Not so pleasant distractions (Drake/Luke, Invite) (Closed)

What was he supposed to do, really? Everything seemed to be changing around him, and beyond having someone he now wanted to protect, the Arrancar didn't know what to do with all of it. So, while Sora and Shinku were busy doing whatever they were doing and with him neither wanting to spend too much time stifled up inside nor go too far away from there, Drake opted instead to wait and relax outside, mulling over his thoughts. 'Twas something that he didn't do often... or, perhaps, ever, but now at least, there were things to think about.

Grumbling slightly at the third time everything had gotten caught up in a jumbled mess in his head, he shook it furiously from side to side, aiming futilely to remove some of it. Failing that, he needed some sort of distraction from all the thoughts. Perhaps just a minor excursion, staying within a range where he could easily sense the presences of Sora and Shinku and swiftly return if deemed necessary. And the best way to get his mind off things? Eating, of course.

With a target readily found as one of the weaker hollows in the area, the draconian Arrancar flew off quickly in that direction. He came down just as quickly in a gaping maw of sharp teeth that promptly clamped down on the poor creature's head... and with that quick kill, the minor feast began, only for those red eyes to turn quickly to another presence he'd caught nearby. A stronger one... potentially risky, but it could certainly serve as a good distraction to everything...

The World of the Living. It had changed so much since Luke had been here. Now they had fancy buildings made of cement, and little devices that people were pushing buttons on. The clothes were all so weird. Shirts with... signs. Were they gang signs? Did they still have posse's? And what were those fancy words? He heard something about Japan while he was walking around. Is that where he was? Where was North America? But now that he was an Arrancar, Luke could explore the place! It was like joining his old group of ne'er-do-wells when he first set off on his vendetta, except he wasn't seeing that same red haze.

Luke looked around as he walked, seeing the skyscraper's, that seemed to reach for miles. Where was the grass? The tree's? The cattles? The dust puppies? It was all gone, and replaced with this new fancy-schmancy stuff, and Luke didn't like it one bit. When he felt a reiatsu signature nearby via his pesquisa, he immediately rushed to the area. It felt like a Hollow, not yet at Menos class yet. But by the time he got there, a much, MUCH larger reiatsu had engulfed it. He walked over to the dragon-like being, before whistling lowly. "Well, if you ain't bigger 'n a dust snake." He said. "But we're gonna have a problem, partner. That little fella you ate was going to keep me amused for the next while." He said, frowning, as he placed his hands on his waist. His tone sounded a lot like a cowboy from the west, and his dress even made it seem like he was; so he must not actually have been dead more than about two hundred years.

Since he was in the World of the Living, he was wearing the clothing he preferred. Jeans, his vest, a long, white-sleeve t-shirt, tan cowboy hat, the whole shtick. In fact, if he hadn't had the hole in the middle of his throat, and a ring of his arrancar masked pooled around his throat in the shape of a bandana, then he might have looked a lot like a human.

The draconian Arrancar glared slightly at his... for lack of a better word, kin's words as he finished up the last of his freshly-slain meal. He didn't completely understand what was said, he'd admit; such was what came of being culturally detached and thereby clueless from living in absolute solitude for so long, watching the world progress around him as he continued his self-given task of devouring demons here and there. But he certainly got the gist of it: he'd stolen the prey of what was to be, if Drake had anything to say about it, his next prey.

In short, there was no problem.

"You'll have to be quicker to the next one, then," he growled, notably lacking any normal speech pattern. Normal human, that was to say, but... since this was kin, perhaps he would understand, since it followed the same general patterns at other such speech-impaired demons. "If there even is a next one, that is..." he added threateningly, the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes making it clear that, if he was anything, he was most certainly not an ally.

Of course, if that wasn't clear enough, the hastily-fired, blazing white cero fired off from the draconian's maw would make it even more so. The Arrancar's wings remained spread as well, ready to quickly take him wherever was needed.

So the little 'hunt' changed targets.

