DISCLAIMER: I do not own bleach... unfortunately. I only own the OCs and the storyline

Chapter 1: The face of death

"... Now then any questions?" asked Head-Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya asked.

Suddenly a messenger form Squad 12 (R&D) burst through the door to the Captains' Chamber; "Captain Kurotsuchi, I have an urgent report; we're picking up a disturbance around the area that Squad 8 Captain Kyōraku and Squad 13 Captain Ukitake are currently in."

"What is it?" asked the strange painted captain irritably.

" Sir, its the gates of hell, they're being forced open from the inside."

At that report Head-Captain Hitsugaya went as white as his hair, "I only know of 4 beings with that kind of power, The Four Horsemen, War's here in the Soul Society, Plague's in Hueco Mundo, Famine is covering for the three absent riders, and Death has been missing for 50 years, am I correct, Captain Abbigale Hitsugaya?"

"I believe so, Sir." the squad 2 captain answered.

"Captain Ukitake, What is happening out there?" Tōshirō asked.

"He's forcing the gates open with his bare hands, wait he doesn't have any chains, and his mask, it looks like something strait out of a nightmare, like looking at the face of death itself," came the shaking, almost terrified reply, "I've never seen anything like it, not even in the Valley of Souls1, look."

A video screen came on and the figure of the being. The first thing they saw was that his face was obscured by a mask the color of fresh blood, with horns as sharp as blades running down either side of his face, and his the whites of his eyes were blacker than the midnight sky, but his irises were the same color as his mask.

As the screen zoomed out, they saw that his entire body was that same eerie red, his shoulders were adorned with six inch curved spikes that came to a needle tip, and there was a hole right through the middle of his chest where his heart should have been.

Then the ominous figure spread a pair of skeletal dragon wings to their fullest open position (about 16 feet from tip to tip), opened his mouth and with an icy cold, bone-chilling voice that would give the devil himself goosebumps, said "I am Ginoknir Ragnorok2, the embodiment of death..."he paused.

Back in the Captains' Chamber, Squad 2's captain's eyes grew wide, She muttered into the Head-Captain's ear, "It could actually be him, but I can't be sure."

Then the figure resumed speaking, "I am one of the riders of Dread Apocalypse, the Black Fortress." he stopped and opened the Jigen3 gate as Jūshirō and Shunsui fainted from the sheer power radiating off the rider.

As he started down the Precipice Corridor, he released a cry of inhuman pain, as a new, more natural, tenor voice, layered with unimaginable fury, came out of the rider's mouth' "This is my body NOT yours. Get. Out. Of. My. HEAD!"

Then the mask shattered...

TO BE CONTINUED...

1. the valley of souls is a world parallel to the Valley of Screams.

2. Ginoknir Ragnorok (Gin ok neer Rag no rock) - Bringer of Absolute distuction

- the Japanese word for dimension