Playground Rules (Open to anyone in the 30 day challenge who wants to post)

Okay situation assessment: one arrancar that is clear to me and one other opponent that seems to be poised to strike at them without any hesitation or regret. I got to be careful and not try to catch these two shinigami in the crossfire.

Andrew breathed softly as he then took his zanpaktou out. He needed to take the arrancar out as quickly as possible. At least with the arrancar he knew what to typically expect. and whistled at the arrancar. "You know, funny things about names. Usually first meetings require an introduction and since Carmine here was kind enough to give his name allow you give you my name. My name is Andrew Takahashi." He then smiled as he showed her his sword. "Cook Tetsu Itamae." Steam shot out of his weapon, immediately showing his fire like reiatsu starting to rise up around him as he looked at the arrancar. If there was one thing never to assume it was how an enemy fights. The hands alone look like they can do a considerable amount of damage if they can get within close contact with somebody's head. Not only that he wasn't even sure if it was her zanpaktou in the first place. But as he talked he had been studying her arms carefully. If anything her hands would have more experience in her training than the rest of her body.

As the vizard kept her eyes on the arrancar, any kindness he had before was now gone as he spoke in a much more serious tone. "Now I am going to ask you one time only to leave these two out of this fight. If you are looking for a battle then I will face you without hesitation." After he had said that he then aimed his hand at the arrancar as spice began to build up in the edge of his shikai. If this didn't get her attention he wasn't sure what would. "Hadō number 31. Shakkaho." A red light came out of his palm as he aimed it at her left fist. Even as an inferno he knew his fire needed to be focused and he was going to keep it focused on the arrancar so that he could buy enough time by antagonizing her and pulling enough of her aggravation so the others could be ready.

Sherri stopped for a second, noticing the fire like reiatsu from the new member. She then smiled turning towards him and drawing her own zanpaktou.

"Growl in to the dark, Mastiv!"

The pitch black flames of her shikia started to leap forth from the gems on her zanpaktou, quickly engulfing it. She charged towards the new person, slashing downward with her sword. As soon as she finished the swing, she would concentrate, willing the shadows to rise from the ground and form a large dome of black mist, 200 feet in diameter. Normal eyesight would be very limited, reaching at most 60 feet from the viewer.

She then moved quickly away from the man she had attacked, so that she would disappear in the darkness of the mist, watching the reaction of the two shinigami and the arrancar. The loss of light in this sphere was not debilitating to her, beyond not being able to see colors. Her mouth cracked in to a wild smile as she thought about what to do next, At least some of her enemies should be having trouble due to the sphere, and she couldn't wait to figure out who.

He smiled as the man came up to him but gave him distance, maybe out of fear that Carter was a bad guy? Who knew, Carter nodded to him, "Carter, no last name, fifth seat of squad one. Command." He spoke turning back to the arrancar. She hadn't fallen for his taunt and she had spoke of her hands only adding to her power, his eyes gleamed a bit as she taunted him in return about not knowing his Zanpakutō's name.

" Her name is Nacuto. And with her I have enough in me to beat you alone." He spoke, his voice no longer kidding, his tone dead serious as he turned back to her to watch as twin ceros built in her palms. His eyes focused on her now and engaged thoroughly. He jumped upward and landed on the cross bar of the swing set, balancing on it with Nacuto in his left hand now. He heard a voice, the voice of the vizard telling her to back off. Carter wanted to yell at the vizard for taking his spot light but he knew the man meant well and had no idea Carter often fought tough guys (and ladies in this case). He felt an energy spike and head toward the arrancar, a Kidō was being used. He felt the warmth of flames and then he heard a new voice mumble something, a girl voice.

Darkness hit the area around them all, He kept his perch as he cleared away the nerves in his mind, battles weren't always won on eye sight alone. "Carmine? If you're still here listen to me, do not rely on sight now. Use your other senses until this abyss has cleared from our vision. Trust your gut." He said quietly so that only the shinigami could hear him. He had a plan but he was loathe to use it yet.

"If you want your eye sight just ask me and I will clear this." he whispered in the man's ear as he came up right beside him. He could easily use his angelic powers to quell this shadow but he didn't want to abuse his gift.

Carmine nodded slightly to Carter, his eyes focused on the arrancar's hands. They began to glow a slight yellowish hue, the beginnings of an attack. "Here we go..." Carter leapt from his original position onto the top bar of the swing set, drawing his Zanpakutō as he did. Thinking he knew something about the attack that he didn't, Carmine hopped back a ways as well. Before either of them could engage the arrancar, he heard an unfamiliar voice from behind him. "You know, funny things about names. Usually first meetings require an introduction and since Carmine here was kind enough to give his name allow you give you my name. My name is Andrew Takahashi." Carmine turned in time to see a man with a Zanpakutō drawn. Before he could react, the man promptly released it, loosing a swath of steam. "What's the deal here? Did I miss a party invite or something...?" Carmine muttered.