Luke watched, understanding what the Arrancar before him was saying, though it was not without a fair bit of difficulty. He was surprised when the Arrancar opened fire on him, grabbing his hat as he barely jumped out of the way. "So that's how we're going to play, huh Compadre?" He asked, as he rolled, quickly grabbing the realistic, yet wooden gun from its holster. He pointed it at Drake, before a cero started charging. It was a black color for the most part, with white streams circling it. It didn't seem all that powerful in nature, just like Luke himself didn't. He fired the cero, while simultaneously saying, "Bang."

Rather than the normal sound most cero's make, if any, this cero actually sounded like a gunshot was fired off. It wasn't as loud as most, as it sounded slightly silenced, but it was reminiscent of a gunshot, nonetheless. Luke was clueless as to why the Arrancar had attacked him. Luke was just going to make idle chit-chat. But then he remembered, it was in the nature of Hollow's, and some Arrancar, to be cannibalistic. So, perhaps this Arrancar was going to try and consume Luke, like that Hollow from before? Oh boy, well, Luke was going to need a cigarette if he was going to tango with this behemoth. After he fired the cero, he quickly pulled a cigarette and lighter from his pocket, watching the Arrancar. It seemed rather old-fashioned, an early form of the zippo, perhaps?

He could have dodged the other's cero, naturally, but... what would really be the point of that? No, if he was going to do anything about it, he was going to take it head-on... sort of. Rather, he turned his head to one side before using the strength, and to a degree length, of his neck to forcibly deflect the cero off to the side. 'Twas not without some light burns on the side of the draconian Arrancar's muzzle as a result, but the action most certainly served its intended purpose. More than that, the action necessitated a heavy spike in his reiatsu to support the defensive hierro that, with his scales, took care of most all the damage that would have otherwise come of taking the blast in such a way.

"You'll need more than that," Drake growled, before suddenly making use of his wings and all four legs to lunge quickly forward. No possible way was there for his intent to be mistaken, not with the wide-open maw aimed, for now, straight for the arm that fired the offending cero. As if that wasn't enough, a foreclaw lashed out as well, straight at the other Arrancar's head. Drake didn't know much about even his own species as a whole, but he knew enough to know that if the head was crushed, it was simply over. And with his style, why not go for the quick kill?

Luke gritted his teeth as the Arrancar came closer. So his cero was that weak to it, eh? Well, he'd have to fix that right properly. He scratched his forearm, where the number 10 was visible, close to the wrist. He inhaled the smoke deeply from the cigarette, as the Arrancar came close to him. With a burst of speed, Luke used a Sonido to barely manage avoiding the decapitating attack. Unfortunately, the claw cut the side of his face, and took away his hat at that. Only, he wouldn't notice that until a few moments later.

He grabbed the rope at his waist, pulling the cord quickly. The end was always in a fixed loop, so he wouldn't have to tie it. He swung it in the air once, twice, before sending it flying, expertly enough to where if Drake kept going forward, it would loop around his neck. Luke wouldn't be able to strangle him with it, no, in this form Luke was way too weak. If anything, it would help Luke to get on Drake's back, riding him like a bull. That was what Luke was aiming for.

Rank/level - ADV-3
Hankou - 10
Reiryoku - 15
Hakudo - 12
Seijuu - 6
Bukijuu - 10
Hoho - 12

Suffice it to say, with no present foothold and his wings only able to slow or divert him to such a degree, Drake couldn't avoid the rope that suddenly came. Even then, it wasn't really a bad thing; if the other demon wanted to play that way, then sure, he'd play. After all, he may not have been able to divert himself quickly enough to avoid the rope, but he could certainly get right to the ground and dig his claws in... most of them. One, meanwhile, remained on that very same rope, keeping it in as tight a grip as manageable with his strength and unfortunate lack of anything like a thumb; his three 'fingers' would have to manage that task alone, but generally, it had been enough.

As for getting on his back, well... that, too, wouldn't be the greatest of ideas, given that the ride was by no means willing and had no real shortage of ferocity when it came to it. Oh, he wasn't going to do anything like buck; there was no need for that when there was a sharp-pointed tail plenty eager to lash out at the unwelcome passenger, and a neck that afforded enough ability to turn to fire off another cero straight at the opposing Arrancar. Indeed, if they wanted to play, Drake would certainly play, but he wasn't about to be nice about it.

