The final chapter of Hell on Earth: Extended edition. Enjoy and review.

14: End

Karin stared up at the one who saved her. Disbelief was etched into her face. She rubbed at her eyes and blinked but it was the same man in the end. There was no mistaking it.

"Dad...No way! You're a shinigami?"

Her father sheathed his sword and glanced over his shoulder, looking her straight in the eye.

"Don't worry, the hollow are all gone now." His voice had an unnatural seriousness to it. He had never sounded like this in his entire life, it sounded so out of place and strange, yet it was a reassurance nonetheless. His face, usually contorted in some clown-like expression was set in stone, a stern scowl; similar to the one Ichigo always wore. His stare was intense, like knives piercing her flesh.

"Don't follow me. It's too dangerous. Just go straight home and we can talk there later."

"But...Ichigo..." Karin whimpered.

"He's alright. He's a tough kid, he takes after me!"

In the blink of an eye, he was gone, vanished into thin air. Karin blinked, half expecting it to just be a trick of the light, but her father had vanished.

She glanced over at the great plumes of smoke which rose from the massive crater. She knew it had to be where her father had gone. She dragged herself to her feet and limped after him.

Isshin stood at the edge of the crater. Two men suddenly joined him, one on each side. The man to his left was Ryuken Ishida, a tall wiry framed man with slick white hair. He stooped down and inspected his unconscious son.

"Bloody shinigami1 I kept telling him to stay away from your boy Isshin. He just won't listen." He groaned as he got back and cast his gaze on the wide expanse of the crater.

The other man wore a coat that bore an uncanny resemblance to a captain's haori, only with the colours reversed. His name was Kisuke Urahara, previous 12th squad captain until his exile a hundred years ago. Now he lived out his days running a small store in Karakura under the facade of a candy store, though in reality he sold supplies to resident shinigami.

Kisuke drew his sword out of the cleverly disguised scabbard. His cane hid a sword blade within its thin frame. Urahara studied the blade for a moment before calling its name. He released his Shikai and assumed a defensive stance, ready to attack when the need arose.

That time was soon at hand as Lucifer was beginning to rise from his hands and knees. He had been knocked down by the blast, but it was not enough to keep him down for good. In no time he would be up again and he would decimate the injured combatants.

"Damn, he's still not finished." Urahara swung his sword at the air and roared, "Scream, Benihime!" The whole length of the blade glowed a vibrant red and suddenly the surging energy shot off towards Lucifer, creating a high whistling sound as it soared across the vacant battlefield. It struck the giant full in the chest and knocked him back down.

Urahara sighed. "That should distract him for now. Say Kurosaki, isn't that your boy down there?"

Isshin followed his gaze and discovered two figures locked together in a paralysed deadlock. Indeed, one of the figures was his son. Ichigo was down on one knee, his black sword raised up and running through Shrieker's throat and jutting out the back.

Isshin frowned and moved closer, flash stepping down into the crater until he was beside his son.

Shrieker's blade protruded from Ichigo's back, its tip still dripping with fresh blood.

From his knowledge of the human anatomy, Isshin guessed that the sword would have pierced the boy's lung.

He glared at the beast that had nearly claimed his son and lashed out with his weapon. In one swing he sliced the vile demon's head clean off. The corpse evaporated into black vapour which blew around him like dust before dissipating and vanishing into nothingness.

"Ichigo...You did well."

Isshin was put off when a great shadow fell over him. He glanced up at Lucifer who was once again back on his feet, angry and ready to attack. He cursed under his breath and tightened his grip on his sword. Blue energy amassed around the blade and with a powerful swing it was sent off into the great King of Hell, causing him to back up a few steps.

Isshin charged up another blast while he called out to his companions. "Alright! On three then!"

Ryuken raised his spirit bow and took aim. "One."

Urahara drew Benihime back as if she were a cricket back. A confident smirk crept up across his features. "Two."

Then, the three men roared as one, "THREE!"

A large arrow struck the King in the forehead. He rocked back and let out an earth-shattering cry of pain. The two blasts of energy hit him in the chest and he was thrown back as rivers of blood spurted out from his wounds.

A large patch of light appeared behind the behemoth and it soon materialized into the gates of Hell. The skeletal guards opened the portal and the great King withdrew. As the great gates closed the corpses of all the hollows did as well.

The battle was won.

Isshin strung his son over one shoulder and then went over to Rukia and put her over his other shoulder. He flash stepped to the top of the crater and was about to leave when he heard running footsteps behind him.

"Dad! What happened? What was that thing? What happened to Ichigo?" Karin blurted out the many questions milling around inside of her head, though she was so stimulated that they all came out in a jumble of words that could barely be translated.

Isshin however understood his daughter. He faced her and gazed into her wide terrified eyes. He gave a brief smile and then nodded to Urahara.

"Karin, I'll explain once we get to this man's house."

Kisuke introduced himself and then crouched down facing away from her. Karin stared at him dumbfounded. "Get on," He coaxed. "We're going for a ride!"

The two shinigami made good time with their Shunpo. They arrived in not time and once they entered the Urahara Shoten they prepared themselves for the enlightenment. It was about time Karin knew about the world beyond death.

Within three hours much of the world of hollows and shinigami had been explained. Urahara and Isshin worked together to make things simpler for her to understand the complexities of life after death. They went slow and answered all of her questions...And there were many, many questions.

Eventually, Isshin explained the true circumstances behind Masaki's death. It had pained him to tell her daughter about the tragedy, but he couldn't keep the secret buried anymore. He hugged Karin in an attempt to comfort her.

"So...Mum was killed...By one of those...Things?" She asked slowly.

