Well, I was bored, Szayel was in mind, and this happened. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own bleach or any of its characters, no matter how much I plead for Grimmy, Szay and Ulqui as Christmas presents.
1. Prologue
The manic glint in Szayel's eye was intensified as the light bouncing off of the scalpel in his hand was reflected bye the reddish orbs, mingling with his expression, the expression of longing, excitement and contentedness. He gazed upon his prize, the body that lay before him on the steel table, his hungry eyes inspected it, and his grip on his scalpel tightened. Finally. This was such a treat.
He hadn't been in his lab for a while, not since he managed to ambush and tranquilize Grimmjow, who had refused to let the crazed pink haired lunatic experiment on him. Succeeding in his capture of Grimmjow, he had proceeded to his lab to carry out his tests. However, Grimmjow regained consciousness faster than anticipated, and thus the disaster started.
When Grimmjow awoke to find himself strapped to a steel table, the resulting shouts that ensued were by no means pleasant. Profanities spewed from Grimmjow's mouth like lava from a violently erupting volcano. Szayel tried to restrain him, but his efforts were futile. Grimmjow stood up, still strapped to the table and proceeded to destroy Szayel's lab with his haphazard trashing around. Eventually, he broke free of his restraints. By this time, Szayel had already fled, unprepared to face a livid Grimmjow.
Grimmjow ran through Las Noches, maiming, and killing, anything and anyone in his way, and even some that weren't fell victim to his terrible wrath.
"Get back here you bloody coward, I'mma rip you limb from limb, slowly, making sure you feel the pain in every fibre of your being, but first, I'll strap you to that table of yours, do a few dissections, then off comes your head..." could be heard throughout Las Noches, along with other, more graphic threats, and mixed in with swear words. Finally, Aizen's migraine forced him to take action, punishing both Grimmjow and Szayel fiercely, including stripping Szayel of lab access 'until further notice'.
Szayel couldn't believe his luck. Fortunately for him, 'further notice' had come sooner than expected. A handful of the Espada were summoned by none other than their self proclaimed omnipotent leader, a mere day after Szayel's ban, for an emergency meeting.
Szayel had entered the room second only to Ulquiorra, who carried out his Aizen-sama's will upon its conception, due to the fact that that he had nothing else to do. He stared at the infuriatingly white walls as though trying to burn a whole through them; knowing better than to attempt conversation with Ulquiorra. Damn, Hueco Mundo sure was boring when one is debarred of his sole form of entertainment. Slowly, the room filled up with those who were summoned.
All heads turned to the door, as Aizen, in all his glory, flanked by his two companions, made his entrance. He gracefully made his way to the seat at the head of the table. Once seated, he rested his eyes on the assembled arrancar; Szayel, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Stark, Tesla and Ylfort. Szayel was looking down and sulking, Ulquiorra kept his eyes locked on Aizen, his expression one of fascination, Grimmjow was looking daggers at everyone in the room, especially Szayel, Stark was half asleep, Telsa was looked lost and confused, Ylfort was just bored, waiting for the Sexta to start some disruption, as usual, Gin's eyes were closed and his sly grin stretched across his face, Tousen stood tall and upright, his unseeing eyes looking directly ahead and Aizen sat comfortably in his seat, his lazy smile in its usual position, observing the scene before him.
Then, he motioned to start speaking. A tense, still atmosphere engulfed the room, all heads turned towards Aizen, awaiting enlightenment.
"As we all know, there have been certain – ahem – disruptions in Las Noches lately." At these words, everyones eyes fell on Szayel and Grimmjow. Aizen continued.
"Due to these distractions, the murder of some fairly powerful arrancar went unnoticed." Here, the faces of those present, with the exception of Ulquiorra, all portrayed 'so what?' expressions. Death and murder in Hueco Mundo wasn't unheard of, in fact, it was rampant. Fellow arrancar often launched attacks on others, be it to prove their strength, or because the other pissed them off, or just to simply ease the boredom. Plus, everyone knew Grimmjow was in no good mood lately, so wasn't the murder rate bound to increase?
"Since these murders have come to light, analysis of the situation has revealed that these were not deaths merely brought about by the meaningless squabbles amongst the arrancar," Aizen went on, as though oblivious to the lack of interest in his group, "Thus, I have gathered you all here today to provide aid with the impending investigation."
"How are you certain that it was not indeed the usual carnage that takes place here?" Szayel questioned.
"Based on the way the murder was carried out, it points to the fact that the current five cases discovered are all connected."
"Serial murder cases?"
