Chapter 20: A Clean Sweep: Jaice's Ordeal!

"Are you serious?" Jaice's laughter continued, echoing through the streets where he stood. "I can't believe it!" The 9th Squad Shinigami's breath was short from his spurts of cachinnation.

"Oh come on, it isn't that funny!" Urgeta moaned before his voice took on a more serious atmosphere. "And it will be less so when I kill you."

"But...seriously? Oh come on!" Jaice's merriment continued. "What kind of zanpakuto is that?"

Urgeta sighed as he looked at his zanpakuto and thought back to several minutes ago when he had released his shikai.

--

"Fuck! No!" Jaice roared, rushing at Urgeta. "I'll make this quick so I can help my friend!"

"Oh don't worry," Urgeta said calmly, easily sidestepping the blow. "My allies will make it a fair fight. Well, fair in a manner of speaking. Anyway, you'd better worry about yourself first anyway."

"Fine then, let's hurry this up! Bleed, Sangren!" Acid coated Jaice's machete as he entered a ready position. Urgeta smiled.

"What a wondrous shikai!" Urgeta cheered, raising his hands comically above his head, his weapon still in his right hand. "I want to make this interesting, so how about I show you mine?" Urgeta lowered his hands and gripped his sword tightly. "Watch closely: Sweep, Balaive!"

Horrid, yet amused, laughter erupted from the area as the two Shinigami readied for combat.

Jaice continued his laughter as he saw Urgeta's weapon morph from a traditional katana into a simple corn broom. The handle was about the length of a quarterstaff while the bristles were in fair condition, all pointing in the same direction with none splitting off, implying that Urgeta kept his shikai in excellent shape (or perhaps suggesting that he did not use it very much, Jaice was unsure).

--

Urgeta looked forward as he snapped out of his momentary flashback. "Get a hold of yourself and fight me!"

"S...s...sorry," Jaice stammered, barely able to contain his joviality. "It's...just...so...ahahaha!" Jaice clutched his gut, his sides shaking as he continued to roar with amusement.

Urgeta gritted his teeth angrily and swung his broom, the bristles sweeping across the ground. Initially, nothing seemed to happen, but Urgeta sped his swing up and soon a strong wind blew towards Jaice, slamming him backwards, head over heels, into one of the stone walls lining the street.

Jaice gasped as the gale hit him. His world began to spin; grounds, walls, and sky melded into a single swirling entity of color and confusion. Suddenly, everything paused as he impacted with the rough structure behind him. Pain shot through his spine as he slid down the wall, his body coming to rest in a sitting position with Sangren still in his hands.

"That was fun, I want to try that again," Jaice said, his voice dark with hatred and sarcasm. "I guess it's my turn to show off!" Jaice rushed forward, Sagren at the ready, his sights set on Urgeta's hideous mask.

"Oh no, that won't do," Urgeta declared dryly, causally swinging his broom and pushing his foe back. This time, the 9th Squad Shinigami was ready and took a strong stance, retaining his balance and only losing a few feet to his opponent, his sandals creating a slight scratching sound as they scraped across the pavement. He appears to be mostly or entirely close-combat based, Urgeta thought. If I can just keep pummeling him at range he will eventually lose and I will exit this battle with no damage.

"Hey asshole, stop spacing out and pay attention, this is no fun if you just stand there!" Jaice roared as he once again charged at Urgeta. The latter shook his head and swung Balaive yet again, but this time Jaice changed the course of his advance, moving to the right and taking less of a buffeting from the miniature hurricane, pushing him back only a foot or so. At this rate, I'll reach him soon enough. These little gusts aren't doing anything now that I've started holding my ground. And, once I get in range, there's no way some shitty broom will stand up to my machete.

"You're quite persistent, aren't you," Urgeta declared coyly. "How about a toast to this contest between men?" Showman-like, Urgeta reached inside his kimono and produced a medium-sized bottle made of green glass with the character for 'Sake' on the outside.

"Stop playing around you piece of shit and fight me!" Jaice growled, rushing forward only to be slowed by Urgeta's wind.

"Tsk tsk, at least let me have a sip," Urgeta said, feigning anger. He raised the bottom of his mask, pressed the bottle to his lips and took several quick gulps, all the while watching as Jaice rushed headlong at him. Urgeta sighed and dropped the bottle, allowing the container to shatter into hundreds of smaller shards which clinked softly as they hit the ground.

"You shouldn't be so relaxed, you left yourself wide open!" Jaice declared as he came within two feet of Urgeta. He swung his sword directly at the man's mask, but Urgeta was prepared and took a single step backwards before bringing his broom across his body. Jaice winced in pain and stumbled backwards, pushed by both the wind and his confused feet. He looked down to see blood running from dozens of cuts across his chest, pieces of glass embedded in his skin. He picked out several and looked at his adversary.

