Chapter 17: Dark Heaven

That one word echoed throughout the whole of the Seireitei as an explosion of power emanated from the Sokyoku. The various colors that once were vibrant and full of certain spiritual energy was now replaced by a sea of black energy with a myriad of different colors highlighted all around it. The black energy flew high into the air, causing everyone to marvel in awe at its sheer size and horrible beauty as the feeling of this energy was all too familiar to everyone. The black energy swirled high into the sky, destroying to domed barrier in its wake with ease as it rose higher and higher.

As it continued to rise, the man looked on in slight fear as he had never seen anything like this before. This energy far surpassed the head captains in power and did not feel like any of the previous energies that Ichigo had been using previously. No, this felt dangerous, darker, sinister even, and deadly. The man watched it, this bad omen of sorts, and could not look away. How? How was this human able to have such power? Power like this should not exist the way that it does.

While this was going on, Yoruichi, Rangiku, Halibel and Neliel arrived near the group as they also watched in awe at what they were seeing. Everyone was frozen in place as they saw the black energy rise higher to the point that it began to eclipse the sun itself and cover the entire Seireitei in an ominous darkness.

There was panic in the streets of the Seireitei as unseated officers and regular soul reapers didn't know what was going on. The captains and reigai did nothing but stare up to the dark sky in eerie anticipation of what was to come, completely ignoring the screams and shouts all throughout the Seireitei. Kisuke Urahara had rejoined the fight a few minutes prior and could only look up in fear as he had theorized what might happen if Ichigo were to do this. It would not end well for the teen if he was right.

The black energy then ceased its movement as it sat there, towering over everyone there. They all looked to it as the energy began to twitch and pulse in a violent and erratic way. This caused some of the ones below to widen their eyes in a similar fear, hoping that the one behind this energy was not dying of some sort. The energy continued to pulse violently, sending a horrible humming sound from it that caused several people to cover their ears. The man being one of these people since he was the closest to the energy. The hum and the pulsing along the twitching picked up in speed and volume, releasing a near deafening sound the likes of which no one has ever heard before. It was torturous to some and outright terrifying to others. Even the head captain was trying to cover his ears, despite only having one arms, as the sound was even too much for him. The sound eventually knocked out the regular soul reapers and unseated officers while the captains, lieutenants, the reigai, the two arrancar and the three humans were the only ones still conscious.

Just when it was about to become too much for everyone, the sound stopped suddenly. They all looked up as the black energy began to flow like flames. They all watched with bated breath as the energy began to descend back to the Sokyoku slowly at first, but then it began to fall at a rapid rate. The man held his weapon up at the ready as the black flames continued to fall not too far away from him. The sun began to shine down once more but seemed considerably darker than usual. The flames finally fell completely and covered the grounds of the hill in darkness. The man jumped up as to not get caught in it while the others were about to do the same, until the flames stopped mere feet away from them. From this close, they could see very clearly that various colors were actually resonating along the edges of the flames. It was odd yet somehow soothing to the mass group.

"What the hell is going on?" The man said to himself as he stood on solidified air to get away from the flames.

Everyone else had the same thought as they watched the black flames begin to move back. The flames swirled around the center of the hill, releasing small embers everywhere on the hill as it began to take a shape. It looked like nothing familiar at first as it looked like a mass with no shape, but then as the flames picked up speed, everyone started to see a body sitting with the flames itself. The man and the group watched as the flames stopped moving entirely and slowly began to fade away with the wind. In its wake sat a figure covered in the flames from head to toe. He was unmoving as the flames continued to flow and flutter upon him, yet he seemed to be completely calm with no signs of pain or agony.

"Ichigo?" Orihime spoke up as she and the rest waited with bated breath as he still had yet to move.

As soon as that name left her lips, the figure's head tilted up slightly. With one fluid motion, he stood up still covered in the flames and stood there. He looked up to the still darkened sky and held up his right arm to it. The darkness in the sun seemed to grow as the same eerie light from the eclipse took over once more. When that happened, the flames around the figure disappeared from him in a pulse of energy.