Luke grinned, as he was yanked forward, before suddenly tossed like a rag doll as the Arrancar dug his three claws in and stopped. Quickly, seeing this probably wasn't the best of idea's, Luke pulled out his knife, the other part of his zanpaku-to, and cut the rope. He landed on the ground, rolling, laughing as he stood up. He dusted off his pants, before reaching to tighten his hat. Only.. there was no hat. In that instant, for the very first time since becoming an Arrancar, Luke panicked. His hat was gone. He looked over to behind Drake, seeing his hat. It had been crushed, and even cut slightly. This act pulled something within Luke. That hat had been an embodiment of his pride as a man, and as a gunslinger, and the Arrancar before him had carelessly slung it around?

"Bad move, bud." He said, as he reached one hand to his neck piece. It looked like bone, but he gripped it and pulled it around his mouth, as if it were cloth. A sudden explosion of reiatsu rocked the ground slightly, small pebbles and bugs flying back from the Espada. The tattoo that was on his forearm changed, the one disappearing entirely, leaving only the zero. The black reiatsu appeared, foggy enough to cover the area for a second, severely limiting visibility, before it started to subside. When the fog turned white, it was still a bit harder to see far off than normal, but one could easily see a few yards in front of them again.

Luke stood still, looking relatively the same, but different at the same time. A white coat had covered his body. It was unbuttoned in the middle, but it stayed shut, preventing one from seeing inside of it. Another hat like Luke had had earlier had appeared on his head, though it, like the rest of his dress, was white and black. Compared to who he was a moment ago, this Luke seemed entirely different. His spiritual pressure that was being exerted was more than Drake's himself, and there was something different about him. He seemed calm, almost serious now.

"Partner, you'd best draw, before you're riddled with holes like cheese." He said, his voice a low, deadly sound, as he watched with keen eyes at the other's next move.

Rank/level - MST-3
Hankou - 14
Reiryoku - 17
Hakudo - 12
Seijuu - 10
Bukijuu - 16
Hoho - 16

The draconic Arrancar's eyes narrowed slightly as the change in the other Arrancar took place, and he hardly needed to be told twice that now was the time to really act. The apparently deceptive strength in the release of power... yes, this would probably be more problematic than any of the myriad normal hollows he'd slain and devoured over the years. No way was his current form suited to this, so 'draw' he would.

"Hrmph... burn up, Brilliante Dios."

Those few words were apparently all that was needed for his wings to suddenly engulf him fully, such that none would be able to see what was going on within. Not that they even had to as, mere moments later, the Arrancar re-emerged... quite significantly different, in fact. Two legs he now stood on, in a more human form cloaked in white that appeared textured much like his scales before, his hair white with flecks of black similar to the black markings he'd had previously. More importantly, 'twas only another few mere moments later before his left hand was engulfed in what one could only describe as light, forming the shape of a definitely sharp claw around it.

Hardly did he waste any time with even that, in fact, before charging forward in a full sonido no longer deterred by a necessity to use his wings in his normal form, the very claw he'd formed of light striking out from the safest distance he could reasonably manage toward one of his opponent's arms. Even he could feel it after his century of overpowering most demons he came across... this one would be difficult.

All the better, then, to test his mastery of light and potential ability to protect those that might stay around him.

Luke, like Drake, wasted no time. As he saw the man charging forward and attempting to attack from a reasonably safe distance, he darted to the side, doing a sideways hand spring. Upon the other's own Resureccion being activated, he knew this wasn't going to be just another stroll in the park. He landed on his hands, the coat falling down slightly, only to reveal what looked like a finger beneath the coat as it came up to his stomach, before he flipped to his feet again. As he dodged the said attack, two loud shots rang out, seeming to come from Luke's chest. This time, they sounded like a revolver had gone off. Two specks of black flew towards Drake at high speeds, though the fact they were spiritual in nature would have set off red flags in the back of Drake's mind.

