Bleach: Jigoku Files

by Bloody Simpson Chibi

The Shinigami of Soul Society are tasked with keeping the balance of souls in check. But what happens when outside forces work against this balance? Forces that are evil and violent by nature? Forces that push the Shinigami to question everything they've been taught? Forces that feed off horror and fear? Rated M. Alternate continuity from after the Lost Agent Arc

35. Hunter's Moon (Side 2)

Chapter 35: Hunter's Moon (Side 2)

(Wonderful. Just wonderful. Now it would seem those "I luv UR sTORee, do yOu waNT 2 COCKLlbrate!?" fucks are invading my reviews. I mean, come the fuck on! You know I'm not gonna fall for this shit so just leave me alone! Son of a bitch!

sigh

Anyway, now that I've completed another chapter of Roses are Red and So Are The Violets, we can get the schedule back on track which means it's already time to write another chapter for Jigoku Files. As you can tell by the title, this chapter will wrap up everything in a nice little bow...mostly.

Hopefully, I can get this arc done before the year is out.

So I hope you enjoy the story and please don't bother with a review if it's just to ask for a "collaboration" because the answer is NO!)

Nobody was expecting an eclipse that night. The weather station had made no mention of the possibility of it and with the moon hanging above Karakura Town like a radiant king of the stars, there was no implication that this beautiful light would be engulfed by unearthly darkness.

But it was.

It occurred in an instant, far too quickly for anyone to make sense of what was happening until it was over. No one noticed the shadows towering from a old field in the middle of Karakura Town or the way they swirled over the moon, soaking up the light like a kitchen sponge soaking up water droplets. They only noticed that the moon's light had vanished from their town, leaving them with only the dim light of the stars and the various artificial lights in town.

"Huh?" Yuzu cried in surprise as she stared at the stretch of darkness where the moon used to be. "What happened? I didn't know there was going to be an eclipse tonight!"

"I don't think there was supposed to be one," Karin muttered. "Something's wrong here."

"Ichigo," Yuzu walked up to her big brother's body and held its hand. "What's going on?"

Kon, upon hearing Yuzu's voice, tore himself away from the unexpected eclipse and smiled as warmly as he could while patting Yuzu's head. "Don't worry about it," He said in the most convincing voice he could muster. "It's probably just some clouds passing by. They'll move soon enough and then we can get some more mochi, okay?"

"O...Okay," Yuzu replied, not sounding the least bit convinced. Neither was Karin who took a mental note of all the other people at the festival. Despite there being plenty of candles and lanterns around to fend off the sudden darkness, the festivities had grounded to a complete halt as everyone looked up to the sky. Parents comforted their crying children, business men were on their phones demanding an explanation for the sudden disappearance of the moon while still others simply remained silent as they stared out into the dark sky.

And then the wind came.

It was but a small breeze at first, only noticeable to those already on edge thanks to the surprise eclipse. Lanterns trembled slightly and the flames of the candles flickered but that was the extent of movement caused by this breeze. It might have even been dismissed as just a normal gust of autumn wind if it weren't for the stench of rotting flesh it brought with it. Karin winced at the smell and closed her nose. "What is this wind?" She asked. "I think we should go."

"What?" Yuzu asked. "But Karin-

Both sisters froze as the wind grew in speed, blowing though their costumes and sending chills throughout their bodies. Some people outright screamed as the wind grew stronger, blowing out the candles and ripping the lanterns away from their wires and stands. Panic engulfed the park as the wind picked up more and more by the second, and with it, the darkness. Kon grunted and held the girls close as more and more lights faded into the blackness. "Hold on tight!" He shouted as he lifted the surprised sisters over his shoulders and took off running. Thanks to his nature as a Mod Soul, Kon could sense the spiritual discharge of the panicking people around him and thus avoid bumping into them.

"I-Ichigo!" Yuzu squeaked in surprise and embarrassment.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" Karin pounded on her brother's back with her fist. "Put us down!"

"Not until we're away from the crowd," Kon refuted. "There's too much panic going on! I don't want you to-

Kon happened to look up at the sky and killed the sentence on his lips.

"Ichigo?" Karin asked. "Ichigo, what's wrong!? Why did you stop!?"

"Karin!" Yuzu screamed as she pointed up to the sky. "Look!"

Karin did so and gasped as she understood what had her siblings so spooked.

Whatever had shrouded the moon was now covering the stars themselves, leaving no light of any kind over Karakura Park.

"What the hell is happening?" Kon whispered.

---

"Jackie!" Rukia cried as she was knocked down by the gust of wind blowing from the open window. Around her, the lights to Urahara Shop flickered off and on, leaving her shrouded in complete darkness every other second.

"Ruki-Ow!" Jackie slammed her foot against the coffee table as she entered the room. "What's going on!?"

"The window!" Rukia shouted as she shielded her eyes from the flickering lights. "Loomis had left the window open so I went to close it and suddenly this insane wind blew through!"

Jackie noticed the gust at once and shielded her nose and mouth from the stench of decay it carried with it. Fighting through it, Jackie marched through the wind, one foot at a time, and grabbed the window. She tried with all her might to pull it back down and keep the wind out but the squall was too strong and finished the struggle by destroying the window with brute force. Jackie grunted in pain as she hit the floor, shards of broken glass raining down on her.

"Jackie!"

"I'm alright!" Jackie answered. She had thankfully only been cut in a few places including her bottom lip. With a groan, she picked herself up from the floor, balanced herself against the ever-growing wind and snatched Rukia up as she reentered the room. She carried her out of the room and into the one across the hall, one with no windows. The lights were still flickering off and on at elliptic levels but at least they would be safe from the wind. Jackie set Rukia down against the wall and sat besides her, breathing heavily.

"Jackie...you're hurt..." Rukia muttered, feeling guilty that she had caused the injuries.

"I told you I'm fine," Jackie repeated as she wiped her lip. "It's just a few cuts and scrapes, that's all." She turned to Rukia. "For now, let's just stay in this room until the storm dies down."

"This storm...do you think...it has anything to do with Michael?" Rukia asked.

Jackie stiffened as part of her already knew the answer. What other kind of wind would smell like literal death? She had a feeling Rukia already knew as well but figuring that there was no point in verbally confirming the worst possible outcome, she decided she would deny it for as long as she could.

"I don't know," Jackie said as the lights went off completely, stranding her and Rukia in total darkness. "I just don't know."

---

"What the-" Yukio shielded himself from the oppressive darkness.

"Yukio?" Riruka cried out as she was forced to do the same.

Orihime used her powers to create a shield between herself and her injured friends though it could do nothing against the rotten smell. It was Orihime who had first noticed the black pillar coming from where Ichigo and the others had laid their final trap for Michael and although she wanted to speak up, part of her was convinced that it was just the process of Michael being fatally Hollowfied and focused on healing her friends. Then the pillar swallowed the moon and stars and the wind came and Orihime was forced to accept the truth.

Michael had awakened his full power.

"Gah!" Uryu cried out as he shielded his glassed from the wind. "This wind is growing stronger by the second!" He pinched his nose close. "Not to mention the smell."

"Guys, look!" Sado pointed toward the houses a few yards from the field. The lights within them were flickering off and on until at last they expired completely. The same fate befell the street lights as well. All of Karakura Town was being swallowed by Michael's shadow, by his Heart of Darkness.

"Ichigo," Orihime whispered as fear gripped her heart.

Everyone's attention was soon stolen by a loud crack from the inside of the prison Yukio had created. As they all watched in horror, the pixels making up the prison began to disintegrate, blocks and pieces falling away from the structure one at a time. As the prison crumbled, Samhain's elated laughter could be heard from the newly-created openings and the Hollow helped the process along by banging against the inside. The weakened structure could take no more and after four tries, Samhain broke through the top with a mighty roar. Once that faded, he observed what was going on about him and cackled loudly, holding his hands out like a maniac in an over-the-top movie.

"Oh you did it, Michael! You did it! You achieved Godhood!" Samhain cried. "I knew you would succeed! And now a new era of darkness can begin!"

"You're insane!" Yukio shouted. "What makes you think Michael will let you live after this?"

"I've already secured my place in paradise, boy." Samhain growled as he spread his wings. "And now, if you excuse me, I have an investment to protect!" With this, he took off toward the field where the pillar of shadows had formed, the last of his prison dissipating as he used it as a launching pad.

"Shit! He's getting away!" Riruka hissed.

"We have to go after him now!" Yukio turned to Orihime and the others. "Are you guys healed yet?"

"No but we're getting there," Orihime assured them. "You guys go! We'll catch up!"

Uryu opened his mouth to protest, only to close it again as he realized he had nothing to say. Sado replied with a single thumbs up.

"Okay then," Yukio turned to Riruka. "Let's go!" He vanished in a flash of Bringer Light after Samhain. Riruka prepared to do the same only to stop and turn toward Orihime, part of her not wanting to leave her in the dark and in such a vulnerable state.

Orihime seemed to sense Riruka's distraught because she flashed a warm smile in an attempt to reassure her she would be alright. Riruka winced as the smile immediately brought Dawn's face to her mind. Fighting back a few tears, Riruka nodded and followed Yukio to the field.

When her Bringer Light faded, Orihime and the others were left in...

---

...complete darkness. Just like in her dreams. In her nightmares. Jamie could not stop trembling as she watched the pillar that used to be her uncle devour the sky. Besides her was Loomis, his arms wrapped tightly around her in a desperate attempt to comfort her, even as his own lips trembled and his eyes watered in the darkness. Ururu whimpered and snuggled herself into Jinta's chest. Despite shaking himself Jinta held her close and in turn let himself be held by Tessai who, while not shaking, was covered in sweat.

Kisuke was doused with sweat too, holding his hat against the evil wind as the pillar began to shrink. "It's time now," He thought before turning to Ichigo. "Looks like Michael is just about ready for the final act. Are you, Ichigo?"

Ichigo grunted as he tightened the grip on Zangetsu. "I am. It's not over till it's over so no one better even be thinking of giving up yet!"

E-Easy for you to say," Loomis muttered. "You have a giant sword." He uttered a dry laugh and if Jamie could see even an inch in front of her, she'd glare at Loomis for his poorly-timed attempt at humor.

"Everyone just stay behind me," Ichigo demanded as he pointed his blade toward the descending movement before him. "Here he comes!"

As the tornado of shadows shrank back to the ground, cracks of dark violet light formed from within. With one final gust of rotten air, the tornado dissipated, leaving a crouching Shape in its place, one hand behind his back. His mask and suit patched up and his wounds healed, Michael slowly rose upright, the violet glow of his inversed Reiatsu the only light in the eternal darkness that surrounded Ichigo and his friends.

It would have to be enough.

"Michael!" Ichigo shouted as he flash-stepped toward him, Zangetsu raised above his head. "This ends now!"

Michael wordlessly matched gazes with Ichigo and pulled his hand forward, revealing a giant scythe.

"What!?" Instead of cutting into Michael's head, Ichigo found himself swinging Zangetsu to block Michael's attack. Caught off-guard by the sheer weight and power of it, Ichigo was pushed back toward the group. He landed on his feet, using Zangetsu for balance. Michael gripped the scythe with both hands and grew still, as if purposefully giving the group a chance to see his new weapon. It was almost as big as him, a smoking human skull fused with the blade clamp. The steel making up the blade reflected the terrified faces of the group back to them.

"What...Where the hell did he get that scythe?" Jamie asked fretfully.

"It must be his Fullbring!" Kisuke answered. "Fullbringers have the ability to impart objects of great importance to them with their own power, often leading to a special ability. The object will usually change shape as a result."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Jinta shouted. "How can some dumb knife be that important to this monster?"

"It's not the knife," Loomis croaked. "It's what it can do to someone's flesh, how it can rip away the life from someone painfully." He trembled as the full weight of his words bore down on him. "To Michael, there is no greater importance than the slaughter of innocents."

"Well he's not getting anymore!" Ichigo shouted. "I already told you, tonight thi-

Michael was suddenly right besides Ichigo, swinging his scythe.

"What the!?" Ichigo once again blocked the attack and was sent back a few feet as a result.

"Ichigo!" Jamie cried.

Ichigo refused to take his eyes off of Michael as he was pushed back and so was able to watch him melt back into the darkness. "Where's he going?" He thought as he felt a presence standing behind him. By instinct, Ichigo lifted Zangetsu over himself and blocked Michael's attack a third time. The Shape responded by kicking Ichigo at the base of his spine, knocking him to the ground. He then lifted his scythe up and brought it down toward Ichigo.

Hearing the swing of the scythe as it sliced through the air, Ichigo rolled out of the way at the last second, allowing the scythe to bury itself into the earth. Seizing his chance, Ichigo pressed both hands against the ground and kicked his feet toward Michael, sending the Shape reeling back with a direct hit to the head. Michael tore his scythe out of the ground as he stepped back and found himself blocking an attack from Ichigo. Despite the Substitute Shinigami's best efforts, however, Michael's strength was just too much and he was once again knocked back.

"Enough of this!" He shouted as he found his footing. "Everyone step back!" With those words, Ichigo shot up into the air, intending to bring the full wrath of Zangetsu on Michael.

Michael watched as Ichigo flew up in the air and slid his scythe into the shadows, its violet aura dimming around its top half.

"Getsu-Gah!" Ichigo cried as he felt the sensation of his back being sliced open. Looking down at Michael, he saw the Shape pulling his own weapon away from the darkness, his blood dripping from the blade.

"What?" Ichigo whispered through the pain as he felt blood trickling down his back. He fell back to Earth with a thud.

"W-What?" Jamie asked. "How did Michael do that?"

"Another extension of his awakened power!" Loomis cried. "Michael's always taken refuge in the shadows but now he can weaponize them!"

"Shit." Kisuke muttered. "This situation is getting worse by the second." He grabbed his sword and pulled her from her sheath. "Guess I have no choice but to step in. Awaken, Benihime!" At once, Kisuke's sword transformed, becoming shorter and obtaining a blood-red pommel. Kisuke swung it back and shouted' "Nake, Benihime!" As he swung it toward Michael, a wave of crimson fire-like energy blasted forward.

