Summary: When Yhwach ascended his throne, only a handful of Shinigami were left to challenge his rule. That's why they put their faith in Ichigo, their one glimpse of hope to defeat a god, by sending him back through time. They wanted to send him back to the beginning of the Quincy War. Too bad they all forgot there had been two wars. Time-travel AU.

Chapter 1: Watch the Clock

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

"Zangetsu Speaking (Old Man)"

"Zangetsu Speaking (Shiro)"

(1st Division Headquarters, Seireitei)

Were their futures predestined, or were they made by choice? Ichigo wondered, as he piled the dirt into another mound, and placed a rock on top. Another grave for another friend.

Hitsugaya Toshiro, Captain of the 10th Division, lay in the dirt next to Byakuya Kuchiki and Ukitake Jushiro. Not his body. No, that had been turned to dust by the overwhelming force of Yhwach's arrows. His spirit lay in that grave marker, a simple pile of dirt with the character for "10" engraved in stone.

May his soul, wherever it may be, find peace.

Ichigo gave a slight bow before standing up, observing the dozens of small piles line up side by side, not in any specific order. Since the entire Shinigami retreat from the Soul Palace, Ichigo had to bury many people. Some of them were just acquaintances, others he knew personally.

Even a few of the Sternritter, Bazz-B, Giselle, and Liltotto, were given markers for their valor. They were the ones who opened the gates to Silbern, and they were the very first to face the wrath of their forsaken king. They, betrayed by their king, betrayed him in turn, only to meet their end by his blade.

"Ichigo. We're ready." Ichigo felt a hand on his shoulder. Chad was one of his greatest friends, always ready to give support and lend his aid. Chad spoke with no hesitation. "I want you to promise me that whatever happens, you'll stop him."

Ichigo nodded. Tonight was the night a king would fall.

"We will hold off his guard. Inoue and Chad will hold off Ishida. It is up to you, Ichigo, to engage Yhwach directly. Are we clear?" Urahara Kisuke said to the handful of people in the room. Out of the entire Gotei 13, only Shinji, Shunsui, Yoruichi, and Kisuke were left - if you could even count the two latter. Inoue and Chad merely nodded in agreement while Ichigo stared, a blank expression on his face.

Kisuke walked up and placed a spherical metal ball into Ichigo's hand.

"Listen. This is the weapon that will defeat Yhwach, and his men. However, it will only work when he uses The Almighty to glimpse into the future. This device will tap into his power, and give you the opportunity to destroy him." Urahaha Kisuke said. It had a single button at the top. "This will be your only opportunity. There are no second chances."

Ichigo palmed the smooth metal in his hands, his thumb grazing the protruding button. This one thing. This one tiny weapon could avenge the thousands of deaths caused by the war. If such a feat were possible, Ichigo vowed to give it the best chance he could.

Ichigo placed the weapon into his robes and released his Zanpakuto. Zangetsu's energy thrummed in a steady rhythm, both his Hollow self and his Quincy self ready to engage.

"Here he comes…"

On cue, the ceiling to the First Division Headquarters collapsed, sending debris crashing from above. All remaining seven fighters dodged back, avoiding being crushed by the rubble. Yhwach and his Schutzstaffel descended from above, having to leave their new empire in the Soul Palace.

"I have been waiting, Kurosaki Ichigo. At the end of this battle, I shall reign unchallenged, and absolute." Yhwach drew his blade, a large broadsword made entirely of reishi, and charged directly at Ichigo. His four Schutzstaffel followed suit, engaging the remaining four Shinigami, while Uryu Ishida fired an arrow at Chad.

Ichigo turned to look at his allies, grimacing as Shinji took a slash from Gerard Valkyrie's sword, the black tip drawing blood, staining Shinji's white robes red. The visored merely grinned and pressed forward, fighting his losing battle.

Everybody was fighting a losing battle. In single combat with their king at the helm, the Sternritter were nigh invincible. Their every step shook the earth, and every attack turned walls and columns into dust. Four broken Shinigami were nothing compared to their monstrous strength. Yet all four attacked with strange ferocity, as if they had no care for their own well being.

