Chapter 1: The Thousand-Year Blood War

Alarms were going off from all sides, filling the underground laboratory with the ringing of various alerts and illuminated in the flashing lights of the endless monitors that composed the lab's walls. All across the floor, all manner of beings, each dressed in white lab coats, were rushing from one set of computers to the next, all in response to these distressing alarms; each of their voices competing with the sirens.

"102 Hollows destroyed, sector 902-0201!"

"51, destroyed in sector 6603-8983!"

"Adjusting the barrier invasion rate to 0.24!"

South of the lab stood a massive elevator, cranking along, signifying that an individual was quickly approaching the bottom floor. As the gates opened, two persons rushed out onto the lab floor. The Captain of the 12th Division, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, a rather lanky-looking figure in a long white haori, adorned with a flamboyant head gear, along with one of his close assistants, a man named Akon.

"3rd Seat Akon! The Hollows just keep vanishing, one after another!" addressed one of the men rushing about the lab floor, making his way to both the Captain and his aide.

"At this rate, the barrier between this world and the human world...!"

"I've already reported that!" Akon shot back. "If you have no new intel, then back down!"

As the man lowered his head in apology, backing away, Akon turned to his Captain with a distressed expression.

"Captain..."

"Yeah." answered Mayuri. "It can only be them... and them alone."

-THE END APPROACHES!-

-THE FINAL HOLY WAR!-

-WE NOW CHARGE INTO BLEACH'S FINAL ARC!-

The Human World.

Karakura Town.

Midday.

With the sun coming down, the usual school day had drawn to a close for the high school students of Karakura Town; some stayed behind to attend to their clubs, others went home or joined their friends for some sort of activity, while others went off to attend their afterschool job. Ichigo Kurosaki was one such individual. The orange-haired high schooler, school bag draped over his left shoulder, made his way down the street as he happened upon a small storefront. He proceeded to enter the establishment, his face a reflection of his usual devil-may-care demeanor.

"Hey, I'm he-"

"You're late!"

But the poor boy was interrupted with a swift kick to the face, sending him flying for the street behind him, flat on his back. As he lay there trying to piece together what had just happened, he quickly picked himself up, growling with an angry scowl.

A woman stood at the door, dressed in a simple white and lavender t-shirt that accented her womanly body, though her face seemed like that of a mob boss. Her arms were crossed underneath her cleavage as he shot Ichigo a dirty look. "You were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago. I've got delivery orders comin' out the ass, just sitting here! I don't pay you to dilly-dally, you know!"

"Hmph..." Ichigo muttered, rubbing the spot on his face that met Ikumi's brash heel. "Not like you pay me all that much."

"What was that...?" sneered Ikumi, sending chills up the high school boy's back as he stood quickly at attention. "Nuh... Nothing, ma'am." he quickly shot back.

Within moments, after being proverbially dragged through all the tasks she had waiting for Ichigo to attend to, the orange-haired boy lifted up one of the boxes that was marked for delivery. He usually went through an assortment of odd jobs, ranging from standard housekeeping, to the occasional delivery, such as today. Going through the boxes, Ichigo noted a rather peculiar name; one that he recognized.

"...Ishida?"

Ikumi rose an eyebrow at the mention. "Yeah. That one's for Karakura Hospital. Some doctor named Ishida requested it. You know 'im?"

"Well, ah..." Ichigo pondered. Of course he knew this package was obviously meant for Ryūken Ishida, the director of the hospital. He was well-known in the town, practically a local celebrity, for being the youngest director of Karakura Hospital in its entire 200-year-old history. But Ichigo didn't know him, per se; rather, he was friends with his son, Uryū. "I suppose you could say that."

He was greeted with a brief flashback to when he first met Uryū. A surviving member of the Quincy, a tribe of spiritually aware humans that possessed the power to create bows and arrows from the spiritual particles in the surrounding area, Uryū confronted Ichigo initially with a seething hatred for his Shinigami heritage. Though they eventually became friends, that difference between them, the fact that they came from two different worlds that could not see eye-to-eye, always left a wall between the two in some sense of the word. Little did Kurosaki know at the time, or even now... but the Shinigami and Quincy had a strained history of bloodshed and hatred.

Over a thousand years of conflict, the two factions were at war over one hot topic: Hollows, the scourge that threatened all manner of living being. Due to the Quincy's power that would destroy the souls of the Hollows they slayed, in contrast to the purification that the Shinigami bestowed upon them, the balance between the material and the spiritual realms was unstable, threatening the collapse of both worlds as they currently existed. Talks were had, but no agreement was ever reached. After all, the Shinigami had to stop the Quincy from killing Hollows in order to prevent the balance from tipping, but the Quincy, naught but humans with a massive target sign on their backs for Hollows as a result of their spiritual gifts, needed to fight in order to survive.

In the end... no agreement could be had.

Over centuries of debate.

And 200 years ago, to the date...

The Shinigami finally massacred the remaining Quincy in the world of the living.

But that was in the past, hopefully, and the friendship between Ichigo and Uryū perhaps spelled a time of new beginnings; a chance for the Shinigami and Quincy to finally reconcile their differences.

Waving farewell to his boss, Ichigo darted off in the distance to bring the package before night would hit. It wasn't much of a walk, at least to a high schooler like Ichigo, as he made his way lazily up toward the hill overlooking the hospital. But a familiar screech, which penetrated the quiet air of the twilight between afternoon and evening, drew Ichigo's attention upwards.