Luke landed on his feet once more, before kneeling as two more shots rang out from beneath his coat, two black specks following the other two. "This is just how I like it... one on one... nice and easy..." Luke commented to himself, as he watched the bullets fly forward, seeing whether they would hit their mark, the Arrancar would dodge, or they would be deflected somehow.

Czaiohme seemingly appeared from a Sonido, alighting upon a street light. She looked to the pair as they moved, dancing the wonderful dance of battle. Watching her master's underling was a sight in and of itself, Czaiohme wanting to gauge the approximate power of all of the Espada. Luke being new, he would be of particular interest. The Arrancar that wasn't recognized mattered little to her. Although Drake seemed to exude more power than Czaiohme could, Luke was far above him. Then again, maybe the Arrancar was more skilled than his power suggested.

So there the chained woman stood, unmoving. She did not speak, for her lips were sewn shut. Instead, she merely watched. However, due to her reiatsu, she wouldn't be exactly hard to find. When they both released, she shivered. The power was so delicious from the pair, and she would love to watch them dance to the beat of their power struggle. Her own reiatsu was calling to her, but she would ignore it for now. No need getting senselessly involved when she had come merely to observe...

Muttering slightly, the Arrancar quickly flicked his arm into a defensive position in front of him, letting the initial two bullets bang noisily against the apparently solid surface. His right hand retreated behind him to presumed safety in the meantime, Drake himself grumbling slightly as the split focus it necessitated only afforded him the opportunity to block one of the two of the next set of bullets. He was, at least, fortunate that his cloak was as hard as his scales... even if the bullet left a dent and knocked him back a half step from the force. It helped even less that there was an apparent... spectator, another amongst the numbers of 'demons' that Drake's purpose was to devour.

What was really to be worried about, however, was that then-hidden right hand. Shortly after regaining proper balance, the Arrancar flung it forward, and so subsequently was flung forward an orb of pure light, plainly denoting what his own real power was. 'Twas such that no matter what it hit, no matter when, Drake was already prepared with his eyes ready to quickly close and his defenses on proper guard. In fact, if it wasn't shot out of the air properly, he was set to with the smallest of beams of light. Only a mere touch was necessary to set it off, after all, before it would explode in a flash of blinding light.

That alone was all he needed to swiftly lash out again, bringing his light-clawed hand down toward the enemy Arrancar's head once more. Certainly he could feel that his opponent was more powerful overall, but with light itself at his command, that meant quite little to the rogue.

Luke watched, thoroughly disappointed as three of his shots were blocked, and the other had bounced off harmlessly. While Luke had most of his focus on Drake himself, in his peripherals he saw the orb shooting at him. A shot was fired from within his cloak once more, as the orb was shot, the light truly blinding. Since he wasn't looking at it directly, it didn't damage his retina's as much as if he were, but still, everything became blurry and double-for a moment, when Luke's eyes were open. He closed them, as he stumbled for a moment. Due to his moving, the claw didn't hit his head directly as Lance might have wished, but did make its way through Luke's right shoulder, separating some of the sinew of his muscle.

At this, Luke forced his eyes open, though his vision was still swimming. That was all he needed, before he closed his eyes again. Immedaitely, three more shots rang out, this time putting holes in the cloak, since his torso was faced away from Drake, somewhat. They would normally have been aimed for the Arrancar's head, but due to his bad vision, and having no sound to listen to where his footsteps were, he had to rely on the last time he had seen him. Due to his accuracy not being at its best, instead he sent the bullets flying forward in the general sternum area.

Luke felt the strong spiritual pressure come, from seemingly nowhere, at first. It felt familiar; like another Arrancar. Perhaps it was the woman who had come with the Queen of Espada to recruit him? No matter. "Rather dirty tricks, ain't those, partner?" he called out, as he faced Drake, his vision clearing up, but only minorly.

Czaiohme continued watching, her eyes mainly upon Drake now. Her curious look only grew as Drake was seemingly pulling away in the battle. How odd, considering the gap in strength. She then looked to Luke, a dark look on her face. With the power he gave off that eclipsed that of the rogue's, this should not be happening. "You... Do not give a disappointing performance..." Her voice would echo beautifully in his head, even as her lips were sealed. "My Mistress would not have picked you, only to have you fail..." There was no end to the malice in her words. Although the pair both beat her in power, she was a hard one to shake. For as long as she had something to stands for, the dance would continue. Her eyes returned to Drake, curious about the Arrancar's power, as well as his resolution to stand against one that outpowered him so.