Regardless of their injuries, they continued to throw themselves at their opponents over and over as they bled onto the floor and spat in their enemy's face. They were using themselves, using their own bodies and souls, to hold off Yhwach's guard.

Ichigo silently thanked them for their sacrifice. He would uphold their valor by fulfilling his duty. Ichigo charged, brandishing Zangetsu. The longer blade crashed into Yhwach's broadsword, sending waves of energy radiating outwards. However, Ichigo held his ground as he pressed his attack against the king's blade.

With his other knife, Ichigo thrust Zangetsu into Yhwach's side. Ichigo grinned as he saw the shadows overtake the man's face. Suddenly one, two, three, eyes began appearing over the man's forehead.

Upon looking into the future, Yhwach stepped back, narrowly escaping Zangetsu within a hair's breadth. But it was enough. It was more than enough. As he slashed at Yhwach, Ichigo let go of both of Zangetsu's blades. With one hand, he reached forward and grabbed the front of Yhwach's shirt, and with the other, reached into his own robes.

"Tell me, you omnipotent god! Tell me what you see! Witness your own demise!" Ichigo said, pulling out the metal orb. Every one of Yhwach's eyes honed in on the single weapon as Ichigo pressed the button.

A wave of reiatsu swept across the battleground, knocking Quincy and Shinigami alike to the ground. Only Ichigo and Yhwach stayed standing, trapped within the vortex of energy that swarmed around the two. Ichigo felt his limbs stretch as they were being pulled into the void.

"What? What is this?" Yhwach yelled. His eyes began disappearing and reappearing as they jumped around on his face.

"Your Almighty allows you to glimpse into the future, but it also lets you live the past. I'm just borrowing that power." Kisuke explained, holding onto his bleeding side. "I'm sending you to the beginning of the war, Ichigo. You won't get another chance. One opportunity. Make use of it!"

"Kisuke! What's happening! No!" Ichigo tried to run towards the man, but Kisuke's chest burst with blood. Old Hat-'n'-Clogs collapsed onto the floor while Lille Barro's gun still smoked from the shot. "Kisuke!"

"It's was an honor, Ichigo."

"You've only got one shot."

"Give him hell, will ya?"

The other three Shinigami fell to the endless onslaught of their attackers.

"This wasn't supposed to happen! We're supposed to win!" Ichigo cried as the last of his friends faced off against their old comrade.

"We're sorry, Ichigo. We had to do this. It was the only way!" Orihime shouted as her Santen Kesshun shattered from Ishida's barrage of arrows. Chad jumped in front as Uryu's final arrow pierced his shoulder, ripping it clean off his chest. Orihime screamed in shock before trying to restore it.

Ichigo could only watch in horror as Ishida move behind Inoue, arrow drawn, aimed at her head. He could see tears flowing down her eyes as she gave him one last glance. She smiled. Even with death baring its fangs, she had the heart to smile.

Ichigo screamed in agony as his body was torn asunder, and his heart was shattered like fragile glass.

(?, ?)

"Augh!" Ichigo sputtered, his mouth and lungs suddenly filling with water. He coughed as he flailed his body, trying to breathe. He felt something grab hold of his arms and pull, dragging him through the water.

"Run! Run!" Ichigo wiped his face with his hands, clearing the water from his face. His vision spun as wet drops from his soaked robes splattered onto the dirt below. Ichigo barely saw the man who had dragged him out sprint down the winding dirt path towards nothing in particular in the distance.

"Get out of here! Run!" Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise as he heard an explosion ripple from behind him, nearly throwing him off his feet. The screams of women and children tore through the air as blood began pumping through Ichigo's veins. He wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but the terrified cries of innocents echoed in his mind. He pushed any thought of Yhwach and the Wandenreich out of his mind for the moment.

He dashed towards the voices in the opposite direction of the fleeing crowd. His vision was tinted orange by widespread flames as the fire rampaged through the village, burning down the wooden houses. Dozens of dead bodies littered the ground, men, women, and children of all ages.