Isshin sighed mournfully. "Yes. I came up with the lie so no-one would know. I'm sorry."

Karin fell silent and stared at the floor.

The trio all kept quiet for a while, letting the awful truth sink in, but their silent mourning was interrupted by loud rustling in the next room. Both Urahara and Isshin shared uneasy glances. They nodded to each other and Isshin picked up his daughter and carried her outside.

"Dad! What are you doing? What about Ichigo?"

Isshin frowned. "For now I don't want Ichigo to know about me. Please promise me you won't tell him."

Karin gazed into her father's eyes. He was dead serious, a side she had never seen until today. If Goat-chin was serious, then there was a good reason not to tell him. She nodded gently and withdrew into her own thoughts while Isshin carried her home.

There is so much I don't know about my family. Even the things I though I knew have turned out to be lies. I can't even trust my family any more. What can I believe...and who?

Father and daughter stayed silent for the entire trip back.

Back at the crater a large senkai gate opened. The entire fourth squad rushed out to the aid of the fallen warriors. Some brought out stretchers and the wounded were brought back to Soul Society for treatment.

Several messengers were sent out. One went to the Kurosaki clinic, one to the Urahara Shoten and the others to the residences of Chad, Uryu and Orihime.

Each messenger bore an invitation. Grand scale battles were rare but when mass funerals were conducted it was always customary for all involved in the battle to attend, even if they were humans.

The brave Karakura citizens were to be invited to the funeral, for the hundreds of victims that had lost their lives in the struggle and the small number of shinigami who died protecting them.

FUNERAL SERVICE- SOUL SOCIETY

Ichigo and the others had arrived through a specially constructed senkai gate and now assembled on a small stage alongside the captains and their assistants.

The captain commander, Yammamoto Genryusai, banged his cane on the wooden floor creating a resounding echo. On that signal several shinigami brought out the coffins of their fallen comrades.

The withered old man closed his eyes and commenced the eulogy.

"We are here to remember those who were lost in the battle against the legions of Hell. These brave men died while defending the innocent civilians of Karakura and their valiant efforts all contributed to our victory."

The first coffin was laid down. It was twice as large as the others and was decorated with a small '2' painted on the lid. Soi Fon approached the casket and laid down the adjutant's badge. She then gave a small speech about her lost lieutenant.

The next coffin was laid down but with the absence of 3rd squad's captain the fallen warrior's closest friends gave a few words. Renji and Hinamori reminisced of their days back at the Soul Reaper academy and their battles together. When Hinamori started to cry she was led away from the coffin and back to her position in the assembly of shinigami.

The last coffin was laid down and a low ranking officer told of his friend.

Genryusai stepped forward again.

Let us also remember the many innocent people who were attacked and killed by the despicable monsters who invaded Karakura. This is the highest number of human casualties in a battle between us and the wretched hollows. We apologise to those who were dragged into our battles and we apologise to those who we could not save.

He then waved a hand to the captains. "We must also applaud the valiant efforts of our elite fighters who fought to the very end."

The crowd of lower ranking shinigami clapped and cheered.

Yammamoto then turned to the human guests.

"We must also thank Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends, who ultimately won the battle in the end. Without this group we surely would have lost many more troops."

Badges were given to them all and the crowd cheered once more.

A few more congratulations were announced and then the service was over.

Such a victory could not go without celebration and so a grand party was planned after the service. The relief squads took a break from tending to the dying and injured and instead handed out food and sake.

Everyone was gathered in a grand courtyard.

The captains gathered around Ichigo and thanked him. Even the cold-hearted Byakuya Kuchiki acknowledged his efforts. Ichigo was speaking with Toshiro when a massive shadow fell over him. Ichigo whirled around to face Zaraki, fully healed and smiling.

"I'm glad you're alive Ichigo." He said calmly, though there was something off about it.

"Thanks...Um...Good to see you too." Ichigo replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

I'm glad that hollow didn't kill you...Because that's my job!" His tone shifted suddenly to a vicious snarl and he unsheathed his rusted sword and laughed madly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" Ichigo turned on his heels and bolted. He weaved between masses of people and dodged the fourth squad waiters. Kenpachi followed close behind.

There was a pink flash and Ichigo froze. The top spikes of his hair were cut off. He looked around nervously and spotted Yachiru with her sword drawn. She twirled a lock of orange hair between her fingers.

"What the hell?"

She waved the hair around while giggling like little child. "Watch out Ichi!" She said in a sing-song way. "If Kenny doesn't catch you, I will!"

Ichigo ran off again crying out for help. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone approach from the side. He was going too fast to stop and the stranger pounced on him, tackling him to the ground.

Ichigo cried out but when he wasn't attacked he pried open his eyes to see Rukia sprawled on top of him.

"Hi Ichigo."

He gazed at her silently, unsure what to say.

"We did it!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Did what?"

"This..."

Rukia leaned over and kissed him.

The other shinigami, now all drunk, cheered them on and clapped

Perched on a branch high up in a tree, someone watched the tow shinigami kiss. He licked his cracked lips with his oversized tongue. He observed the celebrations with the empty cavities that once contained eyes. Now they were abyssal craters in his head, leaking a foul red substance. Tentacles wormed their out through his skin and brushed through his spike black hair.

"Enjoy yourself now girl...Because when I crash the party you will never smile again! Mwahahahaha!"

THE END?

Well that's the end of the first part, but the battles are not yet over. There is more to come in the sequel 'The Faceless'. Read it now! Anyway, I want to thank all of you who read and the select few who reviewed. It would have been nicer to recieve more feedback but that can't be helped. I hope you enjoyed the story and that you will enjoy the sequel as well.

I'm sure you have a final impression of the story and I would love to hear it. Please review.