"...Ngh..." Vice Captain Isane groans softly. She slowly awakens with her cheek laying against a smooth, leathery surface. Her eyes widen as she starts to recognize her strange surroundings.

"Have you regained consciousness, Isane?" a soft voice calls to her.

Isane looks up to see the 4th Captain kneeling beside her.

"Captain Unohana...!" she gasps, "I..."

"Be still," Unohana says soothingly. "You seem to be the least harmed, but you musn't move too much yet." She looks up in concern and gently touches the creature that she and Isane are riding upon, "Let's land here, Minatzuki."

Unohana's creature - her Bankai - resembles a giant one-eyed stingray gliding through the air as if it were an ocean current. Its claws are thin and bony but sharp enough to dig deep into the pavement as it lands.

Three members of the 4th division hurry over to assist their captain. "Are you unharmed?" they shout. "Captain Unohana!! Vice Captain Kotetsu!!"

Unohana and Isane leap off the stingray creature as it starts to arch and heave. "Bring everyone back out, 'Minatzuki'," Unohana orders it.

Minatzuki's mouth puffs up. The Bankai spits out Kiyone, Sentarou, and all of the others who were injured at the execution ground of the Dual Terminus. The tired creature glows, melts, and pours back into Unohana's sword sheathe, reforming its original state as a zanpaku sword.

"No one has serious wounds," Unohana explains to her subordinates. "They should have healed a great deal within Minatzuki's belly. Please allow them rest at the nearby Relief Station 16 until they awaken."

"Yes, ma'am!" the members of the 4th rush to carry out her orders.

Isane turns and looks up at the distant pillars of the destroyed Dual Terminus. She can see energy radiating from the execution area. "...Such spiritual pressure... are there still people over there...?" she asks in concern.

"The intruder from earlier is in a battle against Captain Kuchiki," Unohana says. She explains to the surprised Isane, "All of the other captains are in their own battles. There is very little that we alone can do to stop them."

Unohana pauses and looks away, "Please come with me, Isane. There is somewhere I wish to go for a short while."

(Intro page - Unohana's character page. She stands holding her zanpaku blade, smiling gently.)

There is a smoking crater in the forest beneath the tall cliff of the Dual Terminus. It is devoid of people.

A leaf detaches from a bare tree branch and drifts down in the stillness. Yoruichi and Soi Fong suddenly appear in mid air, exchanging swift kicks that that split the fragile leaf cleanly in two.

The two women leap away from each other and land on separate tree trunks.

"...I see..." Soi Fong speaks up. "Simply because you haven't shown up for a long time does not mean your skills have particularly improved."

"It seems to me," Yoruichi smirks and crosses her arms, "that you're the one whose skills have grown rather dull."

Soi Fong swiftly changes the subject, recalling the flowing cape Ichigo wore when he appeared at the execution. He had a strange buckle around his neck that kept the cape in place and the design on it was unmistakable. "...That intruder child bore the crest of the Shihouin clan on the tentouken wrapped around him... you provided him with that, huh."

"That's right," Yoruichi admits. "After all, if he can't fly, he can't rescue Rukia."

"It shall be the fall of the 'Heavenly Armored Guard' Shihouin family, as well. I am certain that if it is known that you favor the intruders, one of the four great noble houses will be plowed under," Soi Fong seems pleased by this thought. "The descent of a good family, much like the downfall of the Shiba clan, is not a very handsome sight."

"You're being quite talkative today. Are you excited to see your adored predecessor after such a long time apart?" Yoruichi teases her. "Or is it this how you usually blow off steam? Is that it, Lady Captain General of Secret Maneuvers? Is filling in my shoes that heavy a burden for you?" Yoruichi's words seem to hit a sore spot with Soi Fong.

Soi Fong's eyes narrow as she reaches for her sword, "...Don't get infatuated with the idea of always being above us. I am the one who now presides over Secret Maneuvers as well as the Executioners." She draws her zanpaku blade, "Your era... has already ended, Shihouin Yoruichi!!!"

Yoruichi's eyes widen at the spiritual energy released by Soi Fong's drawn sword. Before she has time to react, they are already surrounding her. The Executioners - the Penalty Corps - stand clad in black with their nose and mouth hidden by cloth and their heads shaved bald. They await their orders from Soi Fong as they balance silently on the treetops.

Soi Fong's confidence returns as she addresses Yoruichi, "This is the difference between you and how I am now. I'll have you know that this is what happens when the Commander of the Penalty Corps unsheathes her sword. In other words, it sets the military training of the Executioners into action. All who antagonize the Commander are a target of total destruction. Even if the target is the former Commander, for example. You, who abandoned that title, have no means of escaping, Yoruichi!"

Yoruichi loosens her collar as she listens to Soi Fong gloat. A cruel smile spreads across her face. An instant passes, but of course an instant is all Yoruichi needs. Contained in that single moment, the former Commander blurs and seems to appear everywhere at once, brutally attacking each Executioner and effectively knocking the entire group out of commission.

Soi Fong stares at her in wide-eyed horror as her loyal soldiers are sent flying.

"...It seems I'm being underestimated," Yoruichi looks over at Soi Fong with a self-assured smile. "It's true that I gave up the title of Commander, but... I don't remember abandoning one other title."

"...'Yoruichi... the God of Flash'...!" Soi Fong's eyes narrow in fury.

Soi Fong pauses to rip off the sleeves of her uniform and unties the cloth belt that holds her white Captain's coat in place. "...I see... Then you leave me no choice..." she says as she tosses the sleeveless coat aside to reveal an altered shinigami uniform that bares the skin of her back, shoulders, and hips. "I will strip you of that other title by my own hands."

Yoruichi's grin vanishes. She meets Soi Fong's gaze with a deadly serious look in her eyes.

~*~*~

In a decimated area far from the execution grounds, two Shinigami stop running.

"...We've gotten pretty far," Shunsui says as he takes a look around.

"Yeah," Ukitake replies. "If he comes this far, then the range of damage won't extend any farther."

A third shinigami appears behind them and Shunsui looks over his shoulder to tease the newcomer, "Nanao-chan~ Last place~ ♥"

"Y... you're both too fast," Vice-Captain Nanao snaps back as she tries to catch her breath. It wouldn't be easy for anyone to keep up with two Captain-level Shinigami in most circumstances. Nanao looks over their shoulder and sees someone that makes her voice catch in her throat in horror, "...Ah..."

The 1st Captain, Genryuusai, sits a short distance away from where they stand. He rests against the wooden staff propped up in front of him as if he had been waiting a long while for their arrival.

"...As expected... you made it here quickly," Shunsui smiles coolly as he tries to cover his surprise - something which Ukitake and Nanao can't seem to manage.

"...It's been ages since naughty run-away brats have given me the slip," the aged 1st Captain moves to stand. His sharp eyes bore into the two younger Captains as he speaks, "Come, Children. This can no longer be settled with a mere slap on the wrist." (1)


(1) Actually, it says "clenched fist" but the context is more like "slap on the wrist". It's like, if a student misbehaves, the teacher will tap them on the head with their clenched fist. Nothing too harmful. The connotation is pretty different if I kept it the original way in English.

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