There, standing unharmed and unfazed by the very fire stood Ichigo Kurosaki himself, and he looked very different than before. Instead of the various clothing and items he wore once he gained a new zanpakuto, he stood in a large and billowing hakuma that had remnants of the black flames on its edges. He wore a dark red obi around his waist that shined with vibrant colors around the hem. He wore no shirt and instead had long coat made out of the very flames itself. The coat went all the way down to his feet, which were bare, and covered his arms. It had a hood as well. His clothes weren't the only things that changed as his appearance was different as well. The most noticeable thing out right was his hair. It was longer now, reaching to his upper back, and seemed to be made out of fire itself. The color was still orange, but on a closer inspection there were clear signs of other colors flowing within it, all representing each spirit within him. His face seemed the same, but it was his eyes that stood out. They were no longer the same chocolate brown they usually were and instead were a deep red within a pool a darkness. All in all, Ichigo looked like a totally different person now, and everyone had different reactions to it.

His friends were in awe as they could feel the heat from Ichigo's flames all the way over to where they were. Renji, Chad and Uryu were completely flabbergasted by the sight of their friend and could only hope that he could defeat the man and stop all of this madness.

The girls on the other hand looked to Ichigo with pure wonder in their eyes as they saw him standing tall like always. He looked strong, stronger than ever before, and stood with an air of pure confidence and conviction that they had never seen before. In a way, he looked much hotter than before, and for a few of them the pun was intentional.

The man standing high above could only stare down and seethe as he couldn't tell what this power was. It was totally different from before and felt too dense for anyone normal, but then again, Ichigo Kurosaki was not normal. He watched with a hard scowl as Ichigo slowly tilted his head up to meet his gaze. He instinctually took a step back as that gaze was truly terrifying to the man.

"W-What the hell is this?" He stuttered out in fear of the unknown.

"Kurai Tengoku." Ichigo spoke, but his voice sounded like multiple people talking all at once and int perfect synch.

Everyone who heard his voice went wide eyed at the sheer power behind his voice.

"D-D-Dark heaven?" The man stuttered out as the name made sense now. The eclipsed sun in the afterlife casting a dark light all through the Seireitei and the soul society as a whole, a dark miracle of sorts.

"That's right." Ichigo spoke once more. "We're going to end this Kageroza, or whatever your real name is."

He held his right hand out to his side as the black flames once more swirled around him. They then went to his hand and formed a dark handle that later began to expand into a black blade of sorts similar to his old Bankai sword. The major difference is that this one split in two. The second blade was made out of pure flames and yet still seemed to have a sharp edge to it. Another thing that made this blade different than the first, was that it was floating around Ichigo in a defensive way. Ichigo then brought his arm down and large gust of wind kicked up behind him while also slicing through the Sokyoku hill, leaving a clean and smooth piece of the hill intact. This simple action caused everyone, both on the hill and far below it to gasp in shock at the pure strength of Ichigo's Bankai.

"And we will free Nozomi from you." Ichigo pointed his blade at the man while his other one did the same. "And this time that fancy trick of yours won't work on us."

Now this seems like the best place to stop. Next is the full fight scene between Ichigo and Oko Yushima. That should be fun to write. Also, this story is nearly finished. Just the fight chapter and then the end chapter left. I've really enjoyed this idea that I had come up with back in 2016 and I've enjoyed everyone's feedback on it. I'm now one step closer to getting to that mass crossover story I've been wanting to write for the better part of two years. If you don't know, I've been planning on writing a crossover story in universe involving most of my Bleach stories and having a variety of Ichigo characters from them coming together for a certain purpose. This Ichigo in this story is one of them. Gonna enjoy getting to that eventually.

Also, what did you guys think of this Bankai? I don't think it's taken from anything as I just made it up while brainstorming ideas for his Bankai weapon and name. If it does resemble anything, then that's just some hysterical coincidence.

Anyway, stay awesome and as always...

PEACE!