Though it was faint, there was no mistaking the figure of a Hollow; the black eldritch entity which scoured the land for souls to devour, recognizable by its white mask like that of a human skull. Normally, Ichigo wouldn't have bothered, but having not sensed anyone responding to this creature's presence, he couldn't just leave it alone to eat innocent wandering spirits.

After locating a nearby building that would allow him access to the roof, Ichigo made his way up until he reached the outside, placing down the package and pulling out a small brown badge from his pocket with the insignia of a skull. This was the badge of the Substitute Shinigami, proof of his connection with the Soul Society, serving the dual function of separating his living body from his soul: his Shinigami self. Grasping the badge, he placed it against his chest, causing streaks of blue light to emanate from his body as a black-robed version of Ichigo stepped out from Ichigo's human body, the latter falling to the ground below, unconscious.

Clad in black, the Shinigami Ichigo drew the massive cleaver blade that he wore on his back, his Zanpakutō which was named Zangetsu, and prepared to jump off from the rooftop in the direction of the Hollow. But before he could lift himself off, a flash of blue streaked through the air and pierced straight through the Hollow, causing the creature to vanish as it quite literally disintegrated. Stopping himself, Ichigo looked out to find the source of the Hollow's defeat, noticing a lean male with short blue hair holding an archer bow composed entirely of light.

But Ichigo only seemed to narrow his eyes with a softened expression in response, as if he knew exactly who stood there in the distance. Within moments, the figure vanished from sight, reappearing on the rooftop where Ichigo himself stood. Upon closer inspection, the short-haired male was wearing a grey school uniform, no different than Ichigo's own, along with a pair of rectangle glasses.

"Should've known. You always beat me to the punch, Ishida. It's starting to get a little annoying, honestly." Ichigo remarked, rubbing the back of his head as he let out a rather irritated sigh.

"It's not my fault you're too lax, Kurosaki. Honestly." Ishida sighed while pushing up on the bridge of his glasses. "Though why are you out here so late?"

"Oh!" Turning toward his real body, he reached for the package, tossing it to Uryū. "This here's for your old man, apparently he requested a delivery from our shop. Mind bringing it to him?"

Taking the wrapped box, Uryū scoffed. "This is your job, isn't it? Not mine. Handle it yourself."

"C'mon, don't split hairs here."

"Ugh..."

"Not like it's out of your way."

"Fine, fine. Geez..."

Turning his back toward Ichigo, Uryū was making his way to depart, before the orange-haired boy called out to him once more.

"Hey, Ishida."

"What now?" Prompting Uryū to halt his steps, though his back remained turned.

"It's not really any of my business, nor do I really care, but..." Ichigo scuffed against the edge of his hair. "Any idea when you plan to return to school? It's been over two weeks. Not like you're sick or anything, right? By this point, even Inoue will beat you out for top of the class. Didn't peg you for the type that plays hooky."

Uryū remained silent for a moment, contemplating the nature of the question, though more importantly, the as-of-yet unknown weight of the answer that Ichigo was seeking.

"I'm not sure, honestly." murmured the Quincy, continuing his advance. "There are... things that need my attention right now."

"Well, you know, I mean..." Averting his gaze off to the side, Ichigo addressed his classmate. "If it's something that we could help you out with-"

"No. It's fine, really. I'll see you all soon, I promise." Uryū interrupted, vanishing from sight once more with a flicker, as Ichigo stood atop the roof silently alone.

But unbeknownst to him... a lone spectator observed him from afar, a wicken grin plastered upon the shadowy figure's face.

—

The Soul Society.

Squad One's Barracks.

Office of the Captain-Commander.

Late afternoon.

He who led the Gotei 13, the Shinigami organization that protected both the human and spiritual worlds, sat at his desk as he overlooked several documents spread out along the top. The elderly male gazed up toward the large doorway that adorned his office space as it creaked open slowly. "Ah, Chōjirō. Come on in." he beckoned.

Out stepped a silver-haired gentleman with a white jinbaori over his black Shinigami robe, carrying a tray that had a large teapot along with several small teacups. "Sorry to disturb you, Captain, sir. I thought you could use some tea to cap off the afternoon." Walking toward his desk, Chōjirō placed the tray against a spot not befuddled with papers, pouring a small amount of the steaming liquid into one of the cups.

"I need you to go to the 12th Division barracks. Captain Kurotsuchi sent word a little while ago regarding a matter needing my attention, I would like for you to go in my place." the Captain-Commander explained, turning toward the tea that his subordinate placed near him. Chōjirō, in response, lowered his head respectfully. "Understood, sir. I'll go there now."

As Chōjirō departed from the office, closing the door behind him, the shadow of a second figure in the hallway was made apparent as he walked away from the Captain-Commander's office.

Two shadows encroach upon them...!

A/N: So, here it is, the first chapter of what I hope will be a series I continue routinely, a revised version of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc in Bleach. What this means is that I plan to completely rewrite the entire arc, from start to finish, because let's face it... The arc was terrible. So many things, so many things wrong with it, I think it'd take longer to state them all than it would to simply just rewrite a better version of the story. I've wanted to work on this for quite some time so I finally decided to go ahead with it. I'm hoping it will be entertaining and eventually grow to become much greater than the actual manga version. With that, I hope you'll enjoy my retelling of the Quincy War arc!