And I present: a fucking long chapter. Excuse my language. As I've said before, this is going to be one of the last chapters, though again they're looooonnggg. There's only one more chapter, plus the epilogue~! ^^
Last note here: this is what takes place during Harry's fight.

Hermione groaned, her body being buffeted with pain. Her body refused to move, and she cracked open her eyes. The effort alone took up almost all her energy. Everything was blurry and dark, but she could make out everyone collapsed and unconscious around her.

Farther off, two figures were lifting themselves up, but she couldn't tell who it was from where she stood. It took another moment letting her eyes focus, but once she did, she realized that gray color wasn't the sky.

Her mouth widened slightly, and she tried to scream, but before she could, there was a large gust of wind, and she shut her eyes against it as pain pummeled her body once more. There was a scream, somewhere in the distance, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from.

This time, her eyes refused to open, and Hermione could only strain the rest of her senses to attempt to understand what was going on. Someone was speaking, but despite hearing them clearly, she couldn't understand it. A different language…?

Then there was a voice that spoke above the others; an unfortunately familiar one that sent what body parts she could move frozen in fear.

Rukia glared at the two antagonists before them, each one with their own form of a smug smile. Beside her, Ichigo and Captain Hitsugaya were rising to their feet, glaring with equal fury at the duo standing before them.

"Well, look who it is." The tall, black-haired man Rukia recognized as Raynaulski directed a feral grin at them. His gaze didn't seem directed at them however, but rather behind them.

She glanced back, where Shouta was getting to his knees. He glared up at the other man, but seemed too exhausted to say anything else at the moment. Aizen seemed to notice this as well, as the smirk on his face widened.

"Have you been having fun with my pet?" He asked, and Shouta growled in response, which was echoed by Ichigo's expression.

"Bastard…!" Before anyone could stop him, the substitute launched at him, Zangetsu poised for an attack. Before their eyes, however, Aizen crouched, sending his elbow careening into Ichigo's stomach before anyone could blink.

Ichigo coughed, Zangetsu slipping from his grip as he fell to his knees. Aizen clicked his tongue in disappointment, and the substitute glared vehemently up at him. He looked up casually, surveying the state of the reapers and Shouta.

He smirked. "I'm sure you won't need my help." He decided, and beside him Raynaulski grinned.

"I'm not letting you get away!" The substitute roared, hand throwing up Zangetsu as he launched himself forward to the ex-Captain standing only feet away from him. Aizen's smirk widened, and Hitsugaya breathed in sharply.

"Stop, you idiot!" He cried out, rushing forward, but he was too late.

Aizen dodged the attack easily, pulling out his wand once more and pointing it at Ichigo.

"Memento peccata."

Ichigo dropped to the ground, screaming as he clutched his head, knuckles turning white.

"ICHIGO!" Rukia rushed forward towards him, only to be stopped as Shouta reached out and grasped her wrist, pulling her back. She whirled around to glare at him. "Let go, Izukai!"

"No," he growled, pulling himself to his feet, "You'll only end up in his situation." She turned back to where Kurosaki had gone eerily quiet, his hands having fallen to his sides.

"Ichigo…?" He didn't respond aside from a small twitch of the fingers. She strained her neck to see his expression, only to pull back at the sight of it. His face was gaunt and pale, lips dry and parted with a slack jaw. His brown eyes, normally filled with warmth and determination, were wide and unseeing, and filled to the brim with pain.

Aizen, having noticed her reaction, curled his lip in amusement. "Wonderful, isn't it?" He asked, and everyone leveled their furious glares at him.

"You bastard…" Hitsugaya snarled, hands gripping the hilt of Hyorinmaru.

"It's a new spell that can only be performed with the combination of spiritual energy and magic. It enters a person's mind and brings out their most painful memories and fears, replaying them over and over until they break. A… psychological form of the Cruciatus Curse, so to speak." Aizen explained, his expression only making the shinigami even more furious. He glanced down at Ichigo, clicking his tongue in what sounded like disappointment, and flicked his wand with a snap of the wrist.

Immediately after he did so, Ichigo gasped, falling forward and catching himself with his arms. He proceeded to spend several moments gasping and shuddering as Rukia rushed forward, kneeling beside him. He flinched violently when her fingers grazed his shoulder.

"As you can see," Aizen continued, sheathing the wand disinterestedly, "The more pain one has suffered in their life, the worse the effects." He turned, smiling at them one last time. "I look forward to our next meeting." With that, he disappeared.

Raynaulski sighed, unsheathing the katana at his side. "Well then, I better clean up the mess." He grinned at them, his gaze traveling to where Ichigo was still regaining his bearings. His grin broadened, and he flashed forward.

Rukia's head snapped up the moment he moved, though before she could move, Shouta appeared before her, blocking the assassin's katana with his ebony black rifle. The two stood at a standstill, weapons and arms shaking from the effort.

The red-eyed man frowned. "Are you sure you want to do this, boy? We both know what will happen if you fight any longer." Shouta growled, pushing harder against him.

"It's worth the risk." He retorted, leaping several feet back.

"Shouta—" Matsumoto started, interrupted as the two clashed again.

"I can handle him." He said, not looking away from the second standstill he found himself in. "Go take care of the Amphibaena and make sure Kurosaki is alright."

