AN: This is my first fic in any fandom so please be nice, though any sort of response is welcome. Feel free to pm me, I have no life, so I'll probably respond quickly. I'm co-writing this with my boyfriend so tell me if something feels like it doesn't fit. This story is inspired by both Hogyoku Ex Machina and Swinging Pendulum, some of my favorite stories. That being said, enjoy!

Old man Zangetsu/Quincy powers talking

Zangetsu talking

11 Years After the Start of the Winter War

This particular morning finds Ichigo Kurosaki standing in the barren wastelands of Hueco Mundo with both his father, Isshin Shiba, and his surrogate uncle and sensei, Kisuke Urahara. Ichigo has long shaggy hair the color of a crackling, roaring fire and deep amber eyes that spoke volumes of his experiences.

What spoke more about him though were his scars. They ran up and down his body in no particular pattern. While some had the jagged look that only comes from the wild wounds of open combat. Others clearly told of a precise scalpel. For how else could one receive so many straight, shallow and non-lethal wounds to the body. This was never more clear than when you looked at ichigo's left eye. There was nothing wrong with the tissue surrounding the eye, his lids and brows were all intact but his left eye was simply gone, removed on the whims of a madman who thought to play god.

Ichigo turned to face the only other men left in the world who hadn't fallen to Aizen, and asked, for about the hundredth time, "Are you absolutely certain about this Kisuke?"

Kisuke just continued to set up the portal as Isshin responded, "We've been through this Ichigo, this is the only way to stop Aizen. Who cares if we have to sacrifice our powers to do it."

Kisuke then cut in, "You're the last chance, Ichigo. The final hope of two broken old men. Don't try to take this away from us or I'll make the shattered shaft look like a playground." The iron in his voice brooked no argument and Ichigo immediately acquiesced and replied, "I'm sorry Kisuke, I guess I'm just nervous," he then quirked a half smile, "I didn't know I could still be nervous."

Kisuke then told him, "I'm done setting up, make sure you have the cure then prepare yourself." Ichigo"s only response was, "Bankai!" and then "Protect Zangetsu!" This left him in a completely hollowified state, with an impossibly white body, a terrifying mask with two horns, a long mane of his fiery hair, and, most importantly, a large, empty hole in his chest.

Meanwhile, Kisuke and Isshin took their respective spots on either side of the portal and as Ichigo transformed, they started pumping reiatsu into the large, portal-like machine Kisuke had invented. As the machine got a taste of their power, it began to leach what was necessary on its own. This caused the portal to fire up and form a large whirling spiral.

Ichigo made one last check, "Everybody ready?" He heard the replies from the depths of his soul, "Always Ichigo," from the old man, and a simple scoff from Zangetsu. Then they said in unison, "Now, go forth and show that son of a bitch what happens when he takes from us."

Ichigo walked straight into the portal with no hesitation or faltering steps. As he entered, the portal changed from a mild reiatsu drain on the two men, into a full on drain of their very essence. After the portal had sucked them dry, it was sucked into itself, and they both fell back exhausted, just two old men, sitting across from each other waiting.

While the portal may have robbed them of shinigami powers, it had not left them blind to reiatsu, and so it was that they could both feel the army of hollows begin to descend on their position. Kisuke decided to say, "I think we have five minutes."

Isshin just smiled wistfully and said, "Five minutes, all the time in the world." Then they both sat their wordlessly as they felt the army closing in, With no power or strength left, neither man prepared to fight, or even stood up.

With just two minutes left, Kisuke said, "Aren't we sad excuses for heroes, can you imagine what Yoruichi would say if she saw us sitting down like this, waiting for death." Isshin replied with a smirk, "I know, even though we just sent the last hero away, how about we try to do her proud" And so, both men stood up, slowly, arduously, painfully, but they stood, back to back, ready to fight, together,just like old times.

It was in this position that they both saw the hollows crest the dunes all around them. The hollows paused, not sure how two of the strongest shinigami to ever join the Gotei 13 could have no reiatsu. Kisuke then said goodbye to his closest friend, "Goodbye Isshin, it was a pleasure to know you." Isshin replied, "Thanks old friend," he sighed. "I just wish I could've seen my girls one last time."

With this both men charged the hollows, bellowing war cries from powerless bodies, determined to make proud all those they had failed.

A few minutes prior

Ichigo officially hated time travel, it hurt. The current kept tearing little pieces off of his body, almost as quickly as his hollow powers could regenerate him, almost, and although they regenerated, that didn't mean they didn't hurt. As Ichigo saw the exit portal, he marveled at Kisuke's genius for what he hoped, wasn't the last time. Ichigo walked through the exit portal with his shihakusho in tatters, his entire mask gone and most of his hair singed away, but he still had tensa zangetsu in his hand, and that was all he ever needed.

Ichigo said, "Wow, that went surprisingly well. Now, I suppose I should seal my blade and release resurreccion before the Shinigami arrive." and that's what he did, much to the protest of his blade, and as he sealed his two blades into a normal katana with a black hilt. Then Old Man Zangetsu suggested "You should seal your powers using the method Kisuke taught you." Ichigo sighed and replied, "Ok Old Man but it's gonna feel like shit."