Ichigo moved towards the nearest one, and pushed it over, grimacing at the deep wound in the woman's chest. She had bled to death, the red liquid staining familiar white clothing. Around her neck was a metal cross.

'Quincy?' Ichigo gripped the cross in shock. Yes, these clothes were strangely familiar. He had seen them before, worn by only one other person: Uryu Ishida, a similar cross dangling from his wrist.

He tugged on the cross hard, tearing the chain before putting it in his pocket. He went over to the next body, and saw a similar sight. Dozens of Quincies all lay in death, a genocidal slaughterhouse.

"I've got one!" Ichigo spun around, narrowly dodging the sword that barely grazed his robe. It nicked the fabric, leaving a tiny cut on the side of the edge. He stared in shock at the sight before him.

A Shinigami.

"After him!" Another voice was rapidly approaching from Ichigo's side before another bloodcurdling screech resonated through the burning village.

Disregarding the two that were making their way towards him, Ichigo sprinted towards the side in the direction of the scream, where he found two old men trying to defend a group of women and children from a hoard of Shinigami.

The old men were clearly injured, gaping wounds showing in the rips of their clothing. Ichigo squinted and noticed faint chords of reishi connected to their limbs. Their bodies were puppets for their souls to fight.

"Don't cry, children. We will keep you safe." One of the old men lifted his arm and drew an arrow from his bow. Under the blue glow of the Quincy arrows, Ichigo could see the wires much more clearly. The glow, however, also highlighted their injuries. Many of their limbs were cut, tendons and ligaments most likely torn. Blood seeped into their clothing as it dripped from their open wounds.

"That's right, children. Listen to your grandfather. It will make it easier on us when you die!" The Shinigami charged forward, brandishing their blades. Ichigo hadn't even realized he had moved, but he dashed in front of the Shinigami with Shunpo, and smashed his fist into the closest one's face. The man skittered across the dirt before slamming into a wooden wall. He crumpled to the ground, most likely unconscious. The other Shinigami stopped dead in their tracks.

"Get out of here!" Ichigo said to the women and children as he ushered them up. They quickly scrambled to their feet and ran, crying all the way. The old men, however, stayed where they were, bows raised, arrows drawn.

"Who the hell are you? Some kind of traitor?" One of the Shinigami said, taking note of Ichigo's clothing. He certainly didn't seem like a Quincy with his black robes and long sword.

"Leave this place, before I smash your face in like I did your friend." His voice was low, and it was barely audible under the crackling of the fires. It seemed to work, because the rest of the group of Shinigami muttered to themselves, nobody daring to make the first step to attack this orange-haired intruder.

"Ichigo, are you sure you should be doing this? You are Shinigami too, you know?" Zangetsu said. Despite his Zanpakuto's words, Ichigo never lowered his blade. 'They're killing unarmed civilians, Zangetsu. Regardless of whether they're Shinigami or not, I'm not willing to let this slide.'

"They're coming King. It's timeeeeee! Ha ha!" Ichigo's other half of Zangetsu, the Hollow half which he dubbed Shiro, screamed in delight. The burning town, the blood soaked ground, the smell of burning flesh, all of these elated his inner Hollow's senses.

Ichigo didn't even need to unseal his Zanpakuto. Zangetsu in their sealed form, was more than enough to rip through the enemy's defenses. He leaped towards the first enemy and swung his blade with enough force to shatter bones. As he tore through the group, Ichigo saw arrow after arrow flying from the corner of his eye. Many of the arrows were deflected, but the few that hit their mark were critical blows, easily bringing the Shinigami to their knees.

After he had killed nearly half of them, two voices rang out from behind him.

"I am sorry."

"Forgive me."

Ichigo heard the dying gasps of the two old Quincies at his back, and the following thud as they collapsed onto the ground.

"Captain Shinji! Captain Shunsui! Help us!" Ichigo's eyes widened at the two names before he threw himself onto the ground. Two blades passed overhead. Ichigo rolled back, and brought up Zangetsu just in time to block Shinji's blade. He cursed as he realized Shunsui was coming in from behind.