Raynaulski laughed. "You're going to regret that statement, boy!"

Ichigo couldn't move; he couldn't breathe. The world around him had dropped to a standstill, and all he could see was that same scene over and over again.

"Ichigo… Ichigo, why…?" That voice, that same voice, the one he hadn't heard since that stormy night all those years ago. Even after the pain and the images stopped coming, the voice continued to echo in his ears.

He coughed again, his arms shaking from the effort of holding him up. A person he knew was there was shouting at him, but he could neither see nor hear them. But it sounded familiar, and a warm hand gripped his shoulder, grounding his mind.

And then the sound of metal clashing became audible, the roar of a creature he'd never before come across, even among hollows. He gasped, and the strength came surging through his body once more, sense flooding into his psyche.

Ichigo jerked up into a sitting position, groaning and clutching his head as an intense headache made itself known. The soft gasp of Rukia as he moved registered in his brain somewhere, though he didn't bother trying to decipher the signals, too focused on the pain.

"Ichigo, are you alright?!" Rukia's voice sounded as if she was screaming into a microphone inches away from his ear. The substitute squeezed his eyes shut, swatting in the general direction of her voice, hitting something and receiving an indignant squawk in return that reverberated in his brain.

"Augh, shut up Rukia!" He snapped, clamping his hands over his ears. "You're too loud!" There seemed to be a soft apology in return, but he was too busy trying to reign in the pain to really care.

After several minutes, when it seemed the pounding in his head had lessened to a more manageable level, Ichigo let his hands drop to his side, finally turning to face Rukia. She looked worried, but relief flooded through her expression when he finally turned to look at her.

"Are you okay, Ichigo?" She asked, and this time her voice wasn't nearly as much of a boom. He sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

"My head's still pounding, but I'll be alright." He replied, letting his eyes stray to their surroundings. They widened in unconcealed shock.

Farther off, Shouta—a pistol in one hand and knife in the other—traded blows back and forth with Raynaulski, and around them a large, serpentine creature wreaked havoc on the area, both Matsumoto and Hitsugaya trying to keep it at bay. Ichigo sat in the center of it all, in the eye of the storm, so to speak, with Rukia kneeling beside him.

"Wh-Where's Aizen…?" He asked, his sluggish brain still trying to register the chaos around him.

"…He got away." Rukia muttered in reply. The substitute shinigami scowled, fist clenching, but he shook his head—ignoring the pain in the process—and pulled himself to his feet with a grunt. His legs wobbled under his weight, but he took a deep breath and they steadied themselves.

"Alright. Then what the hell is that?" He pointed to the slithery, two-headed creature above them.

"An Amphisbaena. It seems to have been created by Aizen, Raynaulski, and Voldemort. Supposedly it's a mixture of hollows, hell demons, and dark magicks. Or something like that." Rukia explicated with a sigh. "We haven't figured out how to kill it yet. We tried slicing its mask, but it's like cutting through molasses."

Ichigo stared up at the thing, narrowing his eyes at it. "It's a hollow right? So just slice its mask."

"Weren't you listening to anything I said?! It's not that easy!" She snapped in return, standing and glaring at him. Ichigo continued to stare at the Amphisbaena, his expression now more of a dubious one.

"Right…"

The pistol flew out of his hand, the black firearm shrinking back into a ring form before it hit the ground. Shouta cursed silently, glancing at it before turning back to his opponent. He flipped the knife from his left hand to his right, catching it blade down.

"What's wrong, boy?" Raynaulski grinned, an almost maniacal look in his eyes. "You're shaking." The brunette's breath caught, and he looked at his hands, which were indeed trembling. He gritted his teeth, glaring back up at the older man, who laughed. "You're reaching your limit. I can see it in your eyes. Two, maybe three attacks left in you?"

"Shut up!" He growled, lunging at the other with the knife. It was blocked easily.

"Come on, boy! You can do better than that!" The assassin cackled as they leapt apart and attacked again, the intricate footwork used to dodge and counter something akin to a dance. "Let him out! Stop holding back!" He dodged an attack from the smaller blade, lashing out with his own. The younger of the two didn't move back quickly enough, the tip of the katana grazing along his chest.

He ignored the pain, and moved to step forward.

Let me take over.

Shouta gasped, doubling over as his head suddenly felt as if it was splitting in two.

Let me take control.

The knife fell to the ground as his hands flew to his face, eyes staring through the cracks between his fingers without processing anything. His vision was filling with red.

I can win. I can give you the power. Let me take over.

The Amphisbaena roared from somewhere above him, followed by the clash of metal and the battle cry of the shinigami. A few feet away, Raynaulski watched patiently, smiling knowingly. Nearby, Ichigo was shouting, running, Rukia following just steps behind him.

There was a sense of detached passivity that came over his mind, as if it was being separated from his body. It felt as if only a thin strand still connected him, a thin strand that let him retain control.

You want the power to stop him, don't you? The power to finally enact your rightful vengeance. You know you're not strong enough without me. I can win. Let me take over.

Shouta closed his eyes, a wave of exhaustion coming over him. He no longer had the willpower or the strength to keep up all this fighting, against both the enemy and himself. He just wanted to end it all. '…Okay.' And the strand snapped.