With that he focused all but the reiatsu reserves of a normal captain into a seal on his left shoulder. The power took the shape of a crescent moon dripping with blood and Ichigo remarked, "Was the blood really necessary Zan?" to which Zangetsu oh so eloquently replied, "Deal with it, it looks cool!" Then Ichigo really started to feel the impact of a much lower reiatsu reserve.

He remarked, "Wow, that does not feel good," and promptly fainted from reiatsu exhaustion.

Soul Society, 1st Division Headquarters, 105 years before the Winter War began

"Urahara Kisuke, now that they are all here, please explain the situation." Yamamoto Soutaichou boomed at the beginning of his emergency meeting. Every captain and lieutenant was present, save Ukitake and the 11th division representatives.

Kisuke Urahara began his briefing, "So," he gulped, "A large, no, enormous source of hollow reiatsu was detected this morning in Hueco Mundo. While only lasting a few minutes, the reiatsu output indicated power that was several times that of a captain." Yoruichi gave a thumbs up and Kisuke smiled and finished, "This is why the Soutaichou has seen fit to call you all here, any questions?"

The room was silent for about ten seconds until Yamamoto thundered, "If you all understand the situation then I am going to send Kyoraku Shunsui, Hirako Shinji, Shiba Kaien, Unohana Retsu, and Urahara Kisuke to find out what caused this disturbance"

Kyoraku Shunsui frowned and replied, "Why so many captains, Yama-jii? Doesn't that seem like overkill to you."

It was Urahara who answered, "My apologies everyone, I believe that in my haste,I may have understated the threat. I said many times the power of a captain earlier but in reality, I believe that the Reiatsu was similar in size to that of the Soutaichou in Shikai." Gasps sounded throughout the room and Yoruichi face-palmed in mock exasperation.

Kyoraku simply replied, "Oh" and with that, the five assigned left the room towards the official Senkaimon. The Senkaimon would get them within 50 miles of the reiatsu signature, but could be called in for whenever they needed it on the way back. They didn't bother with a Gentei Rein to go to Hueco Mundo, and they quickly set off toward their destination, with Kisuke holding the locator, in the lead.

"Man this place is unsettling." Kaien remarked as the squad traveled through the eternal night of Hueco Mundo. Kyoraku responded, "You could say that again." Then Shinji decided to weigh in, "I think it's kinda nice, ya just need to get used to it." Then Urahara joined the discussion with a casual, "I think it's beautiful, The moon in the sky, the sand under your feet. Not to mention the almost perfect model of natural competition among the hollows..." he trailed off because Unohana's smile went from a little less serene to a little more fatal as she cleared her throat and said, "Could we all focus on the mission please." sweet as could be with a subtle but lethal edge. After this they traveled in silence.

Ichigo's Arrival Point, Ten Minutes Later

As the Shinigami crested the final dune between themselves and Ichigo, three of them gawked in utter shock and amazement, while the other two frowned at the sullen familiarity they felt. They stood at the edge of a crater, the crater had gently sloping sides and appeared to be no more than ten yards deep or one hundred yards across. But this did not cause the expressions of the Shinigami'. What caused the expression of the Shinigami was the fact that this pit was made entirely of glass.

Not only was the crater made of glass, but the sands of Hueco Mundo were still clearly visible beneath the glass, meaning that this glass was created by something superheating the existing sand. This did not bode well for the situation because all of these powerful Shinigami could sense neither hide nor hair of any being that could possibly be responsible, just a soul reaper barely hanging onto life at the bottom of the crater,

Once Unohana realized that there was no immediate threat, she moved to the man's, for it was just a man, side, checking him for injuries. The other's in the squad advanced more slowly, but just as determined to see this oddity. As they also arrived at his side, they noticed what Unohana had already documented and discarded as unimportant to his survival, the boys scars. They criss-crossed up and down his body and Kaien voiced what they were all thinking, "Damn, that can't have felt good."

Then, just when things couldn't get weirder, Shinji said, "Kaien, not only is this guy your twin, but have ya seen his eye?" Kaien had a look of confusion on his face until his eyes settled on the man's very familiar face, which quickly placed a mixture of bafflement and disgust onto Kaien's features. Kyoraku, and Urahara had similar reactions and Shinji himself averted his eyes from the poor man.

While all of this was happening, Unohana had determined that his only problem was reiatsu depletion and had begun the transfer process accordingly. Now that she had refilled his reiatsu, the boy seemed to have stabilized and she then stood up and snapped, "This man is stabilized, Shunsui, quit gawking and help me carry him! The rest of you, contact soul society, I need a Senkaimon to this position immediately! We need to get him to fourth, right now!" They all immediately followed her orders for their was nothing scarier than an angry Unohana for these particular people, especially Shunsui, who had been on the wrong side of her anger in the past.

As they all left through the Senkaimon, Kisuke and Shinji hung back for a moment, "So, what do you think happened here?" Shinji asked the supposed head of research for the Gotei 13. "I know precisely two things Shinji. Their is moy to that boy than meets the eye, and what happened here will affect soul society in more ways than I can imagine."

End of Chapter One

AN: So, please remember to review or pm me if you have any questions, I'll try to post at least weekly.