"Yes, also the murders were planned, organized, thus I doubt it to be any of the arrancar. Even if it is, the murderer and motive must be discovered soon to prevent more massacre."
"Those responsible must be brought to justice," Tousen interjected.
"Yes, furthermore, we have to implement safety protocols within Las Noches without arousing suspicion and giving way to panic. The very order of things would crumble, were this information to be leaked."
"Dun forget if teh shinigami found out bout dis, dey'd use it ta dere advantage and attack while we're preoccupied," Gin so wisely contributed.
"Thank you Gin, consequently, we cannot allow any of you to be involved in unnecessary fights with the shinigami right now, for fear you may get lost in the moment and let something slip," Aizen looked at Grimmjow, "Revealing our weakness and vulnerability to them."
Grimmjow glared at Aizen, "What are you tryin to imply?" he growled.
"I am stating that some of us don't always think before we let our mouths run wildly," Aizen countered calmly, "Well then, down to work."
"Now?!" Stark yawned lazily.
"Yes, now! You do not seem to be grasping the situation, this is serious and should be dealt with immediately!"
"Why?" challenged Grimmjow.
"Because this poses a threat to us. It. Is. Very. Dangerous." Somehow Aizen managed to convey the urgency in his words and still keep his cool, his smile betraying his true emotions not even once.
"So, do it yuhself, I don't have time for this!" Grimmjow was reluctant to remain in the room any longer. He was eyeing Szayel warily. Already on the edge of his seat, he now motioned to leave, however, before he could –
Aizen smiled at Tousen, in a flash, he was at Grimmjow's side, forcing the Espada back into his seat, his hand dangerously close to his sword.
"Now that Grimmjow has chosen to remain with us, any more questions before I continue?"
This time it was Ulquiorra who spoke, startling Aizen, and the room at large, "Pardon me Aizen-sama, why must we dwell on something like this. Surely it is a waste of your time and worries. Whoever is behind this certainly is nothing more than trash, if they dare continue, we can simply wait till the situation directly affects us, then we eradicate them. It is definitely more convenient than expending our efforts in an investigation, is it not?"
"Ulquiorra, no matter whom it affects directly, the consequences no doubt come back to those at the top. It is us who are losing part of our attacking force, as mentioned before, the motive is a mystery, it could be something rather sinister –" Grimmjow scoffed, " – best to deal with it before it develops into something even more grave, also, it will sow fear and unrest into the others, causing the Empire of Las Noches to crumble from its foundation."
The look on Grimmjow's face portrayed his thoughts like an open book. Empire? He's so delusional and conceited it can't be real. Wonder if a kick to the head will serve as a strong enough reality check for him? Some of the other Espada, like Szayel, secretly supported these sentiments. Aizen really did think too much of himself.
Unaware, or at least pretending to be, of Grimmjow's bitten back retort, he went on, "Furthermore, if you need more persuasion that this concerns you, the problem has already hit home; among the victims were two Espada."
Everyone's eyes opened wide, even Stark's. Two Espada killed by some serial killer, impossible! But before anyone could ask questions, Aizen continued, "So are you now willing to take this seriously? I have chosen you a handful of Espada and Fraccion who are quite capable and are currently available. Szayel, your skills will be needed, you now have full permission to use your lab. Stark is in charge of this investigation team. I will provide the bodies for examination later. For now you have the time to digest the information and discuss the division of work."
Aizen stood up and made his graceful departure, followed by Gin, still smiling, who wished the team good luck as he slinked after Aizen, and Tousen, who walked briskly and silently behind the other two.
The gathering was left behind in silence, all pondering the same thing, 'Who were the two who died?' and 'Who could have possibly killed, not one, but two Espada?' These questions seemed to resound off the walls, bombarding their minds over and over, 'Who?', 'How?' and most importantly 'Why?'. The only way to escape the topic that now took control of their minds was to search for the answers themselves.
Grimmjow was the one who broke the heavy silence. "Well, we've got a mystery on our hands, must be exciting huh?"
Szayel's newly returned grin broadened as he replied, "Definitely, we're gonna have some fun!" and skipped merrily off, toward his lab.
Grimmjow retreated back to his quarters, mumbling all the way, "He must be feeling like a total ass, something like this happening right under his nose in his precious empire! But don't worry Aizen, I the great Grimmjow will help you, and then you'll be in my debt!" with his usually psychotic grin adorning his visage.
All the others members braced themselves for the days to come, where they would have no choice but to co-operate with the two major lunatics.
Well, should I continue? Was it okay? Wanna know who the two dead Espada are? Review!