This is the last chapter! Only the epilogue, and we're done~! :DDD
Bold is Japanese, and italics signify attacks and spells. As well as a certain thing's speech.

Matsumoto launched herself to her left, barely dodging another attack in time. She panted, out of breath from the constant movement. "Captain!" She exclaimed in an almost whiny tone, flipping out of the way of an incoming head. "Didn't you learn defensive spells at the wizarding school?!"

Hitsugaya huffed, glowering at the creature that had at some point gained the ability to lash out at him with a silver tongue. Literally. "What kind of spell would work against this thing?" He retorted, zanpakuto clashing with a clang against the slick organ as it flicked out from between the creature's fangs.

"Fire spells! Something that'll make it burn!" She shouted back, the fanged head grazing her shihakusho. It followed her as she ran from it, and the Tenth Squad Lieutenant whirled around, Haineko held high. The head of the Amphisbaena rammed into her zanpakuto, and she slid several feet back, though her stance held firm. "Captain!"

"I don't have the time to pull out my wand!" Hitsugaya snapped, frustrated as he swung his blade once more. A wave of ice erupted from the blade, but the Amphisbaena simply crashed through it unfazed.

"I'll distract it!" He jumped back as Rukia leaped into the battle, her zanpakuto a beautiful snow white.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Sode no Shirayuki glowed, and Rukia narrowed her eyes as the masked head lunged. She attacked, and a circular pillar of light encased the head, freezing the head and a good portion of the body.

Hitsugaya glanced once at the head, the ice already beginning to crack as the body jiggled and thrashed about. The hand not holding Hyorinmaru fumbled about in his pockets, searching for the wooden stick. "Useless object…" He muttered to himself, alongside a few curses for good measure.

Matsumoto cried out as his fingers wrapped around the wood, and he jerked it out as he turned to see the head's mask crack open, fangs poised to strike. He rushed towards her, wand aimed at the head. Somewhere behind him, the ice from Rukia's attack shattered.

"Confringo!" A flame burst from his wand, crashing into the mask before it could make contact with his Lieutenant. The mask exploded, bursting into flame as both heads of the Amphibaena screamed in agony. Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, and Rukia all covered their ears, bending over as the sound pounded painfully against their eardrums.

The sound masked the maniacal laughter from several dozen feet away before a wave of dark, intense spiritual pressure assaulted them all.

The shinigami all whirled around to face the direction that it had originated from, just in time to see Kurosaki land painfully on his back before them.

"Ichigo!" The spiky-haired teen groaned as Rukia helped him up. "Ichigo, what happened?"

The substitute waved his hand in the general direction he'd come from. "I don't know." He grunted, using Zangetsu to drag himself to his feet. "Shouta had doubled over and I was running towards him when there was this… spirit energy, I think. It was really dark and thick, like some sort of black smoke." He rubbed the back of his sore head, from where it had collided with the ground. "Then I got blasted over here."

"Then what—" Rukia's voice died in her throat as she finally looked up in the direction Ichigo came from.

The wind and dust and spiritual pressure had died down to a somewhat more manageable level, revealing the person—no, the creature—that stood before them.

Wild brown hair was flung in every direction by the strong gust, streaks of white becoming more and more noticeable with each moment that passed. Its skin was pasty, and on the right arm, climbing and wriggling upwards under the skin were thick, black, tentacle-like things, shattered at various intervals. Where it jerked and wriggled, blood poured down the arm. Nails were sharper, more claw-like, and ears gained a point as well, like an elf's. A long, black tail whipped around.

Then the creature turned to look at them. Its eyes, despite the inhuman, cat-like pupils, were still surprisingly human. They were a bright green, though as the shinigami watched, red seemed to bubble up, staining the right eye more and more. It gave them a pleading look, and a tear trailed down the left side of its face.

Just as quickly as it came, the humanity in its eyes was gone, and the thing shrieked with laughter as its bloodlust filled the air. Its head snapped back around to Raynaulski, who stood watching the whole exchange almost casually, and growled, launching itself towards him, so quickly that he almost missed it.

The assassin leapt to the right, but he wasn't fast enough as claws made three long gashes diagonally across his arm. He stared at it in what seemed to be surprise for several moments, whilst the creature whirled back around to him, snarling.

Raynaulski began laughing—more of a cackle than anything else. He laughed and laughed and laughed, clutching his stomach and bending over at the force of it. This went on for perhaps several minutes before he finally calmed down, slowly pulling himself straight again as a few last chuckles escaped his mouth.

His head snapped towards the creature, grinning at it as he unsheathed his katana with a flourish. "Finally! Took you long enough, boy!" He cackled, and leapt towards the creature with a near equal amount of speed. "Now we'll have some fun!"

