Episode 23: Ice vs Ikkaku, Grime vs Yumichika

Ice let go of his sword with one hand, and he rubbed the blood from his eye.

"I don't get it." Ikkaku called.

Ice looked up at him.

"Sure there's some distance between us, but only a novice unfamiliar with fighting would let his hand away from his sword during a match."

"Why don't you just shut your trap! Alright, I got blood in my eyes. So I just stopped to wipe it away!"

"Even shallow wounds above the eye bleed profusely. Therefore, you must stop the bleeding." The blood ran down into Ice's eye. Ikkaku took a piece off the end of his Zanpakuto, and he put his fingers into it, and rubbed some stuff over his eye, and the blood stopped. "You can't just wipe it away."

"That's not fair!" Ice complained. "You have a special ointment to stop your bleeding!"

"It is too fair, you idiot! It's called being prepared! Instead of complaining, you should be applauding my professionalism!" Ikkaku grinned again. "You're one strange guy. You behave like a greenhorn. And you don't look like much of a fighter. But-" He charged him, and slashed. Ice blocked it. "You have excellent reflexes!" He jabbed at him with his sheath, but Ice blocked it as well. He then grunted while he slashed down at him.

Ikkaku blocked it, easily. "And fierce attacks." They pushed back against each other. "One could even say that the sum of your movements are nearily close to matching mine!" Both of them jumped backwards.
Ice had a scowl on his face.

"You shouldn't look so angry. I'm complementing you. You're too good to be dismissed as a greenhorn with natural abilities. There's something about the way you move... who is your master?"

"I have no master. I'm self trained."

"You're pretty good to be self trained... I guess you trained hard. So it'd be rude to kill you without giving my all." He swung his scabbard around, and slammed it into the butt of his sword. "Extend, Hozukimaru." He spun it around, as it turned into a spear. The sharp end of the spear jabbed into the ground.

Ice's eyes widened.

"Now's not the time to look so surprised, Ice! No mistakes!"

"That's right!"

Ikkaku charged, and stabbed at him. Ice blocked it with his sword, and then Ikkaku spun it around, and jabbed at him with the end of it.

"Your spear's reach is long, I know that much! I won't miss-read it!"

"You're wrong." Ikkaku spun it around in his right hand, and then jabbed at him.

"An opening!" Ice charged, blocking the spear off to the side with his own sword.

"Split apart, Hozkuimaru." Ikkaku called, then his spear separated into a three section staff with a blade.

The bladed part swung towards Ice's face.

"Now!" Called Yumichika. "Turn and face me. I want to see the expression on your face in your last moments of life. Each time I see such things my beauty grows."

"Maybe it's time that you got beautiful on your own!" Grime spun around and hurled sand into Yumichika's eyes. Grime knelt to the ground, and made a hand sign. "Seppai!" He cried, and the ground turned to sand right beneath their feet. Yumichika jumped backwards, and rubbed the sand from his eyes.

do you think you're doing! To one as beautiful as me!"

"Help! I'm falling!" Grime had turned the edge of the pit to sand, and he was hanging over the side.

Yumichika laughed, and walked over. "What a shame. Talk about digging your own grave. But, I guess some people actually do it." He groaned, and then his hand slipped from the ground, and he fell. "How insignificant..." Yumichika then realized that Grime was running up the side of the wall.

"Just so you know, I'm a Genin in Squad Eleven. The strongest squad in the Steel Village." He held his hand under the side of his blade. "Bloom for me, Fuji Kujaku." He blade curved, and then separated into the multiple blades.

He slashed at Grime, who grinned. And then he burst into smoke. He used a substitution, and he was now a rock, along with a paper bomb on it.

It exploded, sending the real Grime flying across to the other side of the pit.

"Don't tell me... you thought for one mine that was enough to kill me off!" He roared. "Now that made me really mad and you're going to pay!"

"Can't hear you." Cried Grime. "Seppai!" He blasted another wall into sand and he ran off.

Ice jumped backwards, blood dripping to the ground. "You said you wouldn't miss-read it." Ikkaku laughed. "That was a lie. Hozukimaru is not a spear. It is a three section staff."*

Ice's hand was bleeding pretty bad.

"Does it hurt? You probably can't hold a sword with that hand."

Ice growled, and he bit a piece of the wrap from his sword off, and wrapped it around his bleeding hand.

"I'm a man with a generous spirit. Normally, I would have taken you in alive. But I'm afraid, I won't take any credit unless I kill you."

"Fine."

"You can't be serious."

"Dead serious!" Ice slashed down at him, But Ikkaku dodged to the side. Ice couldn't stop, so he continued to slash down and he crushed part of the wall.

"Don't talk as if our fight his over." He said, turning around. "You still haven't seen what I can do. Now it's my turn, Ikkaku!"

"Those are some pretty brave words for a greenhorn." The two starred back at each other.

"This time, it'll be you who'll find they can't use their sword."

"That's some impressive boasting, newbie. Your arrogance is just a cheap disguise." Ikkaku charged him.