Now I am going to ask you one time only to leave these two out of this fight. If you are looking for a battle then I will face you without hesitation." For a brief moment, Carmine frowned in annoyance. "Now that's just rude. Insulting to a man's honor even. As if we're children to be coddled..." The man, Andrew, fired off a Kidō towards the arrancar, and a short time afterward, darkness hit the area. It was like some sort of dark vapor that seemed to make vision difficult beyond a certain range. Fortunately, Carmine was used to not relying on his sight for combat.

Keeping his pressure thick about him, he resumed his former stance, hand hovering over his blade. He heard a voice that he recognized as Carter's whispering to him from the gloom. "Carmine? If you're still here listen to me, do not rely on sight now. Use your other senses until this abyss has cleared from our vision. Trust your gut. If you want your eye sight just ask me and I will clear this." Snorting softly, Carmine replied "It's fine. No need to worry yourself. I can function perfectly well to a certain degree. If the lack of vision becomes a serious problem, I'll be sure to let you know."

Lala smirked again. “So you aren’t some random peon then. Too bad. Peon's aren't missed when they are killed.” She then put her hands together and a metallic bending could be heard as she made it look like she was cracking her knuckles. “So do you two wish me to say you fought well? Or should I not lie to them.” She said actively taunting them. It seemed for once Lala wasn't pissed off so she was having some fun. Just as the fight was about to begin she was interrupted.

“Introductions huh. Don't see how you guys knowing who I am is worth anything but allow the pleasure.” She said before spreading her arms wide her hands out in a short bow. “I am Lala Vega, Aspect of Rage, Septima Espada of Shadowfall.” Lala then stood back up staring at the cook. “Now leave us alone.” She said her voice having a little big of a prerage in it. Though that was increased as she was forced to deal with the first attack. In the effort to get her away from the two grunt shinigami the cook had shot a Kidō at her. That pissed her off. Lala reached up swinging her giant hand blocking the Kidō causing to explode on her hardened hierro. The smoke cleared to leave no mark on the hand.

“So you want to fight me.” Lala said looking at him angrily as the last shinigami to join the fight came in though she had attacked the cook which confused Lala for a second but she could always use a rogue shinigami. Just as Lala was planning the world went dark around her. She couldn't see 60 feet beyond her. It was pissing her off though she would deal with it. She could use this shinigami to play with the two grunts while she killed the cook.

“HEY” Lala yelled out. “SHADOW CHICK. YOU WANNA PLAY WITH THE TWO PEONS HERE. I'LL TAKE THE COOK FIRE GUY.” She said as she started to walk towards the edge of the circle. She would head for the edge to get out of it so she could see to fight the cook or who ever else followed her out.

Espada huh? Figures the espada are still lingering about even to this day. But what is this Shadowfall that she is talking about? Got to remember to ask Colin about it when I get the chance to see him next time.

Andrew watched as the shakkaho was able to connect with Lala's hand but wasn't expecting it to do much without the incantation. Not to mention since he had found out that she was in fact an espada he was going to need something a little more powerful to stop her. But still his eyes never stopped scanning the hands that she had. He began to wonder if her hands were in fact mainly metal or actually robotic in nature. If they were robotic then there could be a way to break her down piece by piece. But in order for his plans to work he was going to need to get past her hands and be able to slash and burn his way through her hierro.

But things have taken a twist for the interesting when the other girl had made her play against him next. He moved back from the black flames, thinking she was going to pull off an elemental combination of fire and darkness in her slash attack. But to his surprise instead of a pillar of black fire upon him it became a circle of darkness. He could see the hand in front of his face but beyond that he was unable to see too far. But there was something he did notice: it only affected his sight. It was made perfectly clear when he heard Lala's voice ring out clear as a bell as he moved to the direction of her voice as he felt for her reiatsu. As he moved forward he began to speak again softly so that the arrancar wasn't going to hear what he was going to do next. "Ye lord, mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man. Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws." He moved closer to her general area as he put his hand out again as he spoke in a clear voice. "Hadō number 33, Sōkatsui!" A flash of blue came from his hand, darting out of the circle as he worked on aiming his move at the arrancar before stepping out of the circle. If this wasn't going to make sure her attention stayed solely on him in an attempt to make sure she and the other girl didn't pair up nothing will.

Sherri let out a slight growling noise when the arrancar, Lala, said she would take the fire guy and leave her with the two idiots.

"No, the fire guy is for me, yes. His flames will make it easy to find, must make them black, yes. Kill him, take his flames, I will."

Her voice was full of happiness, and she now activated her vision of DarkFire. The heat coming from the man's released zanpaktou made it stand out compared to the rest of them. Smiling to herself, she called out to him.

"Having trouble seeing in the dark, hm? I can see you though, yes. You will make very good dead man, yes. Now, how about you taste some darkflame fangs?"