The shinigami watched, somewhat shocked, as the clash of metal ringing filled the air.

The assassin would swing his blade at the creature, which would easily duck or jump or dodge around it, striking at him with its claws, grazing him. Each performed various flips and handsprings, using it to add extra force and momentum to an attack.

"That spiritual pressure…" Hitsugaya muttered in shock, and Matsumoto's eyes widened as she realized what he meant. Kurosaki turned to look at the both of them.

"What? What is it?"

"Captain's right. His spiritual pressure… It's a little different, but that's… That's Shouta." She explained, and Ichigo's head snapped back towards the fight.

"So then… That's what he meant when he said he was cursed?" The substitute asked, and Hitsugaya sighed heavily.

"That's correct." He whipped his head back to face the Captain, eyebrows narrowed in a sort of frustration.

"Don't you guys know how to turn him back?! You said this happened once before, right?!" When no one answered, he growled, clutching Zangetsu with a white-knuckled grip.

"Ichigo—" Rukia started, reaching out to him almost sympathetically before he whirled around angrily at them.

"What are we waiting for?! You saw it, didn't you?! He was asking for our help!" Hitsugaya returned the substitute's glare with a level gaze.

"Ichigo." The high school student's rant was interrupted by the Captain's stern tone. Hitsugaya had sheathed Hyorinmaru, his arms crossed firmly. "The last time anyone tried to stop him, over two dozen men were killed. The most we can do right now is make sure no one else gets hurt." At his words, he nodded towards the stands, where all the wizards were lying about, unconscious.

He looked at Hitsugaya, who stood unrelenting, before turning to Rukia at a loss, who simply shook her head. "But…"

Matsumoto sighed loudly, interrupting the moment as she slapped Ichigo hard on the back, causing him to stumble forward. "Go help him. We can take care of everything else." She finally said, causing Hitsugaya to glare and snap at her, though the substitute looked at her, wide-eyed. She smiled at the shortest of the group. "Don't be like that Captain!" She exclaimed, before turning to Ichigo with a reassuring expression. "And we've got everything covered. I promise."

Ichigo smiled at the trio, the familiar fire returning to his eyes. "Thanks, guys."

He turned around, racing towards the fight between the assassin and Shouta. Once he got within ten feet of them, they clashed, and it took everything he had not to be blown back again. Each strike produced the same burst of energy, and Ichigo struggled forward.

The creature that was the brunette shrieked once more with laughter and this close to it, the sound grated against his eardrums, causing him to wince. The next ten minutes were spent with him trying to get close enough to interfere with the fight in vain. Finally, after some time, Ichigo growled, raising his zanpakuto before him as he placed both hands on it.

"Screw this," he growled, "BANKAI!"

Ichigo's spiritual pressure exploded, the large, almost bulky form of Zangetsu shrinking into the sleek ebony-colored blade now in his hands. He could feel the strength that came with the form coursing through his veins, and he flexed his fingers around Zangetsu's hilt.

Before him, Shouta and Raynaulski launched towards one another once more, claws and fangs bared and blades raised.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" With a flicker of movement, Ichigo stood between them, blocking the attacks of both sides with his zanpakuto. Shouta jumped back, standing on all fours now, hackles raised as he growled. Raynaulski, on the other hand, stayed right where he was.

"Get out of the way, substitute." The assassin growled, pushing against the teen's blade with his own. Ichigo slid back several feet, but held his ground.

"No." He snapped in reply, but their battle was interrupted before it could begin by what sounded almost like a roar.

He whirled around—he barely noticed the assassin behind him stumble away—raising his sword, but was too slow as pain punched through his stomach. Ichigo coughed, doubling over, dropping Zangetsu as both hands reached for the foreign intrusion.

Just as quickly as he thrust it in, Shouta pulled his hand back out with a schlick. Blood coated his fingers and sharpened nails, which he splattered across the ground with a flick of his wrist. Cold, inhuman eyes—one a bright green, the other an equally bright crimson—stared indifferently as the substitute Shinigami collapsed, blood gushing out of the wound he'd created.

The others had yet to notice due to the large proximity of the area and the lack of any loud shout. Ichigo coughed some more, blood flying out along with the phlegm. His knees hit the ground painfully for the second time that day as someone stood over him. First Aizen, now Shouta.

"Weak." The word was uttered softly, a guttural noise that sounded nothing like the person it came from. The sound was enough to send a spark of anger flashing through Ichigo's body, and his right hand once again reached out, gripping Zangetsu, fingers flexing around the hilt.

A clawed hand reached out, gripping his hair and tugging at it painfully, the action lifting the substitute's head to face the cold, now heterochromatic eyes before him. "You are weak, human. Stay out of my way." Ichigo growled, and in one smooth motion, swung his sword in a wide arc before him.