Michael only had a second after noticing the surprise attack to vanish into the shadows to dodge it.

"I see," Kisuke muttered. "Not only can Michael use the darkness to attack from afar but he can also slip into it to get out of trouble." He sensed a presence up ahead. "How troublesome." He turned around, getting behind Tessai and the kids and shouted' "Cry!"

Holding his sword over himself, Kisuke produced a crimson hexagon-shaped barrier to block Michael's strike. Taken aback by the sudden arrival of the shield, Michael jumped back and studied Kisuke for a moment before retreating into the darkness. Kisuke defused his barrier as he felt around for Michael's Reiryoku.

"Do you...Do you think he'll come back?" Ururu asked.

"Sure of it," Kisuke answered. "He's just waiting for another opportunity to...oh shit!" Kisuke suddenly flash-stepped toward Jamie and Loomis. "Behind me!"

"Huh?" Jamie asked as Michael appeared from the shadows, scythe over her head. Kisuke grabbed Jamie and threw her behind him as he held his sword in front of him. "Cry!" Once again, the crimson shield formed and blocked Michael's attack. With a grunt of frustration, Michael melted back into the blackness and Kisuke disengaged his shield.

"Dear God!" Loomis cried. "He's everywhere!"

"Stay behind me!" Kisuke shouted. "I have a plan but I need a few more seconds."

"For what?" Jamie cried out in fear as her uncle appeared again, only to be blocked by Kisuke's shield. Again and again, The Shape attempted to hack into the hapless members of the group and every time, Kisuke thwarted him with his shield. It was evident that Michael was becoming annoyed with this stalemate as his attacks grew more intense and frantic.

"Almost," Kisuke said before grunting in effort at yet another block. The power Michael was putting behind his attacks were starting to wear down on Kisuke and he could feel blood trickling from his mouth. He paused for a moment and wiped the blood away. "Alright, I think I got it. And perfect timing too, my organs are getting crushed."

"G-got what?" Jamie asked. "What are you-

Michael reappeared above the trio and behind Kisuke. Sensing him at once, Kisuke turned around and pointed Benihime toward the Shape. Instead of activating his shield, however, he drew a circle just as Michael's scythe was about to bury itself into his face. The circle glowed and crackled as the blade made contact and then disappeared as Michael fell back to the ground, his violet aura vanishing for a moment.

"W-What did you do?" Loomis asked.

"Oh nothing much," Kisuke moved his hand in a motion similar to his fan. "I just analyzed Michael's attack and cancelled it out. It was easy too, considering there was mostly just brute force there." Kisuke placed both hands to his mouth. "Now Tessai!"

As soon as the violet glow of Michael's Reiatsu returned, Tessai showed up and punched him in the ribs. The Shape was sent flying several feet back by the force of Tessai's direct hit. He had to bury his scythe into the ground to stop himself from going any further and once he finally did stop, he coughed up blood underneath his mask.

"All ready sir!" Tessai declared with clenched fist.

"Right," Kisuke nodded before turning to Michael. "Alright, let's hope this works." He reeled back his sword and drew it forward as he shouted' "Shibari, Benihime!" From his sword shot forth a blood-red net made of tangible energy. The net flew toward the injured Surassha and wrapped around him before he even had a chance to react. "Hiasobi, Benihime!" Kisuke shouted as he plunged his sword into the tip of the net, causing orbs of fire to form along the sides. One by one, the orbs exploded in a blast of fire leading toward the entrapped Michael who could only stare helplessly as the blasts grew closer to him. Once they had reached their target, the blasts capped off their existence with a huge explosion engulfing Michael. Once again, the violet light of his Reiatsu vanished as the dust lifted up.

"Did...Did you get him?" Jamie asked with a slight hint of hope in her voice.

"I'm not sure," Kisuke whispered as he studied the dust cloud. "But if I did, he shouldn't be able to walk even if he survived."

Total silence took control as everyone waited for the light to return, either from Michael's aura or from the moon. As the nearly invisible dust cloud finally disappeared, however, neither was anywhere to be seen.

"What? Where-Grrh!"

Kisuke stiffened as he felt something sharp slide into his stomach. Looking down, he saw Michael's scythe buried into his body, emerging from the floor as if it were a lake. Kisuke groaned as he was slowly lifted into the air.

"Kisuke!" Tessai screamed.

"No!" Jamie wailed.

"Goddamn you, Michael!" Loomis choked

They all watched in horror as Michael emerged from the floor, slowly rising out of the darkness as his Reiatsu began to flare up again. Kisuke struggled on the scythe, wanting to pull himself out but all too aware that it would mean emptying himself out. Thus, all he could do was wait for Michael to fully emerge from the shadows and throw him to the side with a single swing of his scythe.

"Kisuke!" Jamie cried.

"Shit..." Kisuke tried to get up but failed, his wounds far too grievous. "I should have predicted that...must be getting lazy..."

Michael vanished into the shadows again and reappeared besides Kisuke, raising his scythe to strike.

"Michael!"

Michael picked his head up to see Ichigo once again above him, his sword raised like it was before. Only this time, it was glowing. "Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo screamed as he sent the blast toward Michael at a greater speed than he had ever done before. The light from the attack illuminated the area that Michael was standing, stripping away all shadows he could otherwise retreat to, bar his own. The attack was just about to hit when an white object suddenly shot itself between Michael and the blast, causing it to explode in front of him. Michael was still knocked to the ground but with the slash attack gone, he was once again surrounded by shadows.

"What!?" Ichigo uttered as he descended to the ground. "What's going on now!?"

"My, my!" Samhain's voice spoke out from the darkness. "That was a close one!" All eyes turned to the Hollow as he landed beside Michael. "A single second later and I wouldn't have made the block. Bet you didn't think I could use these things as projectiles now did you?"

"Samhain!" Ichigo growled "What are you doing here?"

"Protecting my investment, of course!" Samhain replied as he turned to the rising Michael. "After all, our boy has just obtained Godhood and I can't let you spoil the fun."

"Damn you!" Ichigo shouted. "Where's Orihime? Chad? Where are the others?"

"Calm yourself, boy!" Samhain spoke. "They'll be here soon enough, no doubt trying to stop me. Rest assured, you will all have the chance to die together...oh...?" As Samhain spoke, he noticed Loomis and Jamie huddled up behind Ichigo. "My my, what's this?" He vanished from where he stood and reappeared behind the two of them, shocking them both.

"My God!" Loomis cried.

"Get away from them!" Ichigo tried to rush forward only for Michael to materialize in his path, his scythe once again blocking Zangetsu.

Samhain chuckled as he drank in both Loomis's and Jamie's terrified looks. "Oh my! To think I would see you both here in all places. Such a small group of worlds this is!"

"Huh?" Jamie grew confused for a second, fear reclaiming its throne as Samhain shoved his beak in her face.

"I certainly never thought I'd see you again, our precious little side project." He looked down at her Academy uniform and scoffed. "I see you've gone and joined up with the other team. What a bore. But then, you were always a rebellious little sow."

"Wha...What...? What are you talking about?" Jamie asked, unable to shake the uneasy feeling that she had heard the Hollow's voice from somewhere. "Who are you?"

Samhain then turned to the trembling doctor besides him. "Ah, the late great Doctor Loomis! How far you've fallen. Reduced to nothing more than a powerless soul on the cusp of Hollowhood, you are the definition of pathetic." Samhain uttered a dry laugh. "But then again, you always were, weren't you Loomis?"

"That voice..." Loomis's mouth was agape with horror. "No...it can't be..."

"Oh..." Samhain turned his head. "So you do recognize me? Glad to see not all of your mind has been lost, former colleague of mine."

"Loomis," Ichigo spoke as he struggled against Michael. "What the hell is he talking about? Do you know this guy?"

"I...I do..." Loomis's expression changed from fearful to angry. "Wynn! Dr. Wynn!"

Jamie gasped and covered her mouth as the truth hit her like speeding truck. "Y-You mean-"

"The Man in Black," Loomis muttered. "The man that helped Michael take everything from you, Jamie! That's who this Hollow is!"

"You mean that's the bastard that started this whole thing?" Ichigo asked himself as he continued to fight against Michael. "This whole time..."

"It all makes sense now," Loomis croaked. "You're the reason Michael even had a congregation in the first place! You've been the one hiding him this whole time!"

"And training him," Samhain said. "Michael was a little too used to victims not fighting back after all. If you had gotten to him sooner, who knows, you might have had a chance."

"That new form fits you, Wynn." Loomis commented. "A monster's visage for a monster's soul."

"Make all the comments you want!" Samhain barked. "But where you see a monster, I see evolution! Progress! This new body of mine will carry me into the new world your patient will create from your deaths!"

"You're a fool, Wynn." Loomis replied. "The only thing waiting for you in Michael's new world is the same as the rest of us. Death. Violent and awful."

"It's...It's really you." Jamie whimpered as tears flowed from her eyes. Anger welled up inside of her as she gripped her sword. "It was you!"

"Jamie! Wait! He's too-

But Jamie had already torn herself away from Loomis's grip and launched herself at Samhain. "It was you!"

Samhain effortlessly blocked Jamie's strike with his bony arms, pushed away from her and then dodged her next attack. An furious exchange of blows and blocks and dodges followed as Jamie, horribly outmatched as she was, continued her assault with the fury of a wild animal. "You took Rachel! You took my baby! You took everything from me!"

"Great things come at a sacrifice, my dear!" Samhain explained as he blocked another of Jamie's strikes. "Besides, you're the one that ruined everything by running away on that fateful night. All that trouble just to protect an infant you had but a few hours before? Give me a break!" Samhain blocked another attack and shoved his foot into Jamie's stomach. Jamie coughed out blood as she was sent flying past her uncle and Ichigo.

"Jamie!" Ichigo cried. In that briefest of moments that he was distracted, Michael took the opportunity and slashed down on Ichigo's chest, tearing the skin open. Ichigo coughed blood himself as he fell back.

"Ichigo!" Loomis screamed.

"Insects have no business interfering with the Will of God!" Samhain declared as he took to the air. "You should all consider yourselves lucky you've been allowed to live this long!" Samhain spread his wings, the sharp heads of several bony spears emerging from the dark underside. "Now cease this useless resistance and die!" With this, he sent the spears flying toward Loomis at frightening speed. The old doctor's soul could only weakly shield himself with his hands, waiting for another grisly end.

At the same time that was happening, Michael lifted his scythe above Ichigo, ready to slice his head off with a single slash. Both deadly attacks were made simultaneously, with full intent to destroy the targets before them...

...only for both to be thwarted by a disc of green energy.

"What!?"

For Samhain, the green disc came from the palm of Tessai as he kneeled on one knee with Loomis behind him. A single bony spear had dug into his shoulder but regardless the behemoth of a man held his Kido shield up, blocking the rest of the spears. "El Escudo" Without skipping a beat, Tessai disengaged the shield and held out both hands. Hado#4: Byakurai!" A burst of blue lightening exploded from his palms and toward Samhain. The surprised Hollow was barely able to dodge it, one of his wings getting a hole blasted through it as he moved to the left. He landed on the floor with thud and a groan.

As for Michael, his blockade came in the form of a series of green pixels swirling between him and Ichigo. Before he could react, they separated in a explosive manner, gathering around the Shape as he lost balance and swirling to the ground beneath him where they formed a large black square. Once Michael had regained his balance, he found he could not move from the square.

"Those pixels..." Ichigo groaned as he picked his head up. "Could it be?"

Aye...This is why I hate outdoor exercise," Yukio complained as he walked into the field with Riruka, the both of them sweaty and panting. "Running is such a chore."

"Quit complaining, will ya?" Riruka scolded. "In case, you haven't noticed, we're still late to the show."

"Doesn't matter." Yukio shrugged. "We're here now, aren't we? And that means we can finish this." He noticed Kisuke laying on the ground bleeding. "Looks like Mr. Urahara lost."

"Yeah, it does." Riruka said as she zipped open her purse. She pointed her finger toward Kisuke and sighed. "For the record, you're so not cute, especially all bloody on the ground like that, but nonetheless...I permit you." She shot one of her hearts toward him. Once it made contact, Kisuke's body was sent flying into the purse. "Stay put until Orihime comes." Riruka instructed. "Oh and if you get blood all over my cute purse, I'm totally killing you." She zipped the purse back up and turned to Ichigo.

"Yukio...Riruka..." Ichigo smiled. "You guys made it...are the others..."

"On their way," Yukio finished. "Orihime was just busy attending to her duties as the team Healer. You understand."

"Ugh! Enough with the gamer talk!" Riruka opened her purse again and pointed to Ichigo. "I-

"Wait!" Ichigo shouted as he used Zangetsu to prop himself up. "I...I can still fight!"

Riruka's eyes widened. "Are you freaking kidding me!? You can barely stand, let alone fight!"

"I can fight," Ichigo repeated as he struggled to get to his feet, fighting through the burning pain from both his chest and back. "Put Jamie in your bag. Get her to safety."

"No." The two Fullbringers and Ichigo turned back as Jamie staggered back into view, holding her stomach and wincing. "That man...my Uncle...I can't...I won't be left out of this fight!"

"But Jamie..." Ichigo coughed up blood before he could finish his sentence.

Yukio sighed. "Nothing is more annoying than characters wanting to get in the way when's there's no chance for them to win." He walked past Ichigo toward Michael, who was still struggling inside the square. "It doesn't matter. The truth is, I had a feeling Michael might awaken his Fullbring at some point during the battle so I came up with a contingency plan of my own." He pointed his arm toward Michael and started typing his commands. "You two just wait until our Healer gets here and then help take out that annoying bird guy, assuming of course, he's still alive by the time she shows up."

