Ichigo was getting really tired of this. His friends looking down in concern asking if he was okay... it wasn't funny the first time. He sat up slowly and his friends visibly relaxed. "Jeez, guys. This has happened so many times, you shouldn't get so worried," he said.
"Stupid Ichi," Nel said. "I love you. How couldn't I be worried." Her bottom lip trembled a bit.
Ichigo reached up and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't worry Nel. I would never leave the woman I love."
She sniffled a little and smiled. "Good. If you did leave me, I would hunt you down in the afterlife," she said with an evil glint in her eye. She kissed him on the cheek before breaking the hug. Ichigo laughed nervously before Rukia walked in the door a moment later.
"Good, you're awake. There have been problems in the Soul Society. Riots in the Rukon districts, hollow attacks, and even breaches in the Seireitei," She explained. "The Head Captain sent me to find you, but you had passed out for whatever wuss reason."
Ichigo groaned a little in irritation. He had a headache again and wanted to go to sleep without entering his inner world. He got up and began opening a garganta. "Let's go see what's wrong."
The crew stepped through and crossed straight into the Captains' Hall. The meeting that was being held continued on with just a slight hiccup as the present captains were affected by the massive presence that had just arrived.
Yamamoto was speaking when they came in. "… threat has arisen in rukon districts three through twenty-two. There is a breach in the east seireitei wall, and squad 11 is currently responding. Several hollows have been spotted in rukon district 8, 15, and 34. All in all, we are lacking the manpower to deal with this crisis."
Captain Kurotsuchi spoke up. "We could reinstate the use of mod sou—"
"No!" Yamamoto cut him off.
Ichigo decided that they had waited long enough, and his little crew walked into sight. "Head captain, we can take care of the threats."
"What makes you think that five people can oppose what the Thirteen Court Guard Squads cannot?"
"Don't worry about it... I'll just say we've acquired a few new powers," Ichigo replied. After a short conversation with the others about who would take what areas, they all split up. Ichigo would take the Seireitei wall, Nel and Yoruichi would split the rukon threats, and Starrk and Kenpachi would take the hollows.
Ichigo could see the fighting from the Squad One barracks. There appeared to be a distortion in the air in the area where various explosions and flashing lights were coming from. As he approached he began to feel unnaturally happy. When he arrived at the scene of the fight, he could barely contain his excitement.
Only when Ichigo approached the distortion in the air could he see what Squad Eleven was fighting. A grotesque mass of tentacles constituted the monster's legs. Its arms were muscular and long, and its hands had talons for fingers. In the center of it's palms were yellow orbs of light that seemed to twist reality itself around them. It's torso appeared to be a hard, rocky substance, and what Ichigo guessed was it's head was a smooth orb embedded in the very peak of the torso. Above it's head were two flat vertical plates of a substance similar to it's torso, floating slightly above its shoulders.
Ichigo couldn't help but laugh at the horror in front of him. For whatever reason, he was filled with a happiness he had never felt before, and laughing seemed like the right thing to do. "What the hell are you?" He asked, still shaking with laughter.
A gravely, yet feminine voice rang out in his head. I am Joy, the Seraph of Distortion. Joy distorts humanity's perception of reality, and so I do as well.
As he heard the voice, he looked around, and noticed for the first time that all the members of Squad Eleven were smiling the manic smiles that he had grown used to seeing on Kenpachi.
"Oh. That's cool, but that means you're evil. Sorry, but I have to kill you now," Ichigo said, and called upon Murcielago. Wings unfurled behind his back and he slowly ascended to Joy's eye level. Ichigo's mask appeared on his face of it's own volition.
"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo swung Zangetsu vertically and unleashed an arc of red-black energy. The Seraph raised it's hand and caught the wave of energy with its bare hand. It gave Ichigo flashbacks to Ulquiorra.
Joy spoke. "Holy Nova," It said, and a beam of white light crashed into Ichigo, shredding his Bankai robes. He slammed into the ground at bone crushing speed, blowing a crater into the ground. He slowly stood, rubbing his back.
"Fuck that hurt. Divine creation: Reaper." Ichigo was engulfed in a cloud of blackness, and when it dispersed, he was clad in a pitch black cliché Grimm Reaper outfit, a hood obscuring his face in shadow.