'Zangetsu.'

"At once, Ichigo."

"My pleasure." His Zanpakuto split, the blade defending against Shinji turning into a long black sword while a smaller trench knife appeared in his other hand. He spun his free hand back, and deflected the Shunsui's thrust.

'Shinji… Shunsui… what is going on?' Ichigo thought, spinning and running back to disengage from the two captains. Neither approached, and only watched him in curiosity.

"I've got to say, ya must be the strangest Quincy I've ever seen." Shinji chuckled, his classic cheshire grin plastered wide on his face. "Never seen a Quincy with a sword before. Never seen a Quincy split his sword either… It almost makes me think that's a Zanpakuto…"

"...Why are you guys here?" Ichigo scowled. As much as he wanted to run up and give both Shinji and Shunsui a hug, he couldn't. Not with their current situation, anyways. For some reason, both Shinji and Shunsui were slaughtering countless innocents.

"Ya can't be serious. Ya don't even know why we're here, and you're fighting us tooth and nail. Tell him." Shinji said.

"We have orders from the Captain Commander. This is the last of the Quincy resistance that needs to be flushed out… and the old man had to pick me for the job…" Shunsui grumbled, rubbing his face.

"Quincy resistance? They're a bunch of innocent women and kids here! You don't expect me to believe your orders were to commit mass genocide." Ichigo watched as both captain's expressions dropped. Even Shinji's smile turned upside down.

"It's not our job to complain, kid. The Quincy have been upsetting the balance of souls. We need to maintain order. It's our duty as the Gotei 13. We don't expect you to side with us, or understand. Just know that everything we did here was out of necessity."

"Are ya even a Quincy? This war has been going on for a while now. I'll be honest the first couple fights were tough on the heart. By now, we've already come to terms with what we've done. We'll pay for these sins in the future." Ichigo clenched his teeth.

He had no affiliations with the Quincy. In fact, he should be glad that the Shinigami were destroying the Quincies in the first place, but he couldn't. These people weren't Yhwach's Wandenreich. They were civilians caught up in a bloody war that left both sides the losers.

"Captain Shunsui! The village has been cleared. There are no Quincy… oh." A new Shinigami officer ran towards Shunsui. He stopped when he took notice of Ichigo. Both captains remained motionless, eyeing what Ichigo was to do next.

'What should I do, Zangetsu?'

"We could just try and fight. Then again, there's no guarantee we'll live." Shiro chuckled as imagined the ensuing battle. "It's a terrible idea."

"I must agree with the Hollow on this one, Ichigo. We can't fight this. Just back off. There are no more civilians to save. Any further fighting only ends up hurting both sides." Ichigo nodded at Zangetsu's words. As much as he hated to leave the two captains be, he needed some time to figure out what was going on. After saving the last of the Quincy, there was no point in dragging on the fight.

Ichigo sealed his blade, and sheathed it back onto his belt. The other two captains nodded in agreement, and they too put away their swords.

"Don't worry, he's not our target. We've already completed our mission. The war is over." Shunsui said. "Gather the rest of the teams. We leave for Soul Society now."

"But captain, he -," the man tried to say, pointing towards Ichigo before he was cut off by Shinji.

"Didn't ya kill enough people today? It's time to go home."

Shinigami began pouring in from all directions. With the number of them grouped together, Ichigo guessed the entire Fifth and Eighth divisions were there. Many of them passed by Ichigo and stared curiously, but followed their captain's orders. They paid attention to him for no more than a few seconds before turning towards their route home.

Shunsui opened up a Senkaimon, the familiar wood and paper doors sliding open to reveal a brilliant light that contrasted the blackened village whose fires had begun to die out. Ichigo could feel power radiating from the other side. How he longed to breathe in the reishi rich air of the Seireitei once more.

