I wrote this because I kind of hated Bleach's ending. So instead of whining about it I wrote something fun.
Fuck Prologues
He kicked a rock. It had been too long since he'd last killed something. Time was weird in Hueco Mundo - it stretched and doubled back on itself and loop-de-looped into infinity. The only sense of linearity Grimmjow got in this perpetually-dark, nightmarish hellscape came from fighting. He couldn't even remember the people or things unless he thought real hard. All that mattered was the next one. Because he sure as hell wasn't getting out any time soon.
"Oh come on, don't be shy!" he shouted from the steps of Las Noches. "Don't tell me I killed all of you!"
He lounged back, irritation rising.
"I never thought I'd hate this place," Grimmjow muttered.
Wind stirred his hair. The smallest whiff of reiatsu. He bolted upright, ears perked. Like lightning his lips split into a grin and he exploded into motion. He flew low over the white dunes, eyes wide and blurry. Air howling. Blood pumping.
He stopped and sent waves of sand flying. The world came back into focus and he spun around.
"Where are you?"
Sea green eyes examined the landscape.
"There!"
A skinny, tall Adhucha with four legs and a graceful gait. Pure white and red-eyed.
It whinnied and sniffed along the ground.
"No food around here," Grimmjow said. "Kind of sad; you're pretty." He'd learned to appreciate things like that; beauty was scarce in Hueco Mundo, especially after the fall of the Espada. Himself included.
Thinking about defeat left a sour taste in his mouth; a flash of orange, a familiar name. Pretty boy Ichigo. Hatred, humiliation, frustration.
The Hollow's whinny drew his attention again. She'd noticed him. She cocked her head, ears forward, assessing the danger.
"Dumb bitch." Why didn't she run?
Grimmjow held up a hand and built up a cero. Finally the Hollow took a hint and balked. She loped out of the way, legs kicking up a gale. Buffeted by the wind, Grimmjow planted his feet and loosed a reiatsu scream. The shockwave canceled out the Hollow's tornado and sent her flying, head over tail, into a dune.
The grinning cat soared to her side to inspect the damage.
"Don't tell me you're dead," he said, smile fading. He nudged her with his foot. She moaned in response and tried to lift her head. The motion brought up a light breeze and nothing more.
"Wish there were a hundred more of you. Might be more of fight," Grimmjow said. He punched it square in the jaw and felt its bone plating crunch under his knuckles.
"What the fuck?"
He brushed her mask away to reveal a small, pale face. A human-ish face.
"You're Arrancar material? A sleeping little girl? Someone lowered the bar into the fucking basement."
Her eye opened and a sudden gust of wind blew him back a dozen meters.
"I stand corrected!" he said. "Show me what you got, girly!"
The large carcass of the Adhucha disintegrated. The new Arrancar sat up and searched herself. Confused, scared, silent. Grimmjow remembered his own awakening well; it hadn't been quite so peaceful.
Instinct took over and she drew the zanpakuto at her hip.
"What, no foreplay?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Sarcastic. I like it. What's your name?"
She thought for a moment. "Arashi."
"She speaks! Well, pretty girl Arashi, you're about to be killed by Grimmjow Jaegarjaquez. Any last words?"
Arashi raised white eyebrows. "No."
"No what?"
"You will not kill me."
"We'll see, won't we?"
"I have a sword."
"I noticed."
"You do not."
"Nope."
"Why?"
"Lost it."
"How?"
"It broke," he huffed. "Someone much more powerful than you beat me."
"Now you're weaker?"
Grimmjow liked her spunk. He also hated it. She pulsed her reiatsu, white braid snapping in the wind.
"Wait, you don't want to talk?"
Her wind died. "Does it matter?"
"Well sure it matters! There aren't that many of us left around here. Feels wasteful. I don't know."
"What would we talk about?" Arashi asked.
"I don't know. Shut up. Nevermind," he said.
"What?"
"Forget it. Let's just fight."
"Wait." She held up a hand. Shit, now she was into it. "Why do you want to fight?"
"It's all there is," Grimmjow said. "Obviously."
Arashi fell silent. She looked like a puzzled statue.
"I keep hoping one of you is going to be as strong as Ichigo. Maybe then I could just die in peace," he scowled.
"Ichigo?"
"Yeah. Orange hair. Annoying pack of friends. Still alive."
"Alive?"
"Yeah. Really sucks shit."
"You want to kill him," she said.
"Since I met him. Can't though."
"Why not?"
"Because he isn't here, you dumb bitch."
"Can't get to him?"
"No sword, no power, no garganta," he said, making a flicking motion with his finger.
Arashi copied the action. A black tear split the air and opened in silence. "Like this?"
"You have got to be shitting me. Your first try?"
She peered through the hole.
"Hey, here's an idea," Grimmjow started, "you can make a garganta. I need a garganta. Let's work something out."
A blank stare was her familiar response.
"What do you want? The World of the Living has tons of great shit. Soul reapers, mostly. Some humans."
"For what?"
"Fuck you're stupid. For fighting. What else?"
"Oh."
"What? That isn't enough?"
She shrugged.
Finally, finally, Grimmjow's patience ran out. He sonidoed, arm outstretched, and wrapped his fingers around her neck.
"Let me make this simple-"
Arashi's zanpakuto sliced up. He grabbed her wrist with his free hand.
"-Open a garganta to Karakura or I'll blow your head off."
(btw i know pantera didn't break when ichi beat grimm - it just fits better narratively to say it did ok continue)