Ichigo raised his arms and black skeletons began to climb out of the ground.
"What? You have Arakiel inside you? That disgrace has always resented Gabriel's perfection. To think he was an archangel once." The Seraph tapped the ground with a single finger, and a chasm opened up in the ground. Magma gushed from the hole and engulfed the majority of the skeletons, melting them instantly. The few that remained crumbled when the Seraph let loose another nova.
Soon after the skeletons were destroyed the Seraph delivered a crushing kick into Ichigo's body, sending him flying into a Seireitei wall and almost knocking him unconscious. Arakiel's voice rang through Ichigo's foggy mind with clarity. Use the Shout, Ichigo. Shout and slay this Seraph.
After just a second of concentration, Ichigo let his Voice be heard. "Mul Qah Diiv!"
The echo could be heard from the world of the living as Ichigo was filled with the strength of a monster. Spectral scales coated his body, and reptilian wings grew from his back.
He could destroy villages.
He could devour giants.
He held the power of a dragon, and a Seraph stood no chance.
"Divine Destruction: Yol." As he spoke, a great gout of flame erupted from his mouth, engulfing the Seraph. It screamed a horrible scream and writhed on the ground in pain as the fire slowly went out. When the flames finally died, the Seraph stood once more, its flesh blackened and, in places, burned off the bone.
"You little bastard. You think your hellfire can hurt me? I am a Seraph! One of Gabriel's finest creations! I am Joy! Adore me!" The Seraph ranted. "Distort: Senses."
Suddenly, Ichigo felt incredibly happy. So happy, he laughed at the lance of light that the Seraph had just buried in his stomach. He laughed at the blood seeping from his body, and he laughed at the strength fading from his body. He laughed until he ran out of breath. He inhaled to laugh again, but before he could, four columns of fire spewed from the ground around the Seraph. Suddenly it's influence over him was broken, and he could think clearly again. He raised his hand to his wound. "Yol," he said, and it was cauterized with a grunt. Had his scales not prevented the lance from hitting any vital organs, he would be dead.
"What have you done?" The Seraph screeched. "What taboo did Arakiel teach you?"
"In the language of Dragons, 'Yol' means fire. Combining a Dragon's mastery of fire with a Soulsinger's Divine Power resulted in the prison you currently stand in. Oh, and I wouldn't try to leave if I were you," He said as the Seraph approached the edge of the fiery prison. The second it touched it, the prison began to shrink, the four pillars closing in on each other and leaving fissures in their wake.
The Seraph screamed in agony as the flames closed in on it and blackened its small quantity of remaining flesh. Then it simply froze, face contorted in agony.
"Divine Art: Seraphslayer." A ball of light engulfed Ichigo for a few seconds before dispersing and revealing five spectral Zanpakuto fanned out behind Ichigo's back, all copies of Zangetsu. The weapons angled themselves at the imprisoned Seraph and flew forward, embedding themselves in its flesh. A second later, red-black ropes of Reiatsu sprang from each sword, and connected with each other in the shape of a pentagram.
The original Zangetsu was now coated in the same Reiatsu as the pentagram, and Ichigo began to run forward. As he approached the Seraph he leapt into the air and embedded Zangetsu in the very center of the pentagram. He jumped down, leaving the sword in the Seraph's chest. "Dinok," Ichigo whispered, and the pentagram exploded, blinding all who were unfortunate enough to be looking at it. When the flash was over and the surrounding Shinigami regained their sight, they saw the Seraph's body laying on the ground, a star shaped chunk of flesh missing from its chest. As they looked upon it, the Seraph's skin began to flake and Reiatsu started flowing from the body into Zangetsu, which was now stuck in the ground. After a few moments all skin had disintegrated and only the skeleton of the Seraph remained.
Ichigo took off his mask and walked forward, pulling Zangetsu out of the ground and instantly felt a great surge of power. Even Seraphs stand no chance against a dragon, Arakiel's words echoed in his mind. Before the angels, the dragons were the gods of this world. Their most basic nature is to dominate, and so they did. Humanity worshipped them as the gods they were. However, there was a dragon who had conquered his evil nature. He decided that the dragons had ruled long enough. It was time for a new world to be born.