Urgeta, meanwhile, cursed and threw his mask to the ground. Though Jaice's attack had failed, some of Sangren's acid had successfully moved towards Urgeta's face; had his face not been covered. Urgeta would surely have been hit with the corrosive liquid. Jaice took a moment to study Urgeta's face: he was a fairly handsome man, his soft yet attractive features complemented by his braid of blond hair. His appearance seemed of paramount importance to Urgeta, as he cursed about, "the risk of his beautiful face being damaged."

"I once met a guy like you from the 11th Squad," Jaice stated, removing more glass from his skin as he readied himself for the next round of combat. "He was a total narcissist and an asshole, just like you. I hate people like that. Thanks for giving me another reason to justify what I'm about to do to you!" This time, Urgeta was not ready for what was coming and grunted as Jaice's shoulder collided with his chest. The formerly disguised fighter's eyes went wide as Jaice grabbed him around the waist and flipped over backwards, slamming the man's head into the ground.

Urgeta was unprepared for the pile driver, and thus he was unable to dodge Jaice's kick. Urgeta sprawled onto his front, but regained enough of his composure to roll sideways and avoid a blow from Sangren. As the machete hit the stone, however, some acid splashed off the blade and landed on Urgeta's arm, burning through the top layers of skin and causing him to scream in pain.

Jaice smiled as he watched Urgeta stand before charging again. This time, however, Urgeta was better able to react and swung Balaive, kicking up more shards of glass which, for the most part, Jaice ignored as he focused on holding his ground.

"This is fun, Urgeta," Jaice said. "Yeah, I heard your friends call out your name earlier," he continued, reacting to the puzzled look on his opponent's face. One question: why bother to wear the mask since I'm seeing your face right now?"

"It doesn't matter if a dead man knows what I look like!" Urgeta yelled as he brought his broom around yet again. This time, however, Jaice had cleverly positioned himself so as to be immediately next to a place where the street forked, allowing him to sidestep to his left and avoid the entire gale. Urgeta, not expecting such an act, was unprepared when Jaice bounded around another corner and emerged to side of his assailant. Jaice swung Sangren, narrowly missing Urgeta who dodged faster than a hawk.

How the hell is he making it seem so effortless? Jaice thought. I have a high endurance and I've been sweating like crazy, yet he hasn't panted once! He couldn't have seen where I was coming from...maybe he sensed my reiatsu? Or was it just a lucky move? Or maybe he's figured out my style?

"I underestimated you, I'll concede that," Urgeta said as he avoided another one of Jaice's attacks before slamming the butt of his broom into Jaice's cheek, knocking out a tooth in the process. "I may just have to play a bit dirty."

"Bring it on, fighting isn't supposed to have rules!"

The two entered a vivid dance of weapons, a cavalcade of combat, circling back and forth. Urgeta would often dodge Jaice's attacks, only to counter with a gust that, even if it damaged Jaice, did nothing to dampen his immense fighting spirit. Occasionally, Jaice would managed a dull scrape against Urgeta's clothes or perhaps a lucky punch, but other than that it appeared he was fighting an almost ethereal enemy. Regardless of his endurance, Jaice began to show signs of weakness which he himself realized: not and then a normally obvious strike would take him by surprise and deal more damage than expected. Luckily, however, Jaice had become better at avoiding the wind, or at least taking stances to lessen its impact. He had even begun to leave the glass in his body to prevent Urgeta from opening new wounds while also allowing the pieces to hold back bleeding.

"I don't think I ever got your name, determined warrior," Urgeta jested, sweeping his weapon's bristles across Jaice's face in an attempt to rile his opponent up even further.

"Jaice Gandaime, remember it for the little while you've got left to enjoy this world," Jaice said, gritting his teeth as he moved his skull through the bristles to headbutt Urgeta.

Urgeta cursed as he stumbled backwards, surprised by the blow. Jaice, seeing an opening, swung Sangren with astonishing speed, acid coursing through the air as the weapon moved towards his enemy. As the blade neared Urgeta's cranium, the Shinigami dodged to the side and grabbed Jaice's sword arm, using the impetus of the 9th Squad member's attack to pull him around in a circle and throw him to the ground. Jaice grunted as he went face-first into the granite below his feet, a loud crunch coming from his chest.

Fuck, I think that bastard may have broken one of my ribs with that move, Jaice bemoaned silently. Jaice pushed himself to his feet, wobbling slightly as pained shot through his body.

"Judging from your expression, I'm assuming you're confused by the amount of pain you're in," Urgeta stated. "It was wise of you not to pull the shards out earlier, as it stemmed the bleeding but now," Urgeta pointed as the multitude of wounds on Jaice's chest, "I've driven them deeper by throwing you chest-down."