If he wasn't aware that something was... off before, Drake definitely was now, though a bit too late. Being careful in combat was not something he was exactly known for, and thus his intent on quickly continuing the assault only proved to be a mistake as more bullets came out of seemingly nowhere from his opponent's cloak. Only one was he able to block with his hastily-moved claw, while the others made further dents in his scale-like cloak, adding a second and third that were each deeper than the first. If he wasn't hurting before, he was definitely starting to hurt now, forcing a quick retreat a little ways backwards aided by his hastily-unfurling wings.

"Dirty? I don't care, as long as I finish what I intend to," he growled, placing his free right hand lightly over one of the injuries he'd since sustained and being rather thankful for retaining a form of his scales even in this form, however much he didn't use it. What to do now, though... even if he turned the space around him dark, it would likely only be to his own disadvantage. Failing that... he still had his own shots to fire off, among other things, so it was down to those... and how long his reiryoku would maintain them.

Thus, for starters, there was his reiatsu that was spiked up to its maximum. Adding to that were three more, smaller orbs in his right hand, each one tossed up wantonly into the air. All he needed was the threat of those and a light, quiet step upon reishi just above ground level to approach, before suddenly darting off to the side and flicking a small ray out to detonate the first of the three smaller grenades. That blinding flash he counted on to do its work even as he fired off a fourth orb in a larger, highly heated ray of light.

Maybe the opponent was more powerful, but so far he was the one with the upper hand. Certainly, Drake was not weak, by any stretch of the imagination.

"Not this time, partner." He said, gritting his teeth as he, too, took to the sky, hardening a some of his own reiatsu into a platform he could stand on that he had seen so many others do before him. He totally ignored the balls this time, even turning his head to the side so as not to get caught directly in the eyes by the light. He figured the jig was nearly up. He gripped his coat with one of his hands, at least, one of the hands that were visible. He ripped it off, exposing two other sets of arms underneath the ones coming from his shoulder, each holding a pistol. He took his top two arms, and grabbed the remaining two pistols from their holsters on his thigh. With a quick spin, he gripped them like an expert, all six arms pointed at Drake this time.

He could see fairly well now, just barely seeing double. He wasn't worried, since it would only affect his accuracy in the slightest, since it was safe to assume the median between the two spots in each variation of him would be where he's aiming for. He watched the beam of light the Arrancar fired off, headed straight for the other three orbs. He turned his head, so the light wouldn't burn his eyes this time. He fired only with the top two guns this time, those being the most accurate. He made sure to follow Drake's movement as he did so, only minorly being distracted with the blast of light that was to his right. The two bullets were, like Drake's claws had been aimed at him, headed for his head. For a few, Luke was almost afraid he'd have to use one of the abilities he had at his disposal; and he hated using anything other than his trusty six-shooter's and eagle-like eyes.

So that was his little secret... extra pairs of arms. Certainly went to explain a lot, and make things a little easier now that he'd been exposed. Of course, it was still a problem of going through and actually managing to defeat him, but no need to rush. He could take things a step at a time, as long as his powers lasted.

And simply firing, now that the extra arms had been exposed and the bullets weren't coming out of seemingly nowhere, wasn't enough to concern Drake any more. Certainly he couldn't completely avoid them, and one sliced lightly into his exposed shoulder upon a quick sidestep, but it was enough.

"You're gonna need more than just that now if you want to beat me," the rogue Arrancar warned coldly, quickly kicking himself up into the air... and to the two remaining orbs beginning to descend back down to the ground, no less. Where the touch of anything else would have set them off, his own simply repurposed them into blasts of heated light like the one before, first one straight toward the opposing Arrancar then the next more quickly fired in whatever direction he chose to move... if any.

