it would serve well as a feint; requiring little energy but potentially fooling Luke into thinking a fire attack of some form was coming.

"Oww..."

If he wasn't already fairly used to the effects of his zanpakuto, especially in bankai, the squirrel Shinigami might have been hurt a fair bit more, considering. Still, though, colliding with a wall, or some of what was even left of it after the blast, and getting seared a little on one arm wasn't exactly fun, however many times it had honestly happened to him in the past. He'd been better, but... considering the early days of attempting to wield his bankai, he'd definitely been worse.

He'd still have to replace his shirt, though... oh well, something that'd have to wait until whenever he returned to Seireitei. In the meantime... it seemed he'd have to deal with the fairly large cero coming at him... now wasn't that inconvenient.

All things considered, all he could think of to do was quickly summon a row of bubbles with a wide sweep to the side with his blue-colored jutte, effectively forming a wall of air as soon as the cero touched and thereby popped them. It wasn't exactly the greatest defense in the world, but it at least did something. Enough at least to leave him quickly sidestepping most of the scattered rays that got through, wincing in mild pain when a few seared across his already-hurting arm, his chest, and one leg. Now things were getting... bothersome, but nothing he couldn't handle. Certainly nothing a rapid, bubble-assisted flash step behind the Espada and a rapid swing downward toward his head with the red jutte wouldn't possibly help, at least a little. And lest any forget what that particular weapon of his did, with a quick stab forward with his other jutte, there was, once again, lightning. And this time actually blocked by said jutte.

So he wasn't completely stupid.

Luke watched as most of his attack was deflected frowning somewhat once more. He had intended to hopefully wipe the smaller one out with one fell swoop, but it seemed he would have to fall back on his other plan after all; a fact he didn't much enjoy. No matter. What had to be done, had to be done. He felt the telltale signs of a fire attack strike his body, or at least the hot wind from it, and immediately used sonido in order to get in closer to Seijin, and hopefully avoid the fire attack. When Seijin disappeared, he turned immediately, having figured that with the sudden disappearance, it would mean a strike at his back. He grabbed his guns from their holsters once more, using them as actual melee weapons, rather than their ranged purposes, to block both jutte's. The overhead slash at his head was met with a gun, with minimal damage, having been caught on the barrel. The stabbing jutte, however, cut into his rib-cage before he could knock it off-course, almost completely stabbing through him. When the electricity jutte was fired, electricity surged both through him, and out away from him at his side.

Gritting his teeth, Luke fought against the numbing feeling. He reached over to the Shinigami's haori, easily managing to grasp it at this range, and pull him closer. The other four arms that were merely idle placed their points against his chest at four different spots among his chest; two at his top chest, one on his heart, the other in the same exact place on the opposite side, and two of the barrels against his stomach. He pulled the trigger on all four, regardless of whether they maintained the close distance or not.

As all of this happened, an ear-piercing, screeching sound came from the air, like tornado winds, or something of the sort. Since Fabiola, Seijin, and Luke had worked to destroy this section of Las Noches, that meant there would be no cover against the onslaught of damage that was about to begin. "What's say you and me have a fair little standoff, partner." he said, his rotting breath rolling off of his tongue and into the face of the squirrel shinigami. It was a horrible stench, one that Luke could not smell himself, fortunately, for that would make his resureccion a bother to activate.

Fabiola heard a strange sound begin to hum all around her. That probably was not a good thing, but she had more to worry about at the moment. Seijin was locked in a melee with the Espada, and she was not about to let him handle the strong foe alone. He was kept on his toes, but attacking him from this far out would not do enough damage; there was also the risk of Seijin getting caught up in her attack.

The beauty of Fabiola's Ressureccion was her ability to change forms. In doing so, she could completely switch tactics depending on the foe in the middle of a fight, and constantly adapt to the tides of battle. Beneath the feathery flames of her avian body, plumes of some strange substance began to writhe, surging up and out of her like lava. In an instant, the lava cooled as her shape changed once again, this time taking on an ursine form.

With Sonido and a little help from gravity, Fabiola rejoined the fight below. In this form, obsidian plating gave her raised defenses; only precise hits would properly bypass her armor and do damage usually. It was likely that this Arrancar's gun was more than capable of penetrating the plates, but the damage would be greatly mitigated. Charging forward at surprising speed, if relatively slow compared to her previous form, the lava bear swung its massive paw with tremendous force and speed, intending to maul Luke and mangle his body.

If there were ever a time actual thoughts (albeit only a bare few) were actually properly running through the squirrel's head, it was now. Still... yes, this would likely be a problem. Even one so simple and foolish as he could easily see what was coming, and... well, yes, it was certainly a problem. One not quite so easily remedied, but that was what his fairly flexible form was for. Even if it wouldn't likely be very comfortable.

Thus working quickly, he twisted his body to the side as much as the cloth's present restraint would allow, hopping up on rapidly-condensed reishi to bring him up over the bottom two guns. The top two were... more problematic, suffice it to say, and he'd be missing some fur for a little while. Good thing people very rarely ever saw it.

"Ya missed. Mostly," he lightly taunted, ignoring for now the further searing pain across his body. He had to last at least this long, after all, if he and his current companion were to bring this Espada down. Better yet, he was free, albeit mostly shirtless, thanks to the cero blasts cutting through most of it. And he could do his best to make sure the Espada wasn't with quickly grabbing some of the cloth and moving to try and wrap it tightly around one of Luke's shoulders. So maybe it wasn't the most ideal of things, but he could still strike both feet out toward the Espada's chest from his still short range to try and drive him into the coming attack.

OOC: Really sorry for the delay, lack of a defined schedule yet and keeping myself quite busy with a job hunt is not conducive to my efficiency...