Memories coursing through my veins
Like the scars in yours, my roots remain
I was raised in hell
I made it out by myself
I was raised to bleed
Bad blood runs wild and free
"HAAAAA!" Gohan shouted as he launched a Kamehameha from the air towards a Super Saiyan Vegeta standing on the ground. Vegeta stared into the beam and let it engulf him, as an explosion brought forth a shockwave that blew in the faces of Gohan and Goku, who was spectating nearby. From the air, Gohan could see Vegeta fly backwards from the smoke cloud. Gohan powered up to chase him down, and as he approached, he threw an overhead punch to Vegeta. Vegeta dodged but was met with a spinning back kick to his ribcage. Vegeta was pushed back but stopped himself by digging his heels in the dirt.
Gohan kept on the offensive by charging towards Vegeta and throwing a roundhouse kick to his head. Vegeta ducked under and swept Gohan's other leg from under him. As he fell towards the ground, the half Saiyan fell backwards onto his hands and backflipped onto his feet. Before he could make another move, however, Vegeta appeared in front of Gohan and grabbed a hold of his chin. Lifting him off the ground, Vegeta slammed Gohan's head into the dirt.
The Saiyan prince let go of Gohan and stood up. "Just because I told you to be more aggressive does not mean you forget to defend yourself. You should've never let that happen!"
"Aw, come on, Vegeta," Goku said as he approached the two. "It's only been a week and Gohan's been getting a lot better."
Gohan disagreed with his father as he sat up from the dirt. "No, he's right." He rose to his feet and rolled his neck from side to side before readying himself. "Alright, how about another-"
Gohan was interrupted by a group of energies he sensed in the distance. Goku and Vegeta noticed it, too, as the three of them turned their heads in the direction of the powers.
"Is that the Espada?" Gohan asked.
"Yea, it feels like them," Goku answered.
"Damn it," Vegeta grunted. "They're not even trying to hide themselves anymore."
"But what could they be up to?" asked Goku.
"I'm not sure," Gohan said. "They might be destroying more planets, or maybe they just don't feel the need to hide anymore, but in any case… I think we need to pay them a visit."
"Say what?!" the Saiyans yelled at Gohan.
"Don't worry, I just want a word with Aizen. He already knows we're not in any position to fight yet."
"Well," Goku said as he put his fingers on his head. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to pay him a visit."
"Let's make this quick," Vegeta said. "I might be tempted to fight if I'm there for too long."
With the Gohan and Vegeta put their hands onto Goku, as he then transmitted the three of them to Aizen's location. They arrived in the front of a room with a long table, where each of the Espada sat, with Sosuke Aizen sitting at the head of the table at the end of the room. The Espada all quickly looked up to the Saiyans, but none of them spoke. Grimmjow, however, smiled and bared his teeth at Vegeta, who glared right back at him. Goku set his eyes on Ulquiorra, who returned a cold gaze. The low, quiet hum of an engine filled the room.
"Hi," Gohan said. "Sorry if I'm interrupting your meeting."
Aizen slowly looked at them and smiled. "Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan, welcome to our ship. To what do I owe this pleasure? Have you finally come to accept my offer?"
"Not gonna happen, but how about we make a deal."
"A deal, you say? What do you propose?"
"Leave all of these planets alone, and we'll come and face you when the time comes. If you manage to beat us, then Universe 6 and 7 are yours."
"Gohan, are you really in any position to bargain?"
"Maybe not, so I'll raise the stakes on my end. If you win, I'll join you."
Goku and Vegeta turned to Gohan and gasped at what he said, but they could speak up, Aizen started to chuckle at Gohan's proposal."My, pledging your servitude to me? That opportunity is too good to pass on. Fine, I'll take you on your offer."
"Good, see you in 5 months." Gohan turned around and motioned his dad and Vegeta that it was time to leave. Goku prepared to use Instant Transmission, while Vegeta took the last few seconds to glare at Starrk, who looked back, but then looked away after a couple of seconds.
"Before you leave," Aizen said as Gohan was turned away from him. "Would you also like me to place a wager as well?"
Gohan turned his body halfway to Aizen and answered. "There's no need. Taking your life will be enough for me." With that, Goku teleported the trio from the ship, back to Beerus' Planet.
"That's quite a bet you placed on yourself," Vegeta commented.
"I just had to give him a little incentive," Gohan replied. "But it's not like that'll happen anyway. We have all of the data Trunks gave us on these guys, we'll have lots of time to form strategies. Our only concern is getting stronger, and at the rate we're going, we should be more than enough to handle them."
Goku smiled. "Well, then we better get back to training."
"So Gohan," Vegeta said. "Shall we continue?"
"Hey," Goku protested. "I think it's my turn now, Vegeta."
"Butt out, Kakarot. We were about to go another round before we left. Besides, you trained with him all day yesterday, so it's only fair that I get him for the day."
"You know what else is fair? A good, old fashioned game of Rock, Paper, Scissors!"
"I'm not even tempted to entertain that this time."
Back on Aizen's ship in deep space, the Espada had turned their attention back to their leader.
"Well," Aizen said to his underlings. "I guess we have no more business here. Grimmjow…"
"Yes, my lord," he answered.
"Guide the ship back to Hueco Mundo. We'll be stationed there until they come to meet their end."
Aizen adjourned the meeting, and the Espada withdrew themselves back to their quarters, except for Grimmjow, who walked down a corridor to the ship's control room. Entering through an automatic sliding door, he sat down in a chair and began to reroute the ship through a series of touch screen commands.
Just a little bit longer, he thought. And then they'll all see who's the king.
He had desired it for as long as he could remember, even when he couldn't remember: the title of king, the strongest of all. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was born a pure-blooded Saiyan, even though his blue hair had some to believe otherwise. This attribute was inherited from his mother, who also gave him his name, another part of Grimmjow that made people speculate whether or not he was a Saiyan. However, this did not concern him. He, nor his father, Prince Gula, had a relationship with his mother. As far as Grimmjow was concerned, no amount of joking or jeering would discourage him from his goals.
Gula instilled a deep pride in Grimmjow, just as Vegeta had been from his father. His Saiyan pride, even from a young age, drove him to train hard to be stronger than his peers. Grimmjow knew that he would probably never have a chance to be crowned king, and he didn't mind. He had no desire to lead people anyway. To him, being a king meant becoming the most powerful fighter so that no one can stand in your path.
His cousin, Vegeta, was three years younger than him, but they constantly trained and dreamed of becoming Super Saiyans, so that they could one day crush Frieza and his army to return the Saiyans' their independence. He planned that he would support his uncle, King Vegeta, until his death, and then Vegeta and he would rule and usher in a new era of might, but then everything changed