Shouta jumped back to avoid the attack, but nonetheless, a spray of blood erupted from the cut that stretched clean across his midsection. He howled, an animal-like cry, snarling as he leaped in retaliation towards the Shinigami, who'd just staggered to his feet, one hand still clutching the wound in his stomach.

He blocked the head-on assault, and Shouta swung out with his other hand. Ichigo blocked this tow, flicking his blade back and forth in defense as he was assailed by constant, precise attacks. Even in his Bankai form, he found it hard to keep up, and slowly but surely, he was being pushed back.

Thus, with all his concentration focused on his current opponent, he failed to notice the other until it was too late.

The pain didn't come immediately, but rather bloomed as slowly as the blood seeping through his clothes. Somewhere in the distance, someone was yelling, and he could see the silver metal that jutted out of his chest and through Shouta's, who stood frozen before him.

Then there was a shick sound, and the blade was gone. With nothing to hold his body up, Ichigo crumpled, falling rather painfully on his—was it his side? He couldn't really tell anymore. Dull brown eyes sluggishly looked up as a combination of knees and blood dropped to the ground beside him. Soon after, tears followed.

"Shouta…? You're yourself again." Ichigo chuckled, breath hitching as his lungs found it increasingly difficult to draw in oxygen. His eyes could still somewhat make out the blurry face of the brunette, the unnatural features slowly fading. His emerald green eyes were watery, salty tears dripping down his chin.

"I…" He started, but he couldn't seem to find the words, and he simply kneeled there until Rukia, Matsumoto, and Hitsugaya joined them, the three raising their zanpakuto towards Raynaulski threateningly. The assassin simply looked distastefully at his now bloodied katana.

"Kuchiki, focus on treating Kurosaki and Izukai. We'll take care of him." Hitsugaya barked, eyes still trained on the killer before him. Rukia hesitated only a moment before sheathing Sode no Shirayuki and rushing back to Ichigo's side.

Before anyone could do anything, however, Shouta stood shakily, slowly hobbling towards the next approaching fight. No one stopped him, not quite understanding what it was he was trying to do. Once the brunette was between the two Shinigami and the assassin, he turned towards Raynaulski, spreading his arms apart in a protective gesture.

"Shouta, what are you doing? You're injured!" Matsumoto protested, a bad feeling starting to churn in her gut. "Let us handle this."

With his back acing them, they couldn't see his expression. Raynaulski gave no indication either, his own features remaining stony. Nonetheless, to the shinigamis' surprise, he straightened, sheathing his sword and crossing his arms with a silent sigh of defeat.

"Sorry Matsumoto… Hitsugaya…" He coughed, and at his feet they could see speckles of blood. "I never did tell you… did I? How to permanently kill someone who's… already risen from hell."

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed, his grip white-knuckled on the hilt of Hyorinmaru. "What do you mean?"

"It requires… complete erasure. That person's existence must completely disappear from this plane of existence… Memories… actions… everything."

Ichigo held back a yell of pain, grunting as he heaved himself up onto his elbows, despite the protests of Rukia. "Shouta… Don't do it." He breathed heavily, barely getting the words out, but even that seemed to cause something to click in Hitsugaya's mind.

"If we erased him, it would erase you too." He stated calmly, expression changing only by the slightest twitch, and both his lieutenant and Rukia snapped their heads towards Shouta in shock.

At this point, Shouta turned to them with a grin on his face. Despite it all, the smile seemed genuine. "That's right. My life and everything that's happened up to this point was because of him. If he didn't exist, it's probable that I would still be alive and with my sister. My mother would be alive, and unless something else caused our deaths, all the events up until now with my involvement would not happen or would be changed significantly.

"I've been hesitating about it for a while now… But I don't think I have any regrets about this."

"Don't do it, you idiot!" At this point, no one was sure who had yelled it out. It didn't seem to matter though; it was what they were all thinking, after all.

Shouta's grin widened. "It's too late for that. I've already started the process. See?" His arms drop rather ungracefully, and his right hand slaps his chest, where the wound created from Raynaulski's blade still dripped with blood. "I can't even feel any pain anymore."

Suddenly, there was a blast of energy that erupted from anywhere and everywhere. It couldn't quite be described as spiritual pressure or energy, but it wasn't quite magic either. Regardless of its nature, it began to take a physical form—a swirling black mass that extended outward, flaring out at its surroundings.

No one could move—not Hitsugaya or Ichigo or even Raynaulski. It was as if they'd been turned to stone, stuck where they were for an indefinite amount of time. Shouta finally turned to face the Shinigami fully, and smiled and waved.

"It was nice knowing you guys. I had a great time."

I almost called Ray the ass. To be fair, in this story, I suppose it's pretty fitting. :P