"I will lead. Shinji, take the rear." The blond nodded as Shunsui disappeared into the Senkaimon with dozens of Shinigami trailing behind. When the last Shinigami disappeared into the gates, Shinji stepped forward. Before he placed one foot in, however, he turned towards Ichigo.

"What's your name, kid?" Ichigo stared into those calculating eyes. Shinji, despite his unnatural smile and outward personality, held a cold rationale close to his heart that rivaled Kisuke's.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Ichigo. I'll remember that. However, I sincerely hope for your sake, that we don't have to meet ya ever again." Shinji nodded before disappearing into the gates as well. The doors closed, covering the radiating light as the gate faded, leaving Ichigo in the darkness of a soot covered sky, and burning buildings.

'You saw it too, didn't you Zangetsu.'

"If you're referring to Shinji, then yes. I did."

'His hair. It's long.' Ichigo leaned back against one of the burnt buildings. The fires had stopped, and the air had cleared enough to reveal a crescent moon overhead, floating in a starlit sky. He closed his eyes and meditated. Slowly, his world blurred until he opened his eyes to towering columns of white skyscrapers.

"They don't know who we were either. Something's fishy as hell." Shiro said, appearing next to him. His Hollow self crossed his arms and leaned against the building.

"Urahara did say something about taking advantage of Yhwach's Almighty. The power to live through time… perhaps…?"

"Are you suggesting we traveled through time? That must be the most ridiculous thing I've heard in awhile!" Shiro chuckled to himself.

"It would explain Shinji. He used to be the captain of the fifth. I'm sure Uryu also said something about a massive war between the Shinigami and the Quincy back in the past… But if Shinji is still a captain, we must have gone back at least over a hundred years."

"How the hell are we supposed to gore that Quincy bastard when he's at least a century in the future? I don't want to wait that long! Fuckin' hats-'n'-clogs said he'd take us to the beginning of the war! This is the wrong war!"

"Maybe it isn't. Remember, there was an old hymn written about Yhwach, and his return. It's going to take him time to regain his strength. Urahara has given us extra time to gather our strength, and prepare for Yhwach's return. This is what he meant."

"But it took everything we had… All of my friends sacrificed themselves so what, we could do this all over again? And this time, it's just us. It's just the three of us against an entire empire. I don't know, Zangetsu. It seems worse and worse every time I think about it." Ichigo rubbed his temple.

"It won't be just the three of us. You can gather your friends once more. The Shinigami are all alive, as are the Espada. Even your human friends will eventually be born once more for you to meet. All's not lost, Ichigo."

"But those friends aren't the same. They might look the same, and they might talk the same, but they never shared in the experience, the battles. The last Shinji died by Gerard's blade. This Shinji has never heard of Gerard in his entire life. The last Shinji was a Visored, having gained strength from conquering his inner Hollow. This Shinji is just another captain. How am I supposed to see these people as nothing more than shells of my old friends?"

"Because your old friends are dead. They will forever stay dead. But these people are alive. Just because this Shinji is different doesn't mean he is any weaker. There is one thing that bound all of you together before, Ichigo, and that was the strength of your resolve. Your faith in me despite my weakness, my betrayal, allowed for us to grant you newfound strength. Give them purpose, and I guarantee they will follow you once more, as I followed you once more."

Ichigo leaped from off the charred wall, his hand palming the sword by his side. He felt an overwhelming presence appear from the shadows, accompanied by laughter. It was strange. This presence had no inner strength. He felt no reiatsu. There was no oppressive pressure threatening to crush his lungs like he felt when he battled Kenpachi or when he battled Aizen. No, this was simply an innate feeling of terror. Of dread.

"Ah! Look at all these dead bodies! They'll go so well with my collection." That voice. Ichigo paled as his eyes widened. Few had the twisted humor to even say those words, and only one could say it while giggling in glee.

The only person who could possibly elated by a mass genocide was her.

"Shut up, Giselle. Just do your thing and let's get out of here." Oh no.

Giselle Gewelle and Candice Catnipp stepped out from the shadows.

Thanks for reading chapter 1. Reviews with comments and criticisms are much appreciated.