Title: Resolution
No great story is complete without an ending. This is my vision on the outcome of the Winter War. To be told through many points of view, many pairings, time warping and fireworks.
Chapter 1: Stunning Developments
A/N: Hey! This is my first large-scale fan fic, and I will make it as big as possible. There's going to be a lot POV's, so stay with me, because it is not orientated towards one character or pairing. I'll try to cover almost everyone, anyone I don't, submit a review in a later chapter, and I will add in, if possible.
Read and review, please. Your time and effort are sincerely appreciated. Remember, constructive crit, not 'flames', whatever they are. SPOILER ALERT!!! (Note the triple-exclamation mark; the sure sign of a madman)
Also, I don't own Bleach, or any of its' affiliates. The honour of that goes to a Mr Tite, otherwise known as Kubo T.
What happened in the Winter War will go down in history as the most stunning set of scientific phenomena of the era. Mayuri knew that the events unfolding before him would make most Soul Society scientists wet their lab coats in excitement (he did not, for he was an exceptional scientist, by his own admitting. Also, Haori are quite expensive). He could only thank gods he didn't believe in that he made it back in time for the 'big bang' that would commence the odd reactions and behaviours of the Wars' climax.
Not Mayuri, Kisuke, nor the recently-deceased Aizen could have possibly known the effects of the critical Hougyoku finally overloading. After the termination of its main source of power – Aizen, who was increasing his own power through its use – had it tried to feed off of the remaining combatants, the closest available supply? He could send a research team down the line of reiatsu leeching properties of various rare devices, but Mayuri knew he was correct in his summation. He always was.
In its critical state, it then had to release the reiatsu the only way available; a deafening soundwave, and an outburst of time-distorting reiatsu, radiated in a perfect sphere of slow, inviting, ethereal blue light, if Mayuri were to use such a dirty, unspecific term. Nearly every remaining... being (the best word available) had been outside the radius of enveloping light. Those inside suffered no wound, although for the occupants, injuries might have been less problematic.
The occupants, Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Uryū Ishida and Yachiru Kusajishi, were strangely effected, and if the Chief Researcher of the SRI were to guess (a rare occurrence), he would say that the outward reiatsu flow sped up the flow of the original reiatsu in the subjects. Those behind the hastily drawn three point shield, Inoue and Kurosaki, were less affected, aging only four years. This is relative to the century felt by those receiving the Hougyokus' emissions. For two full Shinigami, the visible age difference was barely noticeable, aging them around five and ten years, for Kuchiki and Kusajishi respectively. However, for a Quincy, a near tragedy occurred.
Uryū Ishida, fully exposed to the erosive effects of the aging process of humans, was found as the mist cleared at the startling age of one-hundred-and-twenty.
In a later investigation, Kurotsuchi would find it was the Quincies ability to channel reiatsu and whatnot that kept him on a makeshift life-support system. As all his remaining energy left him, it was Inoue that was running to his side. Her rejection ability had grown strong, and even as exhausted as she was, she bought enough time for the brilliant medical unit, under Unohana, to transfer the aged Quincy to the ER.
At this point in time, the Hougyoku, exhausted of spiritual energy, fell from its' invisible pedestal, the forces keeping it suspended having been expended, and shatters into exactly as many pieces as there were combatants. It would appear that Urahara did not design the powerful relic for durability.
The strange events came to an end, and the third person to overcome the mesmerising effects of the last ten minutes was Isane, who saw that her captain was currently preoccupied, and ordered her division to work. The medics went about collecting and administering to the injured. Thanks to their medical expertise, not a single Soul Reaper perished, although there were a few close calls. As Mayuri reviewed the broken battlefield, he did a quick calculation of the odds of not just winning, but nearly completely destroying the enemy, without losing any allies in the process. Although not totally incalculable (a word which didn't exist for such a man), the probability was against the outcome, and quite heavily. It was nearly enough to make a totally reasonable man run through Rukongai screaming 'there is a god, and he likes us! He likes us a lot!'
"Yeah, right" came the Research divisions unusually colloquial, verbose and sudden response. To this, his assistant found some mild surprise, and succeeded in not showing it one bit.
"Excuse me, sir?" Nemu questioned, instinctually believing there was some miscommunication on her part.
Her father remembered himself, withdrew himself from his thoughts, and issued some of his usually orders; "Lieutenant, release some surveillance bacteria, gather radiation data on the blast radius, and collect all pieces of the Hougyoku. Now" The information she obtained would come in handy for his research teams to nibble away at, and Nemu was quite accurate and reliable in her ability to obtain useful and revealing information.
She rapidly departed from him, with her usual burst of flash steps. As his sole daughter left, Mayuri reflected further, but this time on said daughter. While she was a capable and powerful vice-captain, she also had a firm grasp of the scientific process, was obedient, respectful, and deceptively intelligent. She hid her mental power like she did her emotions, but beneath her respectful, depressed demeanour, Mayuri could nearly see the figurative (and not so figurative) cogs turning, and the emotions that boiled underneath, never to be physically embodied in action.
One day, she would leave his side – he knew this because he was almost subconsciously trying to drive her away – and he would need to fill the well trained, highly capable gap that she would leave. Until then, he could only continue to train, teach, upgrade and abuse his nigh-perfect creation.
That, and send her out on coffee runs.
A/N: In this first chapter, I'm trying to not give too much away about anything that happened before the 'Big Bang', but I will tell you everything in later chapters.
I hope you liked it. I know the lack of information may be annoying, but this is essential to the mysterious pace of the story.
I'm not really sure what I am doing with the Japanese words, so I will probably just use things randomly, however I feel suites the style. If you don't like what I'm doing, give me some feedback.
Next Chapter is 'Coffee and Clouds'.