"Then I'll just kill you before they dig deep enough to finish me off," Jaice growled, "I've got a very high pain tolerance."

"Oh I realized," Urgeta replied, "but you're still simply a silhouette of a man in this state. You could barely keep up with me when you had only suffered a few minor wounds, but now you have no chance. You might as well let me kill you quickly; it would make things far less painful."

"Like I said, I don't give a shit about pain," barked Jaice. Even if I can endure this, he's at least partly right. The loss of blood is causing Sangren's acid to thin, though luckily he hasn't noticed.

Thisss isss not over, Jaice, a familiar voiced hissed in the Shinigami's mind. We've come through sssticky sssituations before, haven't we?

Any advice then, Sangren? Jaice asked his zanpakuto's serpent spirit. You going to lend me some more power or something?

Don't be ssso greedy, young one, Sangren proclaimed as its spiritual body slithered between Jaice's feet, unseen by Urgeta. My ssstrength is partly reliant on your own. I'm jussst here to advice you not to give up.

Thanks for the help, sarcasm leaked from Jaice's thoughts. I wasn't planning on it.

"Are you quite finished?" Urgeta asked, having watched Jaice stand staring into space for a full minute. "It's no fun killing you if you don't even try to fight back."

"Sorry, I was just contemplating several different uses I'll have for your head after I cleave it from your shoulders," Jaice affirmed, holding Sangren at ready as blood continued to stain the white parts of his kimono. Jaice rushed at his foe yet again, yet Urgeta did not seem to react, merely standing as Jaice's blade neared his chest.

Urgeta yawned as Balaive swayed in his hands, kicking up another gale. By now, Jaice had accustomed himself to withstanding these gusts; though they forced him to halt his progress, he still was able to maintain his position, for the most part at least. This time, however, Jaice screeched as he felt a pain unlike any he had felt earlier in this battle. He looked down to see new wounds opened in his chest, arms, and even felt pain in his cheeks.

"H...how the Hell?" Jaice gasped, falling to his knees.

"Answer that for yourself," Urgeta indicated Sangren. Jaice looked at the blade cluthced in his right fist, noticing that several inches of the tip seemed to be missing and the edges just below this area were jagged. "Yes, that's right, when I threw you to the ground your weapon impacted the stone as well. Your constant misses and overall loss of reiatsu during this fight caused your blade to weaken and snap, but only enough so that you didn't notice during your battle-rage. Yes, Jaice, you've been killed by your own weapon."

"...not...not dead...yet..." Jaice gapsed, his breath short as he crumpled to his knees.

"No, but the glass from earlier has worked its way deeper into your system; your constant movement helped aid its travels. That fact, coupled with the wounds I just inflicted, leaves you to a slow and painful death over the course of the next hour. I'd love to stay and watch you suffer, but I have business to attend to."

"What the...what the Hell are you doing anyway?" Jaice gasped.

"I prefer not to reveal too much on the off chance you live," Urgeta noted, "but I'll leave you with a word of warning: beware Scaramouche. Au revoir, for now!" With that, the blond Shinigami started jogging away from Jaice. The fallen warrior tried to stand, but now he felt immense pain in his legs, realizing shards had either entered these areas during Urgeta's most recent attack or had moved through his body during the fight.

Jaice groaned as he tried to pull his body along the cobblestones, moving only inches forward, each centimeter feeling like an eternity and requiring immense exertion.

Sangren, Baiten, Tairos...I'm sorry, I failed you all, Jaice closed his eyes as his right hand relaxed, letting his zanpakuto slide onto the ground with a light scraping sound.

Character Profile: Urgeta Vega

Age: Unknown (appears 19 in human years)

Height: 160.02cm (5 feet, 3 inches)

Affiliation: Member of Scaramouche

Rank: Pawn

Hobbies: Cleaning, singing, drinking.

Zanpakuto: Balaive

Shikai: Balaive transforms into a broom when Urgeta commands, "Sweep, Balaive!" The broom itself is almost worthless in close combat; Urgeta will occasionally slam the wooden shaft into a pressure point on his opponent's body or into his or her face, or may even tickle them with the bristles in an effort to insult and anger his foe. The broom's true power comes from it's ability when swung: a minor gust of wind is created which can knock back some foes or, if concentrated, deal actual physical damage. The wind is also strong enough to pick up bits of metal, glass, and even rocks lying in the area, hurling them at Urgeta's foes with deadly effects.

HES: Well guys, the new arc is in full swing; things are only going to get a lot more exciting from here on out! Our heroes (at least the ones who are alive) sure have their work cut out for them! What of Scaramouche? You'll just have to keep reading to find out! Please review, as always I love to hear from the readers!