"What do you mean?" Jamie asked. Riruka tapped her on the shoulder and pointed past where Michael was stuck. Much to her surprise, Tessai seemed to have Samhain on the ropes, throwing Kido spell after Kido spell at him. The once cocky Hollow was now screaming and shouting angrily as he dodged blast after blast. Anytime it seemed like he finally had an opening for an attack, Tessai blocked it with a timely Bakudo.

"Wow...I knew Tessai was a expert in Kido," Ichigo said. "But to actually see it in action..."

"And here I am, barely able to remember a single incantation," Jamie grumbled sadly.

"Just keep them out of the way, Riruka." Yukio requested as he approached Michael.

"And just when do I start taking orders from you!?" Riruka shouted.

Yukio ignored her and walked up to Michael who was grunting in frustration at his inability to escape the trap. "What's wrong Michael, feeling stuck?"

Michael ceased his erratic movement and stared at Yukio. At once, he reeled his scythe back and attempted to dig it into the Fullbringer's head. Instead, the blade was met with an invisible force field that crackled with green sparks as it was hit.

"Come now, you don't really think I would have gotten this close if you could actually hit me, did you?" Yukio resumed messing with the buttons on his gantlet. "You know, your Fullbring is quite a headache. I mean, if it were a video-game mechanic, people would be calling it OP or broken. Its only reasonable place within the game would either be for a final boss or for the player to unlock at the very end, otherwise, it would ruin the entire playthrough. You know?"

Michael did not understand nor care for what the blonde boy was saying. He once again attempted to slice through the invisible wall with mixed results.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's unfair," Yukio continued. "I mean, your Heart of Darkness can rewrite history! How the hell are we supposed to compete with that?" Yukio paused to focus on his programming and as he did so, the square beneath Michael's feet began to cackle. "Then it hit me, the only way you can kill a monster meant to surpass everything that exists." He lifted his hands from his gantlet and met Michael's gaze. "Do you know what that is, Michael?"

Michael's only response was to glare.

"It's to create something even stronger than the monster." With one final push of a button, Yukio triggered the square's transformation. Pixels rose from all sides, forming four jet-black walls that enclosed Michael. He continued to struggle with the floor as the walls grew higher and higher until finally completing their transformation with a ceiling above Michael. Now, it was so dark that not even Michael could see. He waved his scythe around in anger and frustration, desperate to get out of this enclosed space. In these frantic movements, Michael's feet were released and he nearly fell over as his left foot took a step forward.

Once Michael realized he could walk again, he marched forward and swung his scythe with the intention of cutting through the wall. However, he sliced nothing but space with his swing. Confused, Michael continued walking, stopping when he realized he should have hit the wall by now. Carefully, he held his scythe before himself and inched it forward until both hands were grasping the end of the handle. The scythe's blade vanished in the darkness but touched nothing solid. Michael pulled his scythe back and attempted to melt into the darkness again, only to find himself back where he was before. He could still tell as such from the lack of Reiryoku from any one of the corpses-in-waiting. Wherever he was, Michael was cut off completely from the outside world.

Suddenly, a light flashed in the darkness as a screen formed on the ceiling overhead. Michael looked up as Yukio's face appeared on it, staring at him with that same indifferent look he had before banishing the Shape to this darkness. "Comfy, Michael?" He asked. "This place should look familiar to you. After all, I very nearly killed you here not too long ago, remember?"

Michael recalled being in a area such as this and being unable to stand. He also remember powering through it and sticking the boy to a wooden pillar afterward.

"And I'm sure right now, you're remembering impaling me to a wooden pillar," Yukio mentioned. "I didn't appreciate that. In any case, you're out of luck if you think you can power through this time. I fortified the game's defenses and structure to 40 times what they were during our last encounter and...well...I'm sure you remember what I said about stronger monsters, right?"

Just then, Michael nearly fell as the floor trembled beneath him, courtesy of three great weights falling behind him. Michael zipped around and found himself confronted by a trio of giant digital monsters. One was a pumpkin, four giant and sickly looking vines growing from its base. It has a fearsome face carved into it, the holes of which were leaking with rotten pulpy innards. There seemed to be some sort of hellfire burning within the demonic Jack-o-Lantern, producing intense heat as the botanical beast widened its mouth toward Michael. The second monster was a giant skeleton, towering well above the other two at 10 feet. The skeletal nightmare creaked and cracked with every movement it made, the 206 bones comprising it held together by a bloody mucus-like substance. Despite lacking eyes of any kind, it seemed to stare directly at Michael, its teeth fixed in a hideous grin. The final monster was a witch, taller than the pumpkin but shorter than the skeleton, although this could have been simply because she was crouching. Her only clothing was a black cloth draped over her impossibly skinny body and her green skin was covered in boils and scar tissue. Yellow eyes like those of a cat glared at Michael behind a elongated crooked nose and as she loudly cackled to herself, Michael could see what few teeth she possessed within her bloody gums.

"Like them, Michael?" Yukio asked. "They're called my Halloween Brigade. I created them with the sole intention of destroying you at your most powerful."

Michael raised his scythe toward the monsters, only to feel four giant fingers wrap around him. He was pulled into the darkness and came out from behind the monsters, the witch cackling as she squeezed the Shape in her hand.

"As you can see, they all have the same ability of reality-warping within Invaders Must Die. Doesn't matter what you do, they'll surpass you at every turn. They were specifically created to destroy you!"

The witch threw Michael down to the floor like a ragdoll, laughing as he bounced up a little before landing on the floor. Michael got back up and raised the scythe over his head just as the pumpkin released a blast of fire toward him. Michael felt his flesh cooking in the intense heat. So distracted by the sensation of his blood boiling and his bones turning brittle that he didn't notice the skeleton's fist until it had smashed him into the ground, its own bones immune to the heat of its comrade's flames.

"Sorry Michael but this is a pay-to-win situation," Yukio capped off with. "And the only payment I'll accept is your life."

By now, Ichigo and Jamie's pain had subsided enough for them to both stand tall although Jamie still found herself leaning against the Substitute Shinigami. Riruka was at Ichigo's other side as well, still not totally convinced that he was in the clear just yet. "Well," She asked as they all got closer to Yukio. "Is he dead yet?"

"Patience is a virtue," Yukio replied. "Especially if you're a gamer,"

Riruka fumed. "Well, I'm not so hurry up and have your monsters kill him already!"

Yukio scoffed. "You're always so troublesome." He shook his head as he turned his attention back to the game.

"Yukio...those creatures in your game...can they really kill Michael?" Ichigo asked.

"That's what they were programed to do," Yukio explained. "They were given admin-levels of power to combat his reality wrapping. Not to mention this is taking place within my domain," Yukio adjusted the gravity in his game as he did this. "Even if Michael has fully awakened his Heart of Darkness, he still hasn't had sufficient time to become acquainted with it. That's the one advantage we have and my plan makes the most of it," Yukio paused to look up at the chatroom in which this execution was taking place. "Michael will die in this game, of that you have my-

A loud blaring noise coming from the gantlet startled everyone, Yukio included.

"Gah! What the hell?"

"What's going on?"

"I don't know..." Yukio messed with his gantlet, sweats appearing on his face as his screen flashed red over and over again. "This can't be.."

"What happened?" Riruka asked. "What's going on in there?"

"It's unprecedented." Yukio answered as he tried in vain to get the game back under control. In-between the flashes of red on his screen, he could see Michael laying on the floor before the three monsters, bleeding heavily from his left side. This image would have put Yukio at ease if not for the fact that Michael's blood seemed to be darkening as it left his body, blackening with a series of 1s and 0s swirling in the puddle like water skimmers. The foreign numbers sank into the black puddle one after the other, darkening the floor beneath it. Before long, Yukio noticed more of these black spots forming on other random areas in his chat room. Smokey pixels floated from these spots like a digital blight, spreading more and more of the blackness as they came into contact with yet other parts of the room. "This...This is impossible!" Yukio cried. "Michael's somehow converted his Fullbring into a digital program that's infecting the chatroom and spreading itself around!"

"What the hell does that even mean?" Riruka asked.

"It's a virus!" Yukio screamed. "The bastard's infected Invaders Must Die with a computer virus!"

As Yukio watched helplessly, the screen on his gantlet began to darken. The last image he saw before it turned off completely was his Halloween Brigade sinking into an inky pool of Michael's corrupted data. The chatroom before them began to tremble and crack. The whole thing glowed in a dark violet light, allowing everyone to see the dark pixels flowing out from these cracks.

"Everyone stand back!" Yukio shouted as he watched the chatroom collapse. "We have to-

Michael's scythe dug into Yukio's stomach upward. With a single lift and swing, Michael sent Yukio flying behind him, his body crumpling in the same way Kisuke's was earlier.

"Yukio!" Riruka screamed as she opened her purse and pointed a finger at her fellow Fullbringer. "I permit you!" She sent another heart flying toward Yukio, only for Michael to grab it and erase it with his own power. "No!"

Michael melted into the shadows and reappeared behind Riruka, ready to take the head from her shoulders. Jamie noticed at once and shoved Riruka out of the way just in time to block her Uncle's attack. Riruka hit the ground with a thud and turned to curse Jamie out before realizing why she pushed her.

"Shit." She whispered.

"Jamie!" Ichigo cried. He tried to rush after her, only for something to snag his foot. Looking down, he realized it was a tendril made of the stray pixels from Michael's virus. One by one, they flowed toward Ichigo, wrapping around his arms and legs and attempting to infect him. As he was a spirit and not a computer program, they could not do so but they did succeed in keeping the Substitute Shinigami in place. "Dammit! No! Get off of me!"

"Gggh!" Jamie whined as Michael's scythe bore down on her. "Uncle!"

Michael stared down into his niece's face. With everything else that had been going on tonight, he had barely even recognized her. He lessened the pressure on her for a moment, recalling the last time they had met, when he had left her to die impaled on a thresher. He never expected to see her again, especially here of all places, fighting amongst Shinigami and other Fullbringers. For one brief moment, he considered the fact that his niece had returned, recalling the night he had removed his mask before her at her request.

Then the Heart of Darkness returned and Michael pushed forward.

Jamie cried out as she felt her knees buckling from the sheer weight of her uncle's scythe and the power behind his push. "Uncle! Please! Please!"

Riruka looked between Jamie struggling beneath her uncle and Ichigo straining to break free of the pixel's grasp. Back and forth, back and forth her head went until she couldn't take it anymore and gripped it with a cry. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Riruka stopped herself from pulling the hair out of her head and turned back to Jamie. She had been forced on one knee by her uncle, the scythe's hungry blade dangerously close to her face.

"Dammit!" Riruka cursed one more time as she got up from the ground and rushed toward Michael. With the Shape preoccupied with his niece, Riruka was able to sneak behind him and stab the blades of her gantlet into his neck. Michael froze as he felt the blade slip in and backed away, his own blade scraping Jamie's cheek in the process. She winced and gasped in shock as she noticed Riruka hanging on to Michael for dear life, her arm and legs wrapped around him. "Riruka!"

"Go! I'll hold him back for as long as I can!" Riruka shouted as light glowed from where she stabbed Michael. The Shape grabbed her one of her ponytails and ripped it away, drawing a bit of blood from it. Riruka cried out but refused to let go as her gantlet began to glow. As Jamie and Ichigo watched, she vanished into Michael's body in a stream of pink light.

"R-Riruka!?" Jamie cried.

Ichigo strained as he tried to get out of the virus's grasp. By now, the parts of his body the virus had taken hostage were starting to bleed from the constant rubbing and tearing of the moving pixels. Ichigo screamed as he tried to pull his arm away from one of them, drops of blood falling from his wrist.

"Ichigo!" Jamie rushed to the Substitute Shinigami and whimpered as she saw him struggle, unsure of what to do. She tried to grab one of the virus balls only to shriek and pull her hand back as sharp pain engulfed it. She looked at her hand and gasped when she saw the blood seeping from her palm. "Ichigo...I don't know what to do..."

"It'll be fine." Ichigo assured her through gnashed teeth. "Orihime is on her way. I'm sure she can take care of these things." He motioned toward Michael. "What about Riruka?"

Jamie turned toward her uncle, her mind racing with all sorts of questions concerning just what Riruka actually did. "I don't know...it looks...like she went into my Uncle..."

Michael was still on his feet, his scythe planted in the dirt. The violet glow of his Reiryoku continued to shine, affording Ichigo and Jamie a little bit of light. After what seemed like an eternity of standing completely still, Michael twitched. He remained still for a few seconds more, then twitched again. Again and again he continued to spasm and shake as if he was being controlled by an inexperienced puppet master.

It was only Ichigo who understood that was exactly what was happening. "Riruka."

Michael continued to twitch and spasm, standing more erect with each movement. Once he had finally gotten his body under control, he raised his scythe out of the dirt and over his head. Jamie held her own sword in front of her, bracing herself for another violent push-off. To her surprise, however, Michael shook again and dropped the scythe completely. He gripped his head with both hands as if he were suffering a cluster headache and backed away, groaning in pain beneath his breath.

"Ichigo, what...what's going on?" Jamie asked. "Is Riruka doing this?"

"I think so." Ichigo said before trying to once again shake off the virus attacking him. "She said she'd hold him off as long as she could." He hissed in pain as his newest attempt to pull himself free failed.

"Ichigo!" Jamie once again found herself totally helpless to aid in Ichigo's predicament With no other reasonable discourse in sight, Jamie huffed and pointed her palm at Ichigo. "Hold on! I'll use Kido to blast those things off!"

Ichigo's eyes widened. "W-Wait! Hold on! Are you crazy!? You can't do that! What if you hit me too?"

"It's alright!" Jamie assured him. "I'm too close to miss! This will be a point-blank attack!"

"That's exactly the problem!" Ichigo retorted angrily. "Even if you only hit the virus, I'll still be caught in the blast! What's the point of trying to save me if you're just going to kill me in the process!?"

"So what do you want me to do? Just leave you here to die!?"

"I already told you Orihime's on the way!"

"What if she doesn't make it in time!?"

"No!"