She pointed her sword at the man, and darkfire, shaped like the jaws of a canine, rushed towards him. Once it made contact with something, it would explode in a blast ten feet wide. She smiled, those who stayed in the sphere would soon realize that it was heating up, already having become twenty five degrees hotter then before. She turned towards the espada, calling out to her.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to leave this guy alone. if you want to fight him, you'll have to come in here and figure out how to see.

He could hear her taunt but it fell of deaf ears in a sense, this was nothing new to him. Slowly in the darkness he unsheathed Nacuto pointing her outward into the blackness while feeling the area steadily growing warmer, his left arm was full outstretched with his Zanpakutō following suit, the tip aiming at where the Arrancar was, "Hadō 4 Byakurai." he said calmly, now getting into the zone, his mind closing down.


The Vizard was trying to take his fight from him, it was getting on Carter's last nerve now, sure he appeared to be trying to help them, he felt the energy spike as the Kidō raced at the Arrancar. Blue lightning sparked in his hand traveling down his Zanpakutō ad out the tip, he used Nacuto like a reverse metal rod, pushing the power out towards the Arrancar, "Not so fast, his hands are full with her and I'm not going to be over looked. Get ready." He uttered evenly into the darkness, capping his spirit pressure and vanishing to the far right side of the shadow but not before nodding for Carmine to follow, divided they would be weak but together they could topple this giant with little effort. Escaping this darkness would bode well too because of the heat.

Once outside of the sphere and outside of the Arrancar's view he pointed to the trees before flashing upward, vanishing into the many different branches, he smiled softly before whispering "Thousand blade rain." to himself, Nacuto vanishing into thin air. He made his way from tree to tree, coming up behind the Arrancar, clearing his throat, leaning against a basketball pole.

"Pika boo, miss me?" He said, his arms folded over his chest, not appearing to have a care in the world, yet his mind was fully opened and his body ready to react to whatever would come. He only hoped Carmine had a plan to divide her attention, something to follow what Carter was doing. she had a short fuse and spreading her mind out between multiple people would cause her to slip up.

Carmine received a cue from Carter, before his ally vanished from his limited range of sight. "Fast. I suppose I'd better follow suit..." he said. As he made his move to exit the fog, he heard a female voice speaking in the darkness, unusually calm, considering the debilitating effects of the mist. "Having trouble seeing in the dark, hm? I can see you though, yes. You will make very good dead man, yes. Now, how about you taste some darkflame fangs?" Carmine paused for a moment, frowning in confusion. "That doesn't sound good at all..." Almost immediately, the temperature began to rise at an alarming pace. A quick Shunpo put him out of range of the mist, but he could feel the heat at his back, and it was only getting hotter.

"I feel sorry for that Andrew guy. But then again, it's not like I'll be having a tea party either..." Carmine said with a grunt, turning towards the direction of the arrancar. Sensing Carter's approach, Carmine decided to try a gutsy move. Moving just back within the reach of the mist, he used it as cover to approach the arrancar from a different direction. When Carter made his appearance behind the arrancar, Carmine stepped out of the mist at the same time. "Bakudo #4,Hainawa." A combination of the distance, the mask muffling his words, and Carmine muttering the words would hopefully serve to keep his intentions unknown until the last moment. Raising his left hand, a pair of chains shot from his palm, darting forward to encircle the arrancar's arms.

Carmine didn't expect the technique to hold her for long. The Bakudo he used was a low level one, and he expected the arrancar to break it as if it weren't even there, but he hoped that Carter would use the minor distraction to make his move before she could react.

“Damnit.” Lala said as she stopped short of the end of the dark shield. This new girl wanted the chef. Lala really didn't want to make this a 3v2 it pissed her off trying to deal with aiming around an “ally”. Lala would just have to take on the two grunts herself. Dealing with those two might supply her with some entertainment. She then decided to dash out the other way before they started to attack her in the dark dome. This way the two fights would have less of a chance of spilling into one another. Just as Lala dashed off to the side the Byakurai would strike behind her. Her sonido saved her from getting struck.

She would leave the dome and begun feeling around for the two small fries. She wondered if they would be too weak to feel over the three giants around them. She spotted one as he came up behind her. “There you are. I almost missed you. Hard to feel for ya with those two around.” She said taunting his weak power. “So what do you really think you can do against me.” She was talking casually as her eyes dashed right as she felt Carmine. Lala would then raise her had up as if she was going to hit Carter but would only swing her hand down hitting the chains bound to wrap her up. They would wrap around her hand as she smiled.

“Well he gave his shot.” She said to Carter as the chains wrapped around her hand. She closed her fingers around them. “What do you wanna try to do.” She did realize she was leaving herself open to an attack not being on the aggressive but she wanted to see how they dealt with somebody so much stronger then them.