Czaiohme nodded as Luke seemed to ignore her words to him, mentally smiling. The man had not reacted to her harsh words and continued with the battle. Maybe there was some redeeming value to this man after all. Still, she would watch the rogue carefully. This Arrancar was one to watch. She would have to step in, were Luke about to strike a finishing blow. She would not let such beauty merely fade. She would want to test it herself.

She looks to Luke once more, noticing the momentary partial blindness he was suffering. Were her lips not sewn together, she would have smiled. It seemed that power was not all there was to a being, as even certain tactics could take him down. She was eager to see where Luke would go from here. Such attacks coming at him with his eye troubles would prove difficult to work with, but he wasn't the Cero Espada for no reason.

Luke grinned, having supposed the other realized he wasn't fighting at full capacity. He released two shots at that instant. One, headed straight for the orb that was nearby Drake, and the other directly at the base of Lance's throat. With that, he seemed to disappear in a sonido, reappearing on the other side of Drake, behind him somewhat, but on the same side of his body. As he got there, he released another bullet to Lance, aiming for his neck this time. The line the bullets were travelling in would create an X, were they to keep going. Finally, the last bullet Luke was to use for the moment was shot straight at Drake's feet; his ankles, to be specific.

Only now, did he react to the words he had heard inside of his head. He seemed to ignore it when he finally heard the words, as it was nothing more than a fly ruining his focus. He realized, it probably came from the being that wasn't too far from here, as Drake's abilities seemed to be centered around light. Throughout this time, as Luke had been firing and dashing off to different area's to fire, his bottom-most pair of hands had put a pistol back in the holder, and cut palm of the hand that was holding the pistol out of the two, reaching up above to the next pair and slicing that hand also. and reaching up and down simultaneously with the top two, so all pairs of hands had cuts on them. When Luke stopped to see if his shots had missed or hit, all pairs simultaneously rubbed blood onto the muzzles of the guns, almost seeming to be an absent habit to Luke.

More bullets, and more... he had to give his opponent some credit for quickness, but was there nothing else? No... that wasn't a thought to have; likely enough it wouldn't end with just this. He'd have to be at least a little wary, annoying though such a thing was to him.

Even then, there were inevitably close shaves from such a range and speed, and once again the rogue had to be glad for his scale-like cloak taking the brunt of them, dents left behind notwithstanding.

"I suppose that's all?" Drake spoke, a little more annoyed that one of his orbs had been taken out just before he'd had the chance to use it. After so long of retaining it, so finally faded the claw around his left hand in the meantime. "Then I'm ending this... now," he added, even as the latest shot banged somewhat painfully against one of his ankles. He'd definitely be feeling that, but right now it was a moot point; his own power was the focus, and in quite a reverse of what had likely come to be expected by now. The since closed fingers of his left hand suddenly shot open, and every spec of light was meanwhile pushed away from him, leaving himself in dead center. A quick sonido, the swiftest he could manage, was all he needed from there while the darkness remained, using his sense and his memory of the other's position to strike out from above and to the side with his knee toward the opposing Arrancar's head. Even failing that, he had the momentum and the strength of his wings to use to send him around into another swift, sweeping kick with his yet uninjured foot before the light suddenly returned... only to be sucked into himself and form a light radiance and shimmering heat about him, with which he lashed out a hand toward his opponent's head to properly utilize.

His energy was dwindling fairly quickly with how much power he was using, he could feel that much, but it would simply have to be enough.

Luke watched as his bullet's seemed to rebound, which frustrated him to a degree. It wasn't a matter of him not hitting, it was the fact that a hierro plus scales on his enemy made it harder to pierce through. Well, perhaps this would end it. Ironically, as Drake said he was ending it, Luke thought that. After a second, everything grew dark, where Luke needed to rely on his ears. He didn't hear anything, except... wind. Wait, wind? By the time he heard it, it was too late. Above him, the knee connected with the side of his face, causing blood to start running down his nose. This side-sweep, too, connected with his head, causing him to fall down, facing the sky as he fell.