Both Ichigo and Jamie froze up. Neither of them recognized the voice that had just shouted behind them, a voice so rugged and wretched that it sounded as if it had not been used in years. Slowly, they both turned their attention back to Michael who was now in the throes of a full-on breakdown, tearing at his own mask as he threw himself on the floor.

"No! No!"

"U...Uncle?"

"What the hell's going on?" Ichigo whispered. "Is this Riruka's doing?"

"No...No!" Michael suddenly ceased movement, becoming as still as a statue despite the strange position he was in, one leg in the air and his fingers poking into his mask's eye holes. He remained frozen in this pose for a several agonizing seconds before doing something that neither Jamie nor Ichigo would have imagined he would do in a million years, especially on tonight of all nights:

He screamed.

Jamie had to cover her ears from how shrill yet guttural the scream was. It was as if two voices were screaming at once, each one on the opposite ends of the scale between deepness and highness. Ichigo couldn't move his hands to cover his ears and so settled for screaming himself in a desperate attempt to lessen the sound. The scream only lasted a few seconds but it would remain with Jamie and Ichigo for the rest of their lives. Then Michael rose up without any use of his arms which dangled to the side like dead leaves barely hanging onto a tree. He stared directly at Jamie with his head so tilted toward the left that it appeared to be broken. A glint could be seen from within his eye holes and Jamie could not understand whether it was from fear or rage.

With a final shout, Michael's body entered one final giant spasm. From his chest came forth a pink light that blasted out of his body and landed before Jamie's feet. It kicked up dust as it landed, forcing Jamie to shield her eyes with her hands. Once it was over, she looked down and screamed at the sight before her.

It was Riruka, clothing torn in several places and the side of her face bloody from where Michael had torn her pigtail away. Her remaining pigtail as well as the hair still on her head was streaked in grey and her pupils had shrunk as small as they could possibly get, staring off past the darkness that surrounded her toward something much worse.

"Riruka!" Jamie cried as she kneeled down next to the fallen Fullbringer. "Riruka! Are you alright? Speak to me!"

"Evil...the Evil..." Riruka breathed.

"Riruka!" Ichigo shouted before trying again to pull himself from the virus's grasp. "Dammit!"

Jamie broke into a sob as Riruka continued to tremble. "Please Riruka! Don't die! You can't die!" She cradled the magenta-haired girl in her arms. "Don't let Michael take you too! Please!"

"Jamie!" Ichigo shouted. "Look!"

Jamie turned back to Ichigo and then toward her uncle who was breathing heavily. He was cradling his face in his hands, blood seeping through his fingers. No more screams or grunts escaped his throat. Just a deep and ragged rhythm of breathing. Slowly, he lowered his hand from his still bleeding face and glared at his niece. Without taking his eyes off her, he bent down and picked up his scythe.

"No! Uncle!" Jamie cried.

"Dammit!" Ichigo screamed as the virus continued to hold him back.

Michael raised the blade of the scythe to his face and studied the two before him careful as if deciding on which one he would reap first. Before he could make that decision, however, his attention was grabbed by a explosion happening several feet behind his next targets. He looked past them to see a giant ball of colored smoke in the darkness. From this smoke fell Samhain, one wing tore to all hell and his mask cracked on the left side. He hit the ground with a thud, losing a few more fragments of his mask in the process. As he laid there, groaning in agony, his body was shaken by the thunderous footsteps of Tessai as he approached the Hollow, holding a single palm toward him.

"No...please..." Samhain croaked.

"Time to end this!" Tessai said as he held his other open hand near his face. "Hado #-

Michael's blade slammed through his abdomen from the opposite direction that it had Kisuke, the blade curved upward. Tessai coughed up blood as he moved his hands toward the blade in an attempt to pry himself off. Before he could start pulling himself off, however, the phantom scythe rose to the air, taking Tessai's feet of the ground. It continued to rise until both it and Tessai were several feet in the air. Then it vanished back to the darkness, allowing Tessai to fall to bloodied ground below. The cloud of dust he kicked up as he fell was twice as big as Samhain's and twice as far-reaching.

"Tessai!" Both Ichigo and Jamie screamed in unison before getting caught up in the dust cloud. As with before, Ichigo couldn't move to properly shield himself and so had to close his eyes to protect them from the dirt.

Michael pulled his bloody scythe away from the darkness and willed his aura to block out the dust as it came his way.

Samhain slowly picked himself up as the dust began to settle. He chuckled a bit, stopped, and chuckled again. He paused to breathe before exploding into a fit of maniacal laughter. "You see!?" He roared to the darkness. "Now to you see how pointless it is to defy the Heart of Darkness!? You may get to taste a drop of victory every now and then but the end result is always the same! You are all nothing but pawns with no greater destiny than to be Michael's sacrifices! You can fight it all you want but it's useless! Useless! Useless! Useless!"

As he was screaming his declaration, Jinta and Ururu snuck up behind Samhain, his gun and her cannon at the ready.

"Eat this, bird-brain!" Jinta shouted as he and Ururu fired their weapons. The blast seemed to connect for there was a huge explosion where Samhain was standing but a moment ago. Both kids stiffened with their guns still pointed forward, their eyes peeled for any sign of movement. So focused were they on the giant pillar of smoke before them that they failed to notice the presence behind them.

"Too slow!" Samhain shouted as he opened his remaining wing and shot two bony spears from the underflap. Neither child had any time to react before they were impaled by the spears.

"Jinta!" Ichigo screamed. "Ururu!"

Samhain laughed as he watched the children fall to the ground. "How many times do I have to tell you it's useless!? All you're doing is delaying the inevitable and by a most pitiful margin I might add."

"Ichigo!" A voice shouted from the darkness. All eyes turned to Orihime, Sado and Uryu as they ran toward Michael and the others. Orihime had her fairies surrounding her, Sado had both arms fully activated and Uryu had his bow in hand. "We're coming!"

"Wait!" Ichigo cried out. "Guys, watch out! Michael's awakened his Fullbring!"

"We're aware of that!" Uryu shouted back as he stopped and pointed his bow toward the Shape. "Which is why we'll finish this quickly!"

"Stop! You don't understand!" Jamie cried. "Michael can-

Three phantom blades sliced through the three newcomers from the ever-growing shadows. Orihime gurgled as she was impaled, her fairies swirling around her head. Sado's demonic arms fell to his side and the arrow of energy Uryu was just about to fire at Michael dissipated as the bow fell from his hands. All three were lifted up in the air and allowed to fall to the floor.

"Orihime!" Chad! Uryu!" Ichigo screamed.

"No!" Jamie gripped her head, digging her fingers into her scalp.

Michael calmly lifted his scythe from the shadows, the blade coated with blood from all three newcomers. He studied the blade closely as the blood dripped down to the ground and Samhain continued to cackle in the dark.

"And once again you only serve to prove my point!" He roared. "Can't you see now how useless it is to fight against destiny?" He marched toward the kids and kicked Jinta to the side. He yanked out the spear from Ururu's body, savored the scream she made as a result, and turned her over, staring directly into her teary eyes. "You've spent all this time training, all this time preparing for battle and for what? To try and protect this precious little town of yours?" Samhain lifted Ururu by the shoulders and held her in front of him. There was a sickening crack as a line formed along the bottom of his mask, ending just before it reached the rest of his head. His "beak" cracked open, bloodied saliva connecting the top and bottom side in thick strands. "All you've done is flavor yourselves for the feast!"

Just as Samhain was about to bite into Ururu's head, however, a small chain suddenly wrapped around his neck from behind. Caught off-guard, the Hollow let the child go as he was yanked backward and fell on one Dr. Loomis. The old man's ghost grunted in pain as the Hollow landed on him but he continued to pull on his own Chain of Fate, closing it tighter around his former collage's neck.

"Loomis..." Samhain choked. "You...old...fool..."

"Maybe you're right," Loomis croaked. "Maybe we are doomed to lose this fight. But if there's one thing I've learned from my time with these strange people, one great impression they've made upon me, it's that even in a losing battle...you must still fight like Hell!" With these words, an enraged Loomis shoved his fingers into the already cracking left eye hole of Samhain's mask and pulled with all his might. The former leader of the Cult of Thorn screamed in agony as the top-left side of his mask was pulled apart, exposing his very human-looking left eye. He trashed about, fighting to break free of the chain holding him to the ground.

"Loomis...grrr...Ahhhhhh!" With a final lunge, Samhain broke through the weakened Chain of Fate, sending Loomis falling back. He gasped as he took in a deep breath and with an animalistic growl, he turned toward Loomis and crawled on top of him. The old man's ghost was now weaker than ever, his chain reduced to just two barely-existent rungs. Loomis groaned as he stared up into Samhain's exposed eye glaring at him from behind a single strand of white hair. This eye lowered toward the chain and then looked back up to Loomis. "You've hardly anytime left, old boy." Samhain hissed. "Before long, you'll lose that chain and become a Hollow just like me."

"I'd rather cease to exist altogether than become a monster like you," Loomis whispered defiantly.

Samhain scoffed. "Talking as if you still have any choice in the matter," He chuckled. "The truest definition of defiance." He leaned in closer. "And stupidity! With a roar, Samhain bit into Loomis's shoulder, causing the doctor's ghost to cry out in pain. His "beak" tore through flesh and bone and after a few seconds, managed to dislodge an huge chuck from the poor old man's soul. He took a moment to savor Loomis's screams and swallowed the chunk whole. "There! Now I've sped up the process for you!"

Loomis's screams became muffled as a white-mucus-like substance exploded from every orifice in his face. He reached for his face as the white substance consumed it completely and Samhain sat on his chest and laughed.

"Welcome to the family, Loomis!"

"No!" Jamie rushed at Samhain with her sword in hand. "Loomis!"

"Jamie!" Ichigo screamed in vain.

"Oh, so you still have a little fight in you, do you now?" Samhain effortlessly blocked Jamie's strike with his bony arm and kicked her away. Jamie tumbled away on the ground for a few seconds before getting back to her feet and rising, only to take a bony spear to her left side. She screamed, only for the scream to be cut short as Samhain grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up in the air. Despite only having one wing, Samhain was still able to lift Jamie several feet above the ground. "You're a resilient little pest, I'll give you that much." Samhain let Jamie go and watched her fall to the ground with a thud. Jamie coughed up blood as she squeezed her hand, realizing her sword was no longer in it. She looked to her right and could make out the outline of her sword a few inches from her. She weakly reached out for it, fighting through the pain taking over her whole body. Samhain landed next to her, staring at her with his exposed eye portraying a look of bored indifference. "Really now? This is just getting embarrassing."

He stomped on Jamie's reaching wrist, earning another pained scream from her, followed by a sob. "You were always a weak one, Jamie. Always the victim, always the one to run away from the first sign of danger. Your existence is but a blight on this planet. Rachel, your birth mother, even Loomis. All of them died because you were too cowardly to accept your destiny as Michael's sacrificial lamb. You have no one but yourself to blame for defying our plans."

Jamie continued to weep.

"Now, I'm certain Michael will want you all to himself," Samhain continued as he rose his remaining wing over Jamie, the tips of several bony spears visible. "But I figure the least I can do is pin you down so you can't run away this time."

"Please...Please God..."

"There is no God, child!" Samhain barked. "Only Michael! And may his will be-

*STAB!*

"...done..."

Both Jamie and Samhain were in frozen in shock, their eyes glued to the giant bloody blade sticking out from the latter's chest. Even more shocking to Jamie was that she recognized the blade as Zangetsu.

"Enough," Ichigo growled as he gripped Samhain's left shoulder from behind. "I've heard enough from you."

Samhain shuddered as he looked back to Ichigo. "You...insolent little..."

"You orchestrated the ruin of this girl's life since the beginning," Ichigo cut Samhain off. "And for what? For the worship of a psychopath? It's you whose the blight in this world, and it's time you go,"

"Wait!"

"So die!" With a furious roar, Ichigo pushed down on Samhain's shoulder as he brought Zangetsu up, ripping through Samhain's ribcage in the process. The blade left Samhain's body with a spray of blood, staining what remained of his bone-white mask with scarlet. The wound far too severe to recover from, Samhain fell to his knees as his wing lowered. His eye, scared and dilated, looked toward Michael one final time.

"Michael...Michael..." And then Samhain fell besides Jamie and was absorbed into the darkness, cut off from Hell in the dark domain of his god.

Jamie grabbed her sword and crawled back to her feet as Ichigo fell on one knee, using his sword to prop himself up. "Ichigo," Jamie asked. "Are...you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ichigo assured her even as he wheezed. "You know, I'm such an idiot."

"W-What do you mean?"

"I got so caught up in the fear and confusion that I forgot I could flare up my Reaitsu." Ichigo offered a weak laugh. "That seemed to take care of the damned virus."

Jamie shook her head as her gaze migrated to the various raw spots on Ichigo's body. "Care nothing!" She rebuked. "Look at you! You look like someone rubbed you against a cheese grater!"

Ichigo chuckled again. "Yeah, I guess that's true." He looked back toward Michael who was simply standing.

Watching.

Waiting.

"Michael," Ichigo forced himself back to his feet with a groan. Jamie hopped up as he did and tried to stand in his way. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You can hardly stand, let alone fight!"

"Maybe," Ichigo admitted.

"Ichigo, if you fight my uncle the way you are right now, you'll die! You hear me? You'll die!"

"I'm aware of that," Ichigo said.

Jamie balled up her fist, resisting the urge to pound them against Ichigo's chest for daring to be so stupid. "Then why? Why are you still going after him?"

"Because if he isn't stopped here and now, there's no telling how many people are going to die." Ichigo answered with his gaze still fixed on the Shape. "Not to mention all the people he's already killed." He thought of his friends from school. "All the people he's hurt," He thought of Rukia and Tatsuki. "It's never going to stop until he's dead and as long as I'm still able to carry my sword, I still have to try to end this!"

"Ichigo," Jamie cried. "Don't be an idiot! B-Between the two of us, we don't stand a chance.."

Ichigo's only response was to smile. "Who said we were alone?"