He jabbed at him with the end of his three section staff, the blunt end. Ice took a step forwards to dodge it, but it still hit him. Ikkaku jumped backwards, and then he charged at him again, this time with the blade pointed at him.

Ice dodged it, and then slashed down at him.

Ikkaku blocked it with the chain that held the three parts together. Suddenly two parts that part of the chain was connecting came swinging back together, and Ikkaku threw him backwards, and swung the other end- that happened to be the blunt side again- at Ice's head.

Ice dodged it, and then Ikkaku connected the rest of his three section staff back into a spear. He stabbed at him, several times. Ice dodged it every single time.

"What did you say back there, amateur? Did you really think that you could make me lose grip of my sword?"

Suddenly his Hozukimaru's blade end separated from the rest of the spear, and it jabbed at Ice's head. Ice dodged it, but then it wrapped it self around Ice's bulbous blade. The two wrestled for control over Ice's sword.

Ice eventually yanked his sword free, but Ikkaku kicked him in the face. Ice spun around, and stabbed his sword into the ground to keep himself from falling. He then yanked his blade out of the ground, and ran forwards to avoid Ikkaku, who was jumping at him- and slamming his weapon down at him.

He then jabbed at Ice, and all three parts of the staff separated. Ice slapped it to the side, with the flat end of his sword.

The two sides of the weapon that Ikkaku wasn't holding went flying up into the air. But then they went back down into spear form.

"If I'm so slow then how did that happen?" Ice taunted.

"Just a fluke. It won't happen again."

"You're predictions are even shakier than your fighting ability." He stabbed at him.

Ikkaku leapt up into the air, and he landed on the wall. "You're still not fast enough to beat me."

Ice stabbed his sword into the wall, then slashed across. The wall then started to collapse, so Ikkaku jumped over to the other side of Ice. Ice slashed down at him, but Ikkaku jumped up into the air, adjusted his grip on his spear, then sent the blunt end flying at Ice's head.

Ice let go of his sword with one hand, and blocked Ikkaku's spear with his now free hand. But the speed of Ikkaku's attack hit Ice in the forehead anyway. Ice flew backwards, and landed on his back.

Ikkaku grinned, and started spinning the bladed side around. "Hey what's wrong? What happened to all that big talk of yours? Hozkimaru can transform at will. I guess you really aren't in my league after all."

"I have to admit," Ice said, standing up. He had his fist clenched. "It took me a little while. But I finally figured it out." He held his hand out, and dropped the tassels from the end of Ikkaku's spear to the ground. He ripped them off when he blocked the attack.

Ikkaku glanced down to the end of his spear and he saw that part of his tassels had been ripped off. He grunted. Impossible... he took Hozkimaru with his bare hand... He thought.

Ice grinned. There was still blood in his eye from when Ikkaku cut him.

Kenpachi woke up from his nap. "What's going on..." He mumbled.

"Kenny! Bald's been fighting for a long time now! And so has Yumi!"

Kenpachi instantly bolted up. He quickly got ready, despite that taking a little while. He then set Yachiru on his shoulder, and then took off.

"This way, Kenny! I can sense his chakra!"

After a while of running, Yachiru pointed forwards.

"This way, Kenny! They're right up ahead!"

"They better be. We've been running for a while now."

"Oh, don't worry. My super sharp intuition will never let me down!" There was a short pause. "Turn right! Right here!"

Kenpachi did, "Ah super sharp, eh? It's a dead end!"

"Uh... wait a minute! I meant to say that it's that way!" She pointed the way they would have gone if they hadn't turn.

"That's some intuition that you've got." He complained. "I'm beginning to wonder how reliable it really is!" He growled.

Ikkaku was still looking down at his spear.

"What's wrong, Ikkaku? You look like you've seen a ghost or something. I hope you haven't lost the will to fight."

Ikkaku didn't respond.

"Then if you won't attack..." Ice leapt straight into the air. "I will!" He gripped his sword. "I'll tell you one more time! The one who's not going to be able to hold his sword... is you!" He then slashed down at him.
Ikkaku quickly connected his Hozkimaru.

Ice slashed down, cutting the staff right at the point where it was supposed to de-connect. He also got Ikkaku's shoulder and stomach pretty good too. This can't be... Ikkaku thought. He couldn't move from that position for almost a minute. He threw the end of his Hozkimaru to the ground.

"You might think it's over. But you're dead wrong, my friend." He lifted the remains of his sword up next to his face. "It won't be over... for as long as I can hold my sword!"

Ice said nothing.

Ikkaku started to spin the bladed side of his Hozkimaru around. "You really want to end this? The only way you can make me put down my sword is to cut off my arm!"

"Don't make me do this."

"Do you have the stomach for it?"

"Why don't you just face the facts. This fight is over. You can't win and you know it."

"No chance, greenhorn. This battle isn't over. And it isn't going to be until one of us is dead." Ikkaku charged him.

Ice growled, "You're too slow!" He growled. He slashed him, right across the other shoulder.

Notes: *He actually called it a three part pole but I thought that sounded stupid, so I changed it to where he called it a three section staff. And the dialog is changed slightly for the characters and the universe that they're in- I'm aware of that.