Drake sheathed one of the guns from each set of arms, holding one gun with both hands. "This is the end, then, bud. I had fun." He said, as he pulled the trigger on the top gun. A truly tremendous beam flew out, widening large enough to engulf a person, as it was like a Gran Rey Cero, but stronger. It, like his cero's had been, was purely black and white, headed straight for Drake. If the first one made contact, but didn't knock him unconscious, then Luke would fire the second, and the third if that one didn't do the trick. However, he didn't want to kill the guy. Not if he could help it, at least.

Hardly could he react in the midst of his charge before the first blast hit... and if the shots before only did limited damage, this one was plainly different. The first blast left him all the worse for wear even quickly guarding himself with his arms and power, the heat radiating through him even doing its own part. The second, however, did him no favors at all... not that he had the slightest intention of giving up even then. He wanted to make blasts that cut off some visibility, and focused attention on Drake himself?

So be it. The rogue Arrancar would still make him pay, even if it ended up being the last thing he did. To this end was another orb of light in the midst of the second blast, faded so much that it could hardly be seen under the light shining down from the sun and tossed up into a high arc. "Don't think I'll just go down that easily..." Drake muttered, thrusting a suddenly light-garbed hand into the face of the third blast as it came, upon which time the flash bomb would come down to detonate painfully right on the opposing Arrancar's head if he or the watcher didn't manage to catch it.

Be that as it may, the rogue Arrancar nonetheless fell to the third blast, his form reverting back in the midst of it to see him land somewhat painfully on part of his neck before his exhausted, damaged body slumped to the ground.

Maybe he couldn't win quite yet... but he certainly didn't plan to die here.

Luke blasted relentlessly, and was surprised when the orb appeared only right next to his face, having been thrown down in between his cero's, when he was checking Drake's consciousness. It stung, having been so close, and for a second, all he could see was white. Like Drake, he too, landed on the ground painfully, though he stood up, rubbing his watering eyes. He felt the nearby Drake's reiatsu signature, and it was fairly low. He had used a lot of his energy fighting Luke. Luke respected a man who put all he had into what he did. "Well, ye' did a hell of a job. But I think we're done here." he said, as he sheathed all of his guns, eyes still squinted shut. "Best fight I've had in a while. We should do this again soon." he said, as he rubbed at his eyes, opening them and blinking them, attempting to get his vision back.

Czaiohme closed her eyes, seeing the light blast from her perch and avoiding any partial blindness that would come her way. When she reopened her eyes, she looked upon the pair gently, but coldly. She wasn't exactly pleased with how it turned out, but it wasn't a worse-case scenario, either. She stepped off of her perch, gently floating down to the ground where her tabi-clad feet landed silently. She began to walk forward, her clothes making a soft swishing sound as the only sound coming from the woman. She stopped when she came up to Luke's side, looking to Drake rather morosely.

"You fought well, given the gap in power..." She would be speaking to his mind, her soft voice echoing in his head. "Why are you not with us? It makes no sense for one of our specie as powerful as you to be out by himself. Come with us now..." Her expression softened up a bit, as a soft lip twitch was the best smile Czaiohme could muster in her situation. "There is nothing for you here... You must be among your brothers and sisters in Las Noches..." Luke would only see her staring at Drake intently, not budging an inch or even breathing. He would not hear her voice this time.

So it was over, then, was it? He wasn't strong enough just yet, then... that was all there was to it. There needed to be more that he could do, become... 'twould just be a matter of finding it, and hating that for once, rather than having to flee, he was essentially spared.

So much for counting on his century of gaining power to let him overpower everything that came in his way.

"Hrmph... I'm not gonna join with you demons, not while you spend so much time killing the humans around here, so don't count on that..." the rogue muttered, his speech reverted back to the series of growls and such sounds that were all he could make in this form. "I don't care if they do hate me or I hate myself, that's just how it is..." he concluded, struggling lightly to pick himself back up to his feet, his back right momentarily giving from the damage earlier. Worst shape he'd ever been in in his hundred years of known life? Check.

"I'm just a hunter. If you don't like it, you'd best strike me down now," he added with a certain tone of finality, letting his yet unhurt wings begin to pick himself steadily up off the ground even as he kept one crimson eye on the two other Arrancar.