"Huh?" It was then that Jamie heard movement behind her and turned around. Three shapes were standing up behind her uncle who seemed to notice them as he turned around to greet them as well.

Orihime, Sado and Uryu all got back to their feet, fighting through the pain of the holes in their bodies as they faced Michael.

"Orihime...Chad.." Jamie whimpered. "You're alive..."

"It's...going to take a lot more than that to get rid of us," Orihime said with as bright a smile as she could muster in the agony she was in.

Sado simply nodded in agreement.

"You caught us off-guard," Uryu stated as he fixed his cracked glasses. "It won't happen again."

Even Michael couldn't help but widen his gaze as he stared at the trio. Never since Laurie had he met with such resistant prey. It would almost be impressive if it wasn't annoying to him.

"You see, Michael, We're not like most of the other people you've been hunting all your life," Ichigo explained as he took a step toward the Shape. "We aren't just going to sit back and let you do whatever the hell you want to innocent people. If you really want to reshape this world to your image," He held his sword toward Michael in a declaration of war. "You'll have to get through us first!"

"That's right!" All three of Ichigo's friends shouted in unison.

Michael tightened the grip on his scythe, enraged by this defiance.

"But Ichigo..." Jamie tried to follow Ichigo only for him to keep her back with a gentle palm.

"You need to get Loomis and the others out of here." Ichigo said. "Maybe Tessai has that magic carpet on him somewhere."

"But Ichigo-"

"I know what this man's done to you," Ichigo continued. "And in a fully just world, you'd be the one to finally finish him off. But right now, just put your trust in me and my friends. And if we fail, put it in the Soul Society." He turned to Jamie and gave her a warm smile, despite the pain racking his body. "One way or another, you'll be free from him, I promise you."

Jamie's eyes welled with tears as she realized the true extant of Ichigo's words. For his friends, his own family and even for people he barely knew such as herself, Ichigo was willing to fight to his final ragged breath. "Ichigo..."

Ichigo nodded and turned back to Michael. "Alright Michael!" He shouted as he unleashed his Reiatsu. "This time it's for keeps! Bankai!" With this, Ichigo transformed and sped toward Michael, Zangetsu clenched in both hands. He leapt at Michael and brought his sword down, only to be blocked by his scythe once more. At that moment, three of Uryu's arrows flew into Michael's back, making him waver. He pushed Ichigo back and turned toward Uryu, only for Sado to deck him in the face. Michael swung his scythe at him but he jumped back. Orihime rushed in front of him and formed another shield just as Michael swung his scythe a second time.

Jamie watched in amazement as Ichigo and his friends continued to fight valiantly. Part of her wanted to believe in them, trust in them to destroy Michael once and for all, to leave it all in their hands.

But she knew better.

She knew just what kind of monster her uncle was. He was Evil itself and Evil never truly died no matter how many times you shoot, stab, or burn it. Michael had survived every attempt on his life thanks to the Heart of Darkness and now that it had fully awakened, there was no limits to his power. As Jamie watched Michael slice through Orihime's barrier and slash her shoulder, she was all the more certain that, as brave and as powerful as they were, not even her new friends could defeat Evil.

"They'll...They'll never win," She whispered. With tears in her eyes, she looked over to where Riruka still lied on the ground, shivering and clicking her teeth. Not far from her, Yukio lay in a crimson pool of his own making, possibly already dead. Jamie turned around and saw Tessai, Jinta and Ururu all laying on the ground as well, a messy triangle of blood forming between the three of them. The spear in Jinta's body had vanished upon Samhain's demise but this did little to comfort Jamie as she watched the boy writhe in pain alongside his apparent sister. A low, deep groan pulled Jamie's gaze further to the right where Loomis had crawled. She gasped in horror as she saw the white monstrous mask forming on his face, spikes growing from the forehead and cheeks. It was clear from the Doctor's frantic writhing and his hands desperately tearing at the mask that he was fighting the Hollowfication with everything he had. But as with Ichigo and his friends, it was a battle he was doomed to lose.

"This can't be it," Jamie wept. "This can't be how it ends for us." She turned back to the battle just as Michael knocked Ichigo back to the ground. The Substitute Shinigami winced in pain as the dirt intermingled with his open wounds but nonetheless, he jumped back to his feet and blocked Michael's attack.

"We've trained so hard,"

Michael pushed him back.

"Gotten so much stronger,"

Michael tried to slam his blade into Ichigo's stomach only for Sado to block it with the shield in his right arm.

"All for Michael to kill it all again? To take it all again?"

Sado screamed as the blade drew blood from his arm. Michael lifted his hand and caught an arrow that Uryu had shot, absorbing the Reshi with his Reiatsu.

"No...No!" Jamie shouted. "I won't let him have his way this time, I won't!" Through her leaking eyes and her trembling body, Jamie crossed her legs and placed her sword on her knees. She took a deep breath and focused, willing the sounds of the battle taking place besides her to ebb away

"Please hear me, whoever you are...whatever your name is...I know I should be patient...I know I should wait until you're ready to show yourself to me but...but I can't wait anymore! This is a life or death situation. More than that, it might be the end of the World of the Living, maybe even Soul Society if it gets strong enough. All those lives...these worlds...their fate might be dependent on you answering me so please...I'll do anything...I'll give you my soul...I'll let you possess me body and mind...I'll even fling myself into Hell itself so please! Please answer me!"

"Well, well, someone certainly is demanding."

Jamie's eyes flew open as she heard the strange voice and gasped in awe at the sight before her.

A great gate, resembling a Japanese Tori, stood before her, the path leading up to it formed with solid white marble and lined with torches. One either side of the gate was a giant rock and resting on these rocks were two completely different animals. One appeared to be a big cat, specifically a tiger, with grey stripes running down its rippling back. The rest of its fur was jet-black and if it weren't for the glow of the torches or the radiance of the other animal sitting across from it, Jamie might have not even seen it at all. As for the other animal, it appeared at first to be a giant snow-white snake coiled around the top of the rock, it's upper body standing erect. As Jamie's eyes trailed upwards along the body, however, she was astounded to find herself staring into the blue eyes of a fearsome dragon. With its flowing beard and golden antlers, it looked like something straight out of a Chinese fairy tale.

"Wha...uh..."

"Hmm?" The dragon raised an eyebrow. "How curious. You made such a fuss about us answering you and now that we have, you have nothing to say?"

"Answering me...what...?" Then the truth dawned on Jamie and uttered another gasp. "You mean...are you two...my Zanpakuto?"

The dragon scoffed and pointed to himself. "I'm your Zanpakuto, child." He pointed to the tiger with a rather annoyed look on his face. "That is a loathsome parasite that happened to manifest along with me."

The tiger suddenly shot up and roared at the dragon, startling Jamie. "Wretched worm! You speak as if you have seniority but I was here first! And I didn't need some fancy magic sword to manifest myself!" He turned to Jamie, his sharp teeth fixed in a vicious, human-like snarl. "All I needed was a mask and a blade."

Jamie shuddered as the tiger stared at her. There was something...unnatural about its eyes. They were somehow blacker than the rest of its body, looking more like holes in its face than actual sight organs. Almost like...

"You...You're my Fullbring..." Jamie whispered."

"I'm your killer instinct!" The tiger corrected. "I'm the reason why you stabbed your stepmother that night, why you were able to connect to your uncle's mind. I am the raw destructive desire to follow in his footsteps that you so feverishly deny!"

"N-No!" Jamie denied. "I'm not like my Uncle! I'm not anything like him! I refuse to be! I refuse to be a killer!"

The tiger laughed at Jamie's misery. "There you go again, clinging so desperately to that pathetic moral code of your species. When are you gonna wake up and realize the real world has no room for such worthless ideals!? It has always been a kill-or-be-killed world since the beginning of time and no amount of hopeful wishing will ever change that! You fear your uncle but not because he is a killer. You fear him because he reminds you of this simple inescapable truth!"

"That's...not true..." Jamie groaned.

"Oh come now," The dragon broke in with an eye roll. "You and your childish little musings. I believe humans have a word for that...let's see...ah yes...edgy!"

"Pompous little grub!"

"Did it ever occur to you that the natural evolution of concepts like compassion, loyalty, and justice within the human and Shinigami species are the result of an insane and chaotic Universe calming down and trying to guide itself in the right direction?" The dragon continued. "Even the Gotei 13, founded by a bunch of bloodthirsty murderers not all that different from Michael, was able to reinvent itself little by little thanks to that Kurosaki boy."

Jamie blinked. "You...You know about Ichigo?"

"Of course, child. Haven't you been paying attention at all to our conversation?" The dragon asked. "We know everything that you know because we are a part of you, beings born from your soul and its power."

"Beings...born from me?" Jamie turned back to the sneering tiger. Just looking at the damned thing reminded her of her uncle and even more distressingly, the night she almost followed him into the Heart of Darkness. "Than that means..."

"That I'm every bit a part of you as this self-righteous eel here," The tiger grinned. "And no matter what you do, no matter how badly you may wish to be completely pure of heart, you will never, ever be rid of me!" The tiger burst into a fit of maniacal laughter that seemed to echo throughout the area. The dragon said nothing but simply stared at the tiger with contempt.

Jamie started to cry again for she knew the beast spoke the truth. She lowered her head and watched her own tears fall upon the marble path. "Then it's true," She whispered. "I really am contaminated by my uncle's Evil...I'm...connected to the Heart of Darkness." Jamie thought back to that dreadful night she almost killed her stepmother, the rage and bloodlust that poured into her soul. "Now and forever." She remembered the psychic attacks she had whenever she would connect with her uncle's mind, feeling the wrath and power that flowed through him with each life he took. "Forever a part of me..."

Then she remembered Ichigo's Hollow mask and the tears slowly stopped.

"The King and the Horse."

Jamie wiped her eyes.

"The difference between them is not that one is an animal and the other a man..."

Once her eyes were dry, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"But instinct!"

Jamie looked back up toward the two spiritual beings. "Alright, now that introductions are out of the way, I need to borrow your power."

Both the dragon and tiger seemed surprised by the sudden shift in Jamie's emotions the latter more so than the former.

"W-What is this?" He asked. "You're over it? Just like that?"

"Of course not!" Jamie replied. "And I don't know if I'll ever truly be okay with it. You...You came from my uncle's power. You made me try to kill my stepmother! Tried to make me like him!"

The tiger sneered again.

"But even so," Jamie continued. "Even if I can't help the fact that you're a part of me, there's a simple reality that you can't deny either!" She pointed to the tiger as she shouted this.

"Oh yeah, and what would that be?"

"That this is my body and my mind!" Jamie declared. "You may be a part of me but you are the horse and I'm the king! It's my instinct and my will that determines what's done with your powers!"

The tiger hissed as the dragon gasped.

"You're gonna be part of me? Fine! But you'll do what I say when I say it or I'll...I'll turn you into a goddamn throw rug!"

Jamie ended her rant with a gasp for air. She stood there, panting like a dog in the summer heat as the stunned tiger and dragon watched on.

After a few seconds, the tiger snickered and before long, this snickering turned into a full-on guffaw.

"You ballsy little brat!" He spoke through his laughter. "To make a threat to the likes of me? Perhaps you have gained some backbone in all these years after all." The tiger continued to laugh for a few seconds more. Once he had finally finished, he sighed in a pleased, almost relieved tone and said. "Alright, You win."

"Huh?"

"I'll take my place as your horse for now, if only because I can sense you're about to feed your appetite for destruction. But know this, girl. I am not a horse but a tiger and the second you or this antlered moron show even the tiniest amount of weakness, the slightest chink in your resolve, I'll be ready to pounce. I'll devour you both and take full control! Of that, I promise you." He finished his sentence with a twisted grin, dark blood flowing from his teeth.

Jamie took a moment to process what she had just heard and once she did, she smiled back at the tiger. "Fine, but know that I will never let that happen. not as long as I have something to protect."

The tiger snarled as Jamie turned to the dragon.

"Ummm..." She started to sweat as all the harsh lessons she'd been given concerning her sword from the Academy came flooding back to her. Nonetheless, she was fired up from her victory over her own Heart of Darkness and more determined than ever to save her friends. "Alright, I know how this works. I know I'm supposed to learn something about myself before I can get your power. But I don't have time to fool around. My friends need me so just...just tell me what I have to do...give me a trial...any trial...and I'll do it here and now!"

To Jamie's surprise and slight embarrassment, the dragon now burst into a chuckling fit of his own.

"H-Hey! What's so funny!? I need your power now so let's get this trial over with!"

"Oh dear girl," The dragon cooed. "You're so foolish. Don't you realize you've already passed your trial?"

Jamie stiffened with surprise. "I...I did?"

The dragon nodded. "By acknowledging that hairball over there as a part of you, you've proven you can fully be honest with yourself which means you can be fully honest with me. Not only that, but in embracing your own Heart of Darkness, a power born from pure evil, for the express purpose of protecting your friends rather than mindless killing or even petty revenge, you've proven that the light of your soul is far superior to your darkness. To be able to take a power meant for killing innocence and using it to protect it instead, I can think of no one more worthy of my power."

"You sure are in love with the sound of your own voice, aren't you?"

The dragon ignored the tiger's remark and lowered himself toward Jamie. "Yours is a kind heart, Jamie Lloyd, regardless of what darkness has attached itself to it. Never forget that."

Jamie felt tears flow down her cheeks as she covered her mouth. And this time, they were tears of joy. Tears of hope.

"Tsk! You get exactly what you wanted yet you still cry like a child," The tiger sneered. "Humans are so pathetic." With this, he jumped down from his rock and approached Jamie from the right as the dragon moved his head to the left. Jamie wiped her eyes once more and held out her hands, allowing the spiritual beings to press their foreheads against her palms. At once, she could feel a great power pour into her, newfound strength within her own soul.

"Thank you," She whispered as the light from the dragon and the darkness from the tiger flared up and crashed into each other with her caught in the middle. "Thank you...Heart of...Shadows...yes...that will be your new name...the Heart of Shadows...born from the Heart of Darkness but meant for a different destiny...and as for you...I already know your name...it's..."