As his kin soared in the skies, he sat atop the highest mountain in existence, channeling the great power he commanded. When he had amassed a sufficient amount, he created Gabriel. The wise dragon taught Gabriel of the world and slowly created more and more angels. He used humanities strongest emotions: joy, hope... hate. These angels became the Seraphs. Twelve angels left the mountain without permission and flew above the dragons, witnessing the great atrocities they committed. The angels knew they had to stop these beasts, and began to descend upon the sinful dragons. The twelve angels attacked the first dragon they found, but couldn't seem to damage it at all. The dragon retaliated. In a single breath, he doused every angel in fire. Their wings began to burn, and their flesh began to boil. Not one survived. When Gabriel heard of the massacre, he was furious. Furious that the angels had left without permission, but even more furious that the dragon had killed every one of them without mercy. He called his brothers and sisters to a meeting and decided that the Seraph of hope would take 100 of the newest angels to slay that dragon. The seraph and her Legion departed before the wise dragon could protest, and attacked. Once again, the dragon massacred almost every angel that approached. He did not account for the Seraph's strength, however. Hope threw lance after lance of light at the dragon, each one doing slightly more damage than the last. When the dragon finally fell, there were only nine angels remaining.
The Seraph and her eight brothers and sisters returned to the summit in tatters. Gabriel's rage grew even stronger seeing how many of their numbers had fallen. He then commanded each of the five Seraphs to hunt down every dragon they could find and slay them. The five went out and massacred any dragon they saw. Two seraphs were slain before the remaining three forced dragons into hiding. The remaining dragons gathered and began developing techniques to eradicate the Seraphs. All the while, they bred the strongest of them together. After three generations of breeding, the Seraphs were growing weary of their search. Gabriel had begun to repair what the dragons had destroyed, and the world was hearing.
It was then that the White Terror rose.
He was a dragon with scales so bright that it blinded all who gazed upon him. His breath was special. While most dragons can only control either fire or ice with their breath, the Terror could use both. He was the fruit of the dragons' breeding, and the most powerful of them all. His ice breath was the strongest blizzard. His fire was the hottest inferno. He hunted down the angels that had descended from their heavenly mountain and slaughtered them. When Gabriel learned of this, his outrage was so great he ordered all three of the remaining Seraphs to exterminate the White Terror.
The three set out in full battle armor. They found the Terror quickly and immediately launched an assault. They threw lance after lance of light at him. They all glanced off. Deciding to toy with the Seraphs that had killed his fellow dragons, he used his ice breath to freeze two of them solid. The Terror laughed as the remaining Seraph's eyes filled with despair and anger. It attacked again twice as frantically, making even less progress than before. After a few minutes, the Terror decided he'd had enough. He prepared to breath the killing blow to incinerate all three of them. "Divine art: Seraphslayer!" The Terror exhaled. "Din—"
Before he could finish the attack, an unseen force pushed him back into a cliff face. Looking to see what had pushed him, he saw none other than the Archangel Gabriel descending upon him, eyes burning with rage. With a voice trembling with anger, Gabriel spoke the last words the Terror would hear. "Divine Punishment! Flames of Perdition!" A roaring inferno hotter than even the Terror's breath erupted around him, literally melting him alive. The Terror's screams could be heard from the mountain of the wise dragon, which was hundreds of miles away. As the flames died down, no remains could be seen from the dragons' last hope. That battle marked the day the dragons fell, and the Soulsingers became the soul rulers of this realm. A/N: Yes I meant to use soul instead of sole. Puns, am I right?
Arakiel had taught him about the history of Soulsingers when he had trained him to fight Seraphs. Suddenly something clicked. Ichigo realized he had just killed one of the three remaining Seraphs. He had one more Seraph, hope, inside of him, and then only one remained. Even as this realization excited him, he couldn't help but feel worried. Not once had Arakiel mentioned his own or the other fallen Soulsingers' creation. Joy had called Arakiel an archangel. Ichigo could only wonder what caused Arakiel and the others to fall.
Sorry for the long wait, squiddos. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this.