"...I...Ichigo...!" Rukia's gray eyes reflect the flames as she stares up at the man standing on thin air between her and the phoenix executioner, Lord Kikou. He effortlessly holds the creature at bay with his zanpaku sword. The shinigami uniform he wears over his bandaged body fails to cover his left shoulder. He has a long brown cape with a high collar around the neck and a rope around it, bound together with an object that has a strange geometric symbol on the front. (1)

Ichigo's mouth slowly widens into an incredibly cocky grin, "Hey."

"Ah..." She tries to speak, but the words can't make it past her throat. She pauses for a moment before switching to her old stand-by attitude, the best reaction she can muster in this situation - anger, "YOU TOTAL MORON!!! WHY DID YOU COME BACK AGAIN!?"

"Uh..." Whatever Ichigo expected as a greeting from the damsel in distress... it certainly wasn't this. "HUH!?"

"You know it by now too, don't you!?" she yells, supremely pissed off despite being in a helpless, crucified position. "You can't win against my brother!! This time you will definitely get yourself killed!!" Ichigo listens in surprise as she keeps yelling, "I've already made my peace! I don't want to be saved!! GO HOME!!!"

His expression darkens.

Down below, Captain Soi Fong stares up at Lord Kikou as the creature hovers in the sky, unable to perform its function. "...This is... ridiculous...!!" she says fiercely when she sees the creatures' beak unable to move past Ichigo's sword. "He's stopped it...!? It is gifted with a destructive power that is worth a million zanpaku blades... How can the spear of the Dual Terminus be stopped by one mere sword...!" Her eyes narrow, "What the hell is he!!!"

Not too far away, Captain Shunsui tips his hat back to get a clearer look at the boy, "Nanao-chan... could he be that boy that the intruder mentioned..."

"Yes," she says, "He fits the description in the reports sent out to the divisions."

"I see..." he tilts the hat back over his eyes with a cryptic smile, "So in the end it turns out that they are the ones who made it in time..."

Lord Kikou raises its head and lets out a deafening shriek. It stops pressing against Ichigo's back, which jolts the boy and puts him off balance, "WHOA!?"

"ICHIGO!!" Rukia shouts as Lord Kikou moves away from them.

"Gaining some distance for a second strike, huh..." Ichigo turns around to face the executioner confidently. "...That's fine. C'mon!"

"S... Stop, Ichigo. Enough already!! You won't be able to stop the Dual Terminus a second time!! Next time you'll be ripped asunder!!" No matter how she pleads, Ichigo turns a deaf ear to her. He charges forward to attack the monstrous phoenix as she screams out desperately, "ICHIGO!!"

A black cable from below flies up and wraps around Lord Kikou's fiery neck, surprising Ichigo and the onlookers. "Wha..." Vice-Captain Omaeda asks in bewilderment, "what is that thing!?"

Everyone's eyes follow the cable down to its origin. They see three people rushing toward the execution grounds. It is Captain Ukitake and his two 3rd Seat subordinates: Sentarou and Kiyone. Ukitake carries the shield with the black cable connected to it.

"C... Captain Ukitake...!?" Vice-Captain Isane is shocked by their sudden appearance, "And Kiyone as well...!"(2)

The cable that is wrapped around Lord Kikou's neck finally gives in to gravity and falls back to the ground. As soon as the pole at the end of the black cable strikes the earth, a hand covers it to hold it in place.

"Yo," Shunsui tilts his straw hat up and smiles charmingly as Nanao stands close behind him. "You've made this playboy wait quite a while."

"Captain Kyouraku!!!" Isane shrieks in disbelief at his sudden betrayal.

Captain-General Yamaguchi opens his one good eye to observe in the unexpected sight; a unsettling action for someone whose eyes are nearly closed most of the time. His face is shadowed over and he seems quite displeased.

"Sorry. Unsealing it delayed me," Ukitake explains to Shunsui as he takes the large white shield and sets it firmly on the ground beside him. "But... with this, we can do it!!" (3)

Soi Fong recognizes the complex black design painted on the front of the shield, "That is... the seal of the Shihouin Family!!"(4) She turns and orders Omaeda, "Stop them!!"

"Uh... EEH!? You mean me!?" he asks, panicked and scared at the prospect of opposing two captains.

"Those guys.." she says, "they intend to destroy the Dual Terminus!!"

Ukitake holds the shield and Shunsui keeps a hand on the pole on the other end of the cable as they both unsheathe their zanpaku swords. They run their blades into the shield at the same moment, cutting down through it to incorporate their spiritual strength into the shield.

With Shunsui in contact with both the shield and the pole, it acts like completing an electrical circuit. Their spiritual energy is a catalyst to the black cable the shield is connected to - causing it to start turning white on either end and work its way towards the middle, the part wrapped around Lord Kikou's neck. Pure white runs up either side of the cable and meets at the top, reaching the phoenix. The cable turns completely white and the fire bird vanishes in a burst of light, obliterating the Dual Terminus spear in the process.

"UWAH!?" Omaeda covers his head, fearful of the falling embers. Isane draws the Captain Unohana under her to protect her.

Ichigo sees Lord Kikou's fate and his eyes harden. He seems to know what he has to do now and he is determined to get it done. He leaps over Rukia and lands on the cross pillar behind her. He starts to spin his sword Zangetsu over his head as Rukia looks up at him in confusion, "Wha... What are you doing, Ichigo!?"

"That's obvious," Ichigo says calmly as he continues to spin Zangetsu in a blur of speed. "I'm going to destroy this thing... the execution block!"

"Wha... S... Stop!! That's impossible!!"

"Hey! Listen, Ichigo!! The execution block of the Dual Terminus is..."

"It's alright," Ichigo assures her. "Shut up and watch."

"Ichi... go..." Rukia's words falter. She does not recognize him as the same shinigami as before. She realizes that he's changed more than she had imagined as he proves just how strong his is now.

Ichigo stabs Zangetsu into the Dual Terminus, destroying the entire cross-pillar in an explosion of spiritual energy. The strike has enough force to destroy most of the cliff as well.

Rukia looks down at the destruction in amazement as Ichigo's words reach her from above.

"Don't save you, go home... you babble too goddamn much," Ichigo complains. "I told you before that you don't get a say in this.(5) This is the second time ...This time for certain." He has her hefted under his arm like a sack of potatoes, safe by his side. "I came to save you, Rukia."

Rukia grimaces as she fails to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes, "...I won't thank you for this... you fool..."

Ichigo smiles a genuinely happy smile, "...Sure."

Down below, the Captain of the 6th Division, Kuchiki Byakuya, is intently watching Ichigo standing on the remains of the Dual Terminus.


(1) The symbol closely resembles the crest of the Shihouin family.
(2) If Kiyone and Isane are not related somehow, I would be quite disappointed.
(3) He used the exact same phase before: "______!” In the last chapter, it meant "With this done, we can go!" but this chapter uses it in the second sense of the phrase: "With this, we can do it!" I was just thinking that was a little odd and funny, that's all.
(4) Shihouin, if I'm not mistaken, is the family that Yoruichi belongs too. I assume that Shihouin is an aristocratic family, since Yoruichi has known Byakuya since he was a child. (*snicker* Do you get the deeper meaning? "Aristocats"!?! Hahahahaha!)
(5) I've altered the wording in English this time, but this is the same exact thing he told Rukia in chapter 117: "Your opinions from here on out will all be dismissed!"

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