---

Ichigo screamed as he hit the ground with a thud. Blood spurted from the huge gash on the side of his body. He tried to get up, only for the pain to force him back down. He panted as the sweat all over his skin intermingled with the fresh blood flowing from his wounds. One of these wounds was over his left eye, blood flowing into it and obscuring his vision. He turned to his right as he heard Uryu scream and witnessed the Quincy get slashed on the back by Michael's phantom blades. The Shape himself was no where to be seen and he hadn't been for the past few minutes. Almost as soon as the fight had started, Michael melted into the shadows and only attacked with his phantom scythe technique. With not even the violet light of his Reiryoku to see, Ichigo and his friends were left in total darkness, no choice but to wait for their eyes to adjust and to listen for any sound that might be their enemy.

But Michael made no sound as he attacked. There was only the ripping of flesh and the screams that came afterward.

"Dammit!" Ichigo tried to get up again and stabbed Zangetsu to the ground to prop himself up. "Michael, you coward! Quit hiding in the shadows and fight for real!"

No answer. Just the faint sound of Ichigo's own blood dripping to the ground and his ragged breathing.

"Bastard!" Ichigo screamed as he struggled to his feet. "Why are you doing this? What do you get out of killing innocent people? Is it power? Were you wronged somehow? Is all this some twisted form of justice? Huh!?"

Still no answer.

"There...there is no reason...is there?" Ichigo breathed. "The very act of killing. The very act of spreading fear...that's what you live for...isn't it, Michael?"

Ichigo could feel a presence behind him and plucked his sword from the earth. "Damn you!" He screamed as he turned and unleashed a Getsuga Tensho. The brief light from the strike allowed Ichigo to see that there was nothing behind him far too late and he watched as his attack sliced through the air and ultimately dissipated.

"What?" He breathed. "But I felt him right there! Where did he-

*SPLURCK!*

Ichigo was paralyzed with pain at once. He dropped Zangetsu and heard it clang on the ground below. He felt blood pool in his mouth and trickle down the side of his chin. With a shaky breath, he looked down at himself, his eyes widening as they fell on the huge silver blade poking out from his chest. Blood dripped from the very tip and fell to the floor, each drop seeming to thunder in the darkness. Ichigo reached for the blade and griped the edge, only for Michael to suddenly fling him in the air like he did to Yukio and Kisuke. Ichigo screamed as he once again hit the ground with a thud. Blood exploded from his mouth as he came to a stop and fell back on his face.

"Dammit...he...he can redirect his presence where ever he wants," He hissed. "Is there anything that monster can't do here?"

"Ichi...go..."

Ichigo turned to his right once more, barely able to make out an outline of a person right next to him. He didn't need to see them clearly to know it was Orihime. He could tell from the feeling of her Reiryoku and the smell of her shampoo, intermingled with blood as it was.

"Ichigo..." She breathed softly.

Ichigo heard the sound of grass shifting and realizing at once that Orihime was reaching out for him. He did the same, fighting through his own agony as he moved his hand until at last, he touched her finger tips. "Orihime..."

"Ichigo..." She sniffed as she wrapped her fingers around his. "I...I need to tell you something...in case we don't make it..."

"Don't talk like that!" Ichigo shouted. "We will make it!" Somehow!"

"Ichigo," Orihime's voice broke as she spoke. "Please listen to me...if we don't make it...I...I need you to know...I lo-

Michael's sudden presence silenced the injured girl. Both she and Ichigo looked up as the outline of the Shape stared down at them, his scythe standing above his head.

"Ichigo!"

"Orihime!" Ichigo forced himself to crawl on top of Orihime, placing himself between her and Michael.

"I-Ichigo!" Orihime cried, somewhat thankful for the darkness as it concealed her scarlet face.

"Bastard!" Ichigo roared at Michael. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Michael reeled back his scythe and sliced through Ichigo's back. The Substitute Shinigami screamed in pain as blood flowed from both his sides.

"Ichigo!" Orihime screamed.

"Orihime...Gah!...I'm...Ahh!...I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess...Gaaah!" Ichigo tensed up as Michael continued to slash him across the back, ripping away more strips of flesh and cloth with each swing of his scythe.

"Ichigo!" Orihime cried. "Please...Please don't say such things...I'd always choose to stay by your side, no matter what! You know that!"

"Gahk!"

"I should be the one apologizing right now. Even now, you're getting hurt because of me and I can't even heal you here." Orihime started to cry. "I'm so useless..."

"That's not true!"

Orihime gasped.

"You've always been there when we needed you the most. And even when you got taken to Hueco Mundo, when you could have given up on us, you didn't! Not even for a second! You've always been precious to us, Orihime! Precious to me!"

"I-Ichigo!"

"Gah!" Ichigo winced as Michael scraped his backbone with the last swing. "I'm...I'm sorry I couldn't do more...to pay back all the times you've protected me..."

"Ichigo!"

"I'm sorry...Orihime..." With this, Ichigo prepared himself for that final swing that would surely kill him. He could hear the woosh of the scythe as it was raised in the air, Michael's excited breathing...and then..

"Impart my Will on the Wicked and Just alike, Ryu no Kami Yari!"

At once, a giant flash like a strike of lighting broke through the darkness behind Michael and his would-be victims. All three of them turned around to see a aura of crackling golden Reiatsu surrounding the Fullbringers and Urahara Shop Employees. Sado, who had just found Uryu and was propping him up on his arm despite his own grievous injuries, joined the Quincy and the others in watched the magnificent display unfold before them.

The aura began to dissipate as a single shape emerged from the fading shards of light. It was Jamie, wielding a giant Naginata spear in her hands. The handle was comprised of gold-colored wood and a snow white tassel hung from the base of the silver blade. Another tassel hung at the end of the spear, this one as black as the shadows surrounding the light.

"J...Jamie?" Ichigo whispered.

"What...What is that she's holding?" Orihime asked.

"I think...it's her Shikai."

Michael stared at his niece, the light emanating from her nearly blinding him.

Jamie slowly opened her eyes as the light died down. She saw Ichigo and the others behind her uncle and looked down at her new weapon, gasping quietly as she saw it glisten. "No way...this is my Shikai?" Jamie felt a bit of childish giddiness rush over her as she admired it. "It's so...beautiful..." At once, Jamie heard the voice of her weapon whisper in her head. It only spoke for a second and in a voice barely above a mumble but Jamie understood at once what was said. "Five minutes. If I can stay alive for five minutes, I can end this once and for all." She looked back up toward her uncle and met his soulless gaze. "I will end this, no matter the cost."

Michael swung his scythe back into the shadows, intending to impale his niece from behind. He wasn't sure where she had gotten that strange weapon from or what it could do but given how difficult this latest batch of bodies was in becoming still, he didn't want to take any chances. To his surprise, instead of his blade exploding out from her chest, Jamie was engulfed in a different explosion altogether, one of lightening. It was as if her own Reiryoku had reacted to Michael's attack, using itself to dispel the darkness. Michael felt his blade pushed back from the shadows and wavered for a second. During those precious few seconds. Jamie flash-stepped from where she stood and appeared above Michael, her spear raised above her head. Michael had barely any time to block Jamie's attack with his own weapon and shove her away. She flipped in the air and landed next to Ichigo and Orihime.

"Guys!" She shouted as she noticed them in her light. "Are you alright?"

"We're alive..." Orihime chuckled nervously. "I think that's about as okay as we can be for now."

"Jamie..." Ichigo breathed. "That weapon...is it..."

Jamie nodded. "It's my Shikai. I...I'll explain it later but I got both my powers now!"

"Both?" Ichigo asked. "You mean?"

"My Shikai and Fulbring. I'm sorry it took me so long but I have them now." Jamie turned to her uncle. "Which means I can finally fight!"

"Wait Jamie!" Ichigo held his hand up. "Michael's beyond strong! I don't know-

"It's fine," Jamie interrupted. "I can do this. In fact, I think I'm the only one who can." Jamie looked down at the weapon in her hands which trembled with the memories of her human life. "This bastard...he's taken everything from me...destroyed everyone I ever loved or cared about...I have to do it! I have to be the one that finishes him off for good!" Jamie felt tears trickle down her face. "You just focus on healing up, okay? I could still use your help afterwards."

"Jamie," Ichigo whispered.

"Oh and Ichigo?" Jamie put herself in a fighting stance as her uncle did the same. "Thank you. If it wasn't for you, I would have never realized this power inside me. You didn't just shelter me and believe in me. You helped me face my demons and I'll never forget that."

"Jamie..." Ichigo smiled as he recognized the resolve on Jamie's face, the complete and utter determination to make her words reality. He should know it well for he wore that look himself many times before. "Right! Finish it, Jamie! Show that bastard that he can't haunt you anymore!"

"Right!" With this, Jamie screamed as she launched herself at Michael who returned the favor. Their weapons clashed with enough force to send small shockwaves throughout the park, forcing Ichigo and his friends to shield themselves from the blast.

"Is that..." Uryu coughed as the wind died down. "Jamie's Shikai?"

"It's so bright," Sado commented. "It's almost like we have the moon back."

"Guys look!" Orihime shouted happily as her fairies started to dance around her again. "My powers are returning! I can heal again!"

"That's great!" Ichigo replied. "So heal yourself first and-

Orihime shook her head and pointed her palms toward Ichigo. "No, you guys first. After all, Jamie will need backup if she's gonna take down Michael."

Ichigo tried to protest but as he felt the reality of his wounds already being rewritten, he sighed and smiled. "Alright."

Only a few feet away, Jamie and Michael continued to exchange blows and slashes. It was a stalemate so far with Michael constantly vanishing in the shadows for a sneak attack only for Jamie to illuminate the darkness and block his attack. Michael had the advantage in terms of strength and power but it did little good against Jamie's agility and speed. It seemed like this battle could last forever in this stalemate.

But Michael had one more trick up his sleeve. One he had been saving in the event these corpses in waiting somehow got the upper hand.

Michael pushed Jamie back and vanished into the shadows once again. Jamie braced herself to block another attack, the light radiating around her already eating away at the darkness. But no attack came. Michael's presence seemed to vanish altogether, leaving the confused girl looking around in the dark. "Michael...Uncle...where'd you go?"

"Jamie!" Ichigo shouted just as he finished healing up. "Be careful! Michael can redirect his presence where ever he wants!"

"What!?" Jamie shrieked. "You jerk! Why didn't you tell me that earlier!?"

"Oh I'm sorry! I was kinda busy leaking all my blood and organs from my back!"

"Now, now!" Orihime rose her hands up. "T-There's no need to fight with each other! Save it for Michael!"

"Are they really doing this now of all times?" Uryu asked in an annoyed tone.

"Maybe it's their way of coping with mental trauma." Sado suggested.

Uryu just turned and looked at his friend like he had dropped a free-style rap verse out of nowhere.

"Alright...n-no it's fine!" Jamie told herself as she tightened the grip on her Zanpakuto. "Michael wants to play these games than fine! I have my Zanpakuto now! I'm ready for anything!" Her whole body trembled as she shouted into the darkness. "You hear me, Michael! I'm ready for anything you've got so whatever you're planning, stop being a coward and show it already!"

It was that Jamie felt a presence appear behind her. It wasn't Michael's but it wasn't any of her friend's either and so without a moment's hesitation, she screamed as turned to bury her spear...

...right into the head of one decayed Rachel Carruthers

Jamie took a few seconds to fully recognize the figure before her, her mouth widening with horror as it set in. "R-Rachel...?"

"Jamie..." The apparition croaked as sludge-like blood leaked from its mouth. "Why..."

"No!" Jamie shook her head as her tears returned. "You're not her! You can't be her!"

"Jamie...why...why did you let him get me?" The corpse slowly rose its arms toward Jamie, the ashen flesh peeling from her greenish bones. "Why did you let him kill me?"

"I didn't! I...No...No!" Jamie gripped her head as she backed away from Rachel's approaching corpse. "Please...I didn't..." She suddenly felt herself bump into another lump of cold and stinking flesh. She turned to see none other than Tina Williams, every bit as decayed as her former friend.

"It's all your fault, you know?" The corpse rasped. "If it weren't for you, me and Rachael might have lived."

"T-Tina!" Jamie sobbed.

"We only died because he was after you," Rachel hissed.

"You should have just let him have you so the rest of us could live!" Tina added.

"Please...It's not my fault...I...I was just a kid! I couldn't protect you! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry?" A third voice rasped from behind Jamie. "Just a kid?" Two hands grabbed Jamie's shoulders and pulled her back. From her left side, the bloody face of Darlene Carruthers emerged from the shadows, glaring at Jamie with her remaining eye as a pair of scissors stuck out of the other socket. "No kid could have done this to me! You're a monster! Just like your uncle!"

Jamie screamed.

"Jamie!" Ichigo and the others prepared to rush to her aid, only for all four of them to get grabbed from behind, their arms held against their sides. "What the hell?" Ichigo asked as he turned to see who was holding him back.

To his surprise and horror, it was none other than his mother, smiling that same warm smile that always made him feel safe as a child, even as she prevented him from helping his friend.

"M-Mom?"

"S-Sora?"

"Grandfather?"

"Abuelo?"

All four friends found themselves restrained by bloodied versions of lost loved ones. The apparitions spoke no ills toward them as Jamie's did, they only served to keep the group from helping.

"What?" Uryu taunted. "No words of resentment for us?"

"I think it's because they weren't killed by Michael like the others were," Orihime suggested. "He has limited power over them."

"But he still has power," Sado spoke. "Enough to do this. The Heart of Darkness really has no limits now."

"Dammit!" Ichigo shouted. "I'm sick of this! This is the third time these damn Surassha have used my mother to hurt me! I swear if the next one so much as brings her up, I'll shut them down in a heartbeat!"

"Next one!?" All three friends shouted in unison for none of them much cared for the sound of that.

"Jamie! Listen to me," Ichigo screamed toward the struggling Academy student. "We've been through this before with Krueger! It's all a trick! None of what those fakes are saying is true! Michael's just using your memories to make you faulter! Don't let him!"

As if on cue, Michael emerged from the shadows, behind Jamie and Darlene. He grabbed the apparition and tossed her away like a rag doll before raising his scythe over Jamie as she fell to her knees, covering her face.

"Jamie! Look out!" Orihime cried.

"Move!" Uryu cried as well.

"It's just a trick, Jamie!" Ichigo screamed. "You've got to snap out of it! It's just a trick!"

Michael brought the scythe down toward Jamie as she moved her hands from her face and stared toward Ichigo and his friends with teary eyes, her mouth opened as if to say one final sentence.

"I know."

Jamie suddenly melted into the floor, as Michael's scythe came down on her, causing it to stab into the ground. Michael's eyes widened as did those of the apparitions and of Ichigo and his friends. Michael felt around for her presence but could not find it. It was as if she had simply vanished into thin air. With no real idea of how to find her, Michael turned to his right...

...giving Jamie a chance to remerge from the shadows and impale Michael with her spear.

Michael spasmed as he was lifted off his feet. He dropped his scythe which buried itself into the ground. The apparitions spasmed as well and vanished as Michael's focus was poured toward the massive speak sticking out through his back. Despite his weight, Jamie found it weirdly easy to hold her uncle up like he was a gory kite.

"Jamie!" Ichigo shouted as the apparition of his mother vanished, releasing him from her grip. "Are you alright?"

"How did you...do that?" Uryu asked.

"I knew." Jamie repeated.

"Huh?"

"I knew that those weren't the real Rachel and Tina. I knew them. They would have never said those things to me. Hell, I ruined Rachel's dates and she took me out for ice cream to cheer me up from the guilt I felt! I know they both loved me and I know if it's anyone's fault they're gone, it's yours, Michael." She glared at Michael as he struggled wordlessly on the spear. "That's why I'm so glad I was able to use your own power to get the drop on you."

"His own power?" Orihime asked. "Does that mean..."

"My Fullbring, the Heart of Shadows, is born from the same power that my uncle possesses, it's the same darkness that almost corrupted my soul, that almost made me like him." Jamie glared at her uncle. "But thanks to a friend's advice, I learned to subjugate it to my will instead. It's my power now, Uncle, but because it was born from your Heart of Darkness, it's every bit as powerful here!"

The light radiating from Jamie's body suddenly shot from her body and formed a sphere above her and her uncle, acting as the moon and lighting up even more of the darkened field.

"Amazing!" Orihime clapped her hands together.

"The Heart of Shadows..." Uyru repeated silently. "I see, so she's taken the very darkness that haunted her and turned it into a weapon against itself."

Sado uttered a pleased murmur.

"It's all over now, Michael" Jamie continued as the light shone over them. "My Shikai's true ability is about to activate and this time, there's no coming back for you. This is it!" The spear in Jamie's hands began to glow as well, causing Michael to intensify his spasms as the heat burned his organs. "Good-bye Uncle..." Jamie closed her eyes and waited for her Shikai to destroy her uncle.

Instead, the air around the both of them whipped around in a great whirlwind. It happened so fast and with so much force that Jamie was nearly knocked off her feet. The wind tore at her uniform, creating rips throughout it. She winced as she felt strands of hair rip away from her head as well and gnashed her teeth. With the stronger wind came an even stronger odor of decay that made Jamie gag. She looked up toward the sky to see her uncle, no longer thrashing about even as he remained impaled on the spear, was not affected at all by the wind. Further up, the awful cyclone seemed to tear at the darkness itself as it eclipsed Jamie's makeshift moon, trapping everyone in total darkness once again.

"Oh no!" Sado cried. "Jamie!"

"What's happening now!?" Orihime cried.

"It's Michael," Uryu answered. "Of course he wouldn't go quietly. This must be a last-ditch effort to escape Jamie's clutches!"

"But just what the hell is he doing?" Ichigo asked.

Within the confines of the horrid whirlwind, Jamie screamed as she struggled with her uncle. He seemed to grow heavier by the second, forcing her to lower the spear toward the ground little by little. Jamie realized what her uncle was trying to do and forced the spear back up. She wouldn't let him run away from this. She couldn't. If he escaped this time...

"N...No!...I'm not letting you get away..." Jamie declared. "I know...I know...you're using the Heart of Darkness to try to escape...but I already told you...I...I'll beat you with my own power!" Jamie willed her own Heart of Shadows to act, shivering as the coldness emanated from her body, a far cry from the light of her Shikai. She stiffened as her own darkness merged with Michael's wind, turning in the opposite direction within the cyclone. The shadows imploded on themselves as a result, and Michael and Jamie found themselves trapped in a unseeable wind tunnel which tore at the both of them.

It was now a battle of wills.

Jamie screamed as the first time since she was a child, the merging of and her uncle's powers allowed them to telepathically connect. Michael could see Jamie's memories of the afterlife, her journey through Shin'o Academy and the friends that she made. He would be sure to slaughter them all once he eventually reached Soul Society. By that time, the Heart of Darkness would be more than a match for the captains, he was sure of it.

As for Jamie, she could see her uncle's memories as well, the years he allowed himself to be imprisoned by the Cult of Thorn and the first time he used his power to rewrite history. She saw her birth mother in the new life Michael had made for her, with the brother that was never her brother. She watched as her mother came close to defeating Michael, only for a chance encounter with a police man to give Michael not only a means to escape but a way to ensure Laurie couldn't get away the next time they met. Jamie cried as she watched her mother squander her chance to finally kill Michael thanks to the very doubt he sowed in her heart and pay for it with her life.

"Mother!"

Jamie watched as Michael continued to slaughter even after his bloodline had been destroyed, his family tree reduced to embers. "What are you trying to do now, Michael? What is the point of all this!?"

Then Jamie saw it. She saw the new timeline of Michael's life in his mind. He was an old man who never followed Laurie to the hospital that night. He was arrested instead and locked up for 40 years before finally being given the chance to escape by a madman not unlike Wynn. Michael would find Laurie again and torment her and her family as well as the people of Haddonfield who, even all those decades later, were still trapped in the shadow of his evil. It wasn't an ideal life at all for him but it would allow him to kill again, to hurt again and this time, as he never encountered Xcution in this timeline, Ichigo and the others would never find out about him.

"Dear God...He's...He's trying to rewrite history again." Jamie croaked. "Would you really go that far, Michael? Would you really reduce yourself to an old man just to kill again...no...no you wouldn't just be an old man. You would have full control of your Heart of Darkness this time. Whatever destiny these people might have had otherwise, you would change it to the most twisted nightmare you could think of, wouldn't you, Michael?"

Jamie gritted her teeth.

"Well I won't let you!"

With a cry of utter fury, Jamie put all her strength in holding Michael up and placed her focus on her Shikai, Even in the ever-hungry darkness, the light of Ryu no Kami Yari, however dimmed, still refused to stop shining. And as Jamie placed more of her power and trust into her weapon, that light only grew stronger.

In retaliation, the winds around Michael increased in their fury as well, slicing into Jamie's skin and drawing blood. The right sleeve of her uniform was ripped away completely, exposing more skin to be ripped up by the wind. Jamie cried out in pain and whined under the weight of her uncle on the spear. She felt her arms lowering against her will again and cried. "No...No! I can't let this happen! I'm stronger than this! I'm stronger than the Heart of Darkness! I have to be! I have to-

She felt a hand grab her naked shoulder. Not in a vice-like grip but with a gentle and loving grasp.

Jamie froze up and turned her face toward the figure, gasping quietly as she beheld the faint but clear visage of Rachel. She was no longer bloody and rotten but beautiful and radiant and instead of blaming Jamie for her demise, she simply smiled at her reassuringly.

"Rachael?" Jamie felt tears of sadness and happiness in equal measure flowing over her face. "I see...the Heart of Shadows really can do what the Heart of Darkness can...with help from Ryu no Kami Yari..." Jamie wiped her face clean and placed her hand back on the handle of her spear, keeping it from falling any lower. The wind around her tore at her ear but she hardly winced. She took a deep breath and recalled the words Carrie had said to her but a few weeks ago.

"We all have our demons to face and that can be terrifying, but once you renew your resolve and face them, you'll find there was a light hidden within all that darkness all along."

Jamie looked back up at her uncle one final time, her eyes staring into his. She was once again reminded of the day she managed to get him out of his mask, the last time he showed even the tiniest shred of humanity. Jamie was just a child back then, and still clung to the last bit of childish hope that there was some semblance of good in her uncle. But now she knew the truth. Mask or no mask, powers or no powers, Michael Myers was pure evil. He was never her uncle. He was the Boogeyman that haunted her in the darkest nights of her childhood, leaving her shaking in her bed and cowering under her sheets. But she wasn't a child anymore. She wasn't even human anymore. She was a Shinigami and it was her job to kill monsters like the Boogeyman so that other children could sleep soundly in their beds.

It was time to turn on the light.

"Mother...Rachael...my baby...you took everyone and everything I ever cared about, Michael." Jamie whispered as she held her uncle up in the air and continued to feed power into her Zanpakuto. "You've taken so much from so many people. But no more. Never again."

Michael felt his organs begin to burn once again as the spear continued to shine and resumed his trashing about. The winds around him continued to swirl faster and faster yet Jamie refused to budge, refused to even close her eyes as she watched her uncle play the role of the victim for once.

"This is Karma, Michael. You've eluded it for so long but at last, it's caught up with you. This is the final power of my Ryu no Kami Yari. Saishu-Tekina Shinpan. When active, it is I who decides who is just and who is evil and whoever or whatever I dub evil..."

Michael reached for Jamie as blood dripped from his mask.

"...is erased from existence completely!"

Jamie shouted as the spear finally activated, illuminating the darkness around her. The wind ceased at once as the shadows were broken up and erased in the blinding light. Michael stiffened as the power flowed through him. All thoughts of slaughter and killing vanished, replaced with only the overwhelming pain that grasped his entire body. The hair of his mask caught fire and started to burn the white latex away.

"When I was connected to your mind, I saw the night you killed my mother." Jamie brought up. "I heard her last words to you, how she would see you in Hell." Jamie glared at Michael. "But not even Hell will have your soul, Michael! The only place you can exist now it total oblivion! Even reincarnation will be lost to you forever!"

As Michael's mask burned away, Jamie was able to take one last look at his real face and the one and only time that it expressed genuine fear.

"NOW DIE!" Jamie roared as the light continued to burn Michael into nothingness. Even his soul caught fire once it was freed from the fleshy confines of his body and burned away. The light from Ryu no Kami Yari continued to spread throughout the town before vanishing, taking all traces of Michael's darkness with it. Outside the whirlwind, Ichigo and his friends were forced to shield their eyes as the cyclone was destroyed from within. Of course, only those with spiritual awareness could actually see the light as it engulfed the town. To every other resident of Karakura Town, the sudden eclipse was simply coming to an end.

...

"Huh?" Karin and Yuzu pulled their faces from Ichigo's chest as they heard the screams of panic on the streets turn to confused but relieved murmurs. Looking up, both sisters gasped to see the Hunter's Moon shining brightly in the sky once again.

"Is...Is it over?" Yuzu asked.

"Yeah, I think it is...whatever it was..."

Kon looked up at the moon as well, a small smile forming on his face as he realized the battle had been won.

"They did it."

...

Rukia and Jackie both shouted in surprise as the lights came back on, stinging their unprepared eyes. After a few seconds of rubbing them, it was Rukia who understood what had happened first and got up to check the window. Jackie got up as well, her injuries, while still fresh, no longer bothering her. The two women carefully wandered back to the room and turned toward the window that had been broken by the foul-smelling wind. Only there was no wind now, just the distant cheer of festival goers as the moon hung peacefully in the sky.

Rukia and Jackie gasped, looked at each other and smiled in relief as the reality of what happened dawned on them.

"They did it."

...

As soon as the last of the dust particles that used to be Michael Myers vanished into nothingness, Ryu no Kami Yari returned to its original state. Once it had finished this transformation, Jamie fell to her knees and collapsed onto the ground.

With the whirlwind of shadows gone, Ichigo and his friends were able to see Jamie fall. "Jamie!" He rushed over to her and lifted her head and shoulders from the ground. "Shit! Are you okay?" He asked as Uryu and Sado arrived at his side.

Jamie coughed. "I-I'm fine." She tried to reassure Ichigo through a weak smile, even as her eyes betrayed a sense of total exhaustion. "I...I think I just went a little overboard with my Zanpakuto is all...using that final technique...really took a lot out of me."

"I'll say, you look like you got hit by a truck."

"Fuck you too..." Jamie laughed. As she finished, she noticed that Orihime wasn't among the group. "Say, where's Orihime?"

"Huh?" Ichigo and the others looked around for their missing friend.

"Over there," Sado pointed toward Orihime as she hunched over a shivering Riruka.

"I'll get to you soon, Jamie! I promise!" She shouted. "But I have to help them!"

"Take your time. I'll be okay," Jamie coughed again.

Orihime nodded before turning back to Riruka. "Oh please...please let this work..."

Riruka continued to shiver as Orihime's fairies went to work healing her wounds and mending her clothing. She gripped her head as Orihime continued to reverse the damage and for a moment, the orange-haired girl fretted that she might be making Riruka's mental agony worse somehow. Suddenly, Riruka screamed like a banshee, startling Orihime, before her head hit the ground again.

"Riruka!" Orihime cried as she scooped up Riruka in her arms. "Are you okay?"

Riruka remained limp in Orihime's embrace for a few moments before finally stirring. She shook her head and blinked several times before recognizing the girl before her. "O-Orihime? Is that you?"

"Riruka!" Orihime suddenly pulled the Fulbringer into a crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried I accidently lobotomized you!"

Riruka fumed as she pushed the giggling Orihime's head away and tried to squeeze out of her grasp. "What the hell are you talking about? How do you accidently lobotomize someone!? Was that supposed to be some sort of sick joke? Let go of me!"

Ichigo and his friends smiled to see the two girls bounce back from the fight.

"Look, forget me, alright! Yukio really needs your help right now!" Riruka brought up.

This finally got Orihime to finally let go of the magenta-haired Fullbringer. "Oh! You're right!" She rushed over to the blonde-boy and began her chant. Within moments, Yukio's wounds began to close as his eyes began to open.

"What...Where am I?"

"Hey, you lazy bum! Get up already!" Riruka shouted as she approached the two of them. "Come on, do you intend to lie down in the dirt all night?"

"Riruka," Yukio uttered. "D-Did we win?"

"Well, considering the fact that we're all still alive, I would say we did, no thanks to you and your stupid monsters!" Riruka scolded.

"Heh," Yukio smiled "You're such a pain in the ass."

"What was that!?" Riruka's remaining pigtail stuck up like a cat's back. "What did you just say!?"

"Now now," Orihime waved her hands with a nervous smile. "You're both still hurt pretty bad! This is no time for-oh Tessai! Mr. Tessai! Over here!"

Everyone turned to see Tessai making his way toward Orihime, Jinta and Ururu in his arms. All three of them were bleeding heavily but still breathing. Even Tessai seemed to groan in pain with every step that he took but still he marched forward.

Jamie watched along with everyone else even as she laid in Ichigo's arms. It was in that moment that she remembered what had happened to Loomis and, fretful of what he might have become, scanned the field for him. She noticed a shape slinking off toward the city, away from the group and knew at once it was him, trying to ensure the monster he was turning into didn't hurt anybody.

"Dr. Loomis..."

"Oh!" Ichigo suddenly remembered something as well. "Riruka! Before he bleeds out, you should let Kisuke out of your purse so he can get healed too!"

"Huh?" Riruka needed a second before sharing in Ichigo's memory. "Oh! Right! I forgot!" She opened her purse, used her remaining pigtail to tickle her nose and sneezed into it. At once, a fully-sized and fully healed Kisuke Urahara popped out from the purse, much to the shock of everyone. In his hands was his Denreishinki "Bonjour, everyone!" He suddenly realized he had no footing, comically struggled in the air for a second or so, and hit the ground chin first, his left leg twitching.

"Kisuke?" Ichigo asked.

"Mr. Urahara!" Orihime cried happily. "You're okay!"

"B..But how?" Riruka stuttered. "You were mincemeat when I put you in my purse!"

"Oh that," Kisuke groaned as he got back to his feet. "Well to tell you the truth, that wasn't actually me," Kisuke bent down and picked up something that had matched his movements so perfectly as they both fell that no one even noticed it until this moment. Another Kisuke, this one mangled and very much dead.

Riruka screamed and covered her mouth.

"Is that...a Gigai?" Uryu asked.

"A special edition made just for this night, designed to take my place when it came to getting cuts and bruises while leaving me unharmed. A literal meat shield if you will," Kisuke chuckled for a moment before suddenly frowning. "Only, as I had sorta made it in a haste, I didn't have anytime to test it for kinks. As it turns out, it's a little hard to step out of once it gets damaged. He turned to Riruka and laughed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "I was just about to pop out before you placed me in that purse of yours."

Riruka slapped him with her remaining ponytail.

"Ow!" My nose!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know that, you old geezer!?" Riruka shouted. "Don't blame me because your inventions don't work!"

"Right," Kisuke rubbed his nose. "On the plus side, I did manage to secure quite some good news while inside the purse."

"Good news?" Sado asked.

"Does it have anything to do with the Denreishinki in your hand?"

Kisuke nodded and brought the device to his ear. "You still there...good...now if you would be so kind as to repeat what you just told me to the rest of the class." He put the device on speaker and held it up.

"Ughh, to make me repeat myself over a Denreishinki for bunch of morons, you never cease to annoy me, Kisuke Urahara."

"Is that...Mayuri?" Ichigo asked.

Mayuri sighed. "Very well. I will only repeat myself this once so everyone present better listen well! Just an hour ago, my Division was able to run a full scan through the Dangai and confirm that, while still far from being completely healed, it has reformed enough to reconnect the World of the Living with Soul Society. The fact that I'm even talking to you right now should be proof enough of that."

"You mean it?" Ichigo asked. "We're reconnected to Soul Society!?"

"Alright!" Orihime cried out in joy as she had just finished healing Ururu who lifted her arms up as well.

"Further more, the reason I had a scan done in the first place was the sudden influx of Human souls that came into Soul Society an hour ago. About a thousand or so."

"So that means.." Riruka began to speak.

"This means that, while not fully completed, the Dangai is stable enough now to allow for passage between the worlds as well. As I speak, we are already assembling a team of four captains to head to Karakura Town and access the situation as well as bring back Academy student Jamie Lloyd.

Jamie gulped as she heard this. "I'm so dead."

"Judging by what I've overheard so far, it would seem the battle was a success and Michael Myers was defeated. Quite a shame. I was hoping to bring him in for a few experiments. Oh well. The team should be arriving within the next hour or so. Therefore, I suggest you make yourselves as presentable as possible. That is all."

"Wait!" Jamie shouted suddenly. She tore herself from Ichigo's arms and wobbled over to Kisuke. "C-Captain Kurotsuichi! I know I have no right at the moment to ask questions but if I may, would...with the Dangai as progressed in fixing itself as you say, does that mean that it's safe to perform Konso on souls here in the World of the Living?"

Silence, followed by a dry scoff. "What a stupid girl. Clearly, those souls had to have come from somewhere and even now we're reaching out to all the Shinigami that had been stranded in the Word of the Living for the past few weeks. Of course, it's safe to perform Konso!"

Jamie blushed bright red as she realized she had already gotten her answer through logic. "That...That's right...I-I'm sorry...T-Thank you, sir."

Mayuri scoffed again. "Just be ready to leave by the time the captains arrive. You'll be facing some serious consequences once the situation has been properly assessed so it's in your best interest to be on your best behavior possible."

Jamie gulped again. "Y-Yes, Captain Kurotsuichi. Thank you."

"Very well. See you soon." With this, Mayuri clicked off.

"That jerk!" Ichigo muttered. "Who does he think he is?"

"No, Ichigo. It's alright," Jamie interrupted. "When all is said and done, the fact is I ran from Soul Society and directly disobeyed the captains. I need to own up to that, regardless of the outcome."

"Jamie," Ichigo whispered sadly.

"Besides," Jamie turned to him with a soft smile. "The Bogeyman is gone, forever this time. I can finally know peace again. I can finally dream again. No matter what punishment I get for this, it'll be worth it just for that alone."

Ichigo and his friends smiled in response, pleased with the knowledge that Jamie could finally step out of her uncle's shadow.

"But Jamie...well..." Orihime trailed off.

"Yes, Orihime?"

"Well...I know it's none of my business but...why exactly did you ask if Konso would work?"

Jamie frowned. "Because there's one more loose end to tie up before this is truly over," She turned toward the streets where Loomis had slunk off, "And he doesn't have a lot of time..."

---

Loomis wobbled into the trash cans in his haste to distance himself from the group. Even with all his willpower, he only managed to keep the left side of his face from being consumed by the demonic-looking Hollow mask that was forming on his head. And it was growing with every second.

"I don't have much time," The old man rasped. "Have to get away...have to..."

He forced himself to his feet and cried out as the mask spread to his nose. He tugged at the jagged edge in an attempt to break some of it away and buy time but only succeeded in cutting his fingertips. He cried out again as he pulled his hand away and stared at the blood. He groaned as he continued down the street toward...well, he wasn't really sure. He knew there was no hope for him now. Soon, his mind and soul would be converted into a mindless agent of hunger and he'd be lucky to even keep his memories as a human person. He had no intention of fighting this fate, only ensuring that when the time finally came, it would be all the harder for the monster he was becoming to hurt people.

His strength seemed to be sapped by the ground with each step he took and before long, he collapsed in front of a ramen store. The old man rasped as the Hollow mask grew over the bridge of his nose. With the final drop of his remaining willpower, he turned himself on his back and faced the stars. Maybe, just maybe he would be allowed to keep their sparkling visage as his final memory as a human.

"Jamie...Please...stay safe..." He whispered as he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen. Before he could feel the mask swallow up his face, however, he felt the sudden rush of several familiar presences around him. Opening his eyes, he gasped to see Jamie and the others standing before him.

"Dr. Loomis..."

"Jamie!" Loomis scooted away from her, covering the masked side of his face with his trembling hand. "Don't look at me! Don't even get near me! I'm becoming a monster!"

"Dr. Loomis, it's ok." Jamie reassured him as she approached. "We just got a call from Soul Society. The Dangai is working again and I can perform Konso." She unsheathed her sword and pointed the hilt toward him. "I can save you from becoming a Hollow!"

"Hold on, Jamie." Kisuke broke in. "Are you sure you wanna try that method? Given how far Dr. Loomis's Hollowfication has progressed, I'm not completely confident that it'll work. You may have to slay him as a Hollow."

"Kisuke!" Ichigo shouted.

"It's the truth, Ichigo." Tessai agreed. "Besides, you know that either way, Dr. Loomis will still end up on Soul Society so there's no need to worry."

"Yeah but-

"It's fine." Jamie interrupted. "If it had been any other soul, they probably would have already lost themselves to the Hollow by now. But Dr. Loomis only has half a mask and he still recognizes us." Jamie turned to her friends with a smile. "That's proof enough to me that a simple Konso will work."

Kisuke sighed after a moment's pause. "Very well, if you wish."

"S-Soul Society?...N-No. I can't! Michael-

"Michael is gone, Dr. Loomis." Jamie turned back to him. "We defeated him. For good this time."

"Impossible!" Loomis shouted. "Evil...Evil never dies!"

"Well, it did tonight." Jamie laughed. "Don't you feel it, Dr. Loomis? Doesn't the air feel cleaner now?"

Loomis's expression softened as Jamie's words soaked in. Carefully, he looked around the area, noting the lack of an oppressive wind reeking of death and the all-consuming shadows that had dominated this town not but several minutes ago. In his struggle to avoid becoming a Hollow, he had lost sight of the world around him.

"Dear God...you...you're right..." Loomis giggled. "The air is clean...the evil is gone!" Loomis frowned again. "But it'll come back."

"No," Jamie shook her head. "No it won't." She stepped closer to him

"Michael will return. He always does."

"Not this time." She grew closer still.

"But Hell...Hell will not have him!"

"Nor will anywhere else." Jamie suddenly wrapped the old man in a giant hug. He gasped as she squeezed. "He's really gone this time. I promise you." She met his gaze, her eyes welling with tears of happiness. "We can both finally move on."

Loomis began to tear up as well. "Yes...Yes...I'd like that...please...I'm ready..."

Jamie sniffled and got back up she pointed the hilt of her sword toward Loomis's forehead and prepared to press down.

"Wait!"

"Y-Yes?"

Loomis looked down for a moment, his expression one of shame and regret. It was as if he was trying to find the right words to say. Slowly, he picked his head back up. "I'm...I'm sorry, Jamie. For everything I've put you through when you were a child."

Jamie gasped.

"I have no excuse, not even Michael. I should have fought harder to protect you back then, fought to keep you away from him." Loomis lowered his head. "I'm...I'm sorry."

Jamie choked up and shook her head. "No...No you did protect me. Even when it was your life on the line, you fought like hell to try and stop him. And not just to protect me but to protect my mother!" Jamie sniffled. "So thank you, Dr. Loomis. Thank you for everything."

Loomis smiled through his tears. "May...May I ask one more thing before I go?"

"Of course...anything!" Jamie nodded.

"Tell me, Jamie...what is the Soul Society like? Really? Is there really a chance for an old soul like me to find peace?"

Ichigo tensed up as Loomis ask this question. If Rukia were here, he'd most likely exchange an awkward glance with her. Just how the hell was Jamie was supposed to answer a question like that?

But to his surprise, Jamie smile didn't fade in the slightest.

"It's not Heaven, that's for sure." She sniffled again. "It's not perfect. But there is happiness and there's hope. And that's why...I want you to come live with me!"

"Huh!?" Both Ichigo's group and Loomis said in unison.

"Well...actually...to be more accurate...I want you to come live with the family that took care of me when I first arrived in Soul Society...I visit them often and they have plenty of room. You'll be safe there, you can recover and maybe some day down the line...we could even work together to hunt down more Surassha like Michael, to destroy other people's Bogeymen!"

Loomis let Jamie's words sink in and slowly nodded. "Yes...I'd...I'd like that..."

Jamie grinned. "Then find the 16th District of Western Rukon. That's where they are and I'll be waiting for you everyday. I promise!"

Loomis nodded. "Thank you, Jamie." He looked up to Ichigo and his friends. "And thank you all, for finally destroying the Evil."

"Don't mention it," Ichigo replied. "See you in Soul Society, old man."

"Farewell!" Orihime wept as she waved.

"See you around."

"So long."

"Good luck."

The entire group said their good-byes as Jamie pressed her hilt against the old man's forehead. At once, the Hollow mask broke apart, the shards disintegrating into dust as they fell from Loomis's face. Blue light shone from beneath Loomis and as his expression turned peaceful, he sank down into this light, crossing over to the resting place he had been denied for years. A single Jigokucho flew from where he vanished and landed on Jamie's finger.

"Good-bye, Dr. Loomis." She whispered. "I'll see you soon."

Jamie watched as the butterfly flew from her finger and toward the sky, tinted gold by the rays of an approaching sun.

Dawn had arrived at last.

(And thus concludes the Shape of Evil Arc. Well, there's still the epilogue that I will hopefully get to y'all before the year's out but no promises. And after that...well that's a surprise.

Please leave a review if you enjoyed this story and stay the fuck away from me if you're one of those commission bots. Good-bye and Blessed Be.

EDIT: I can not believe I forgot to say this but...Rest in Peace, Tony Todd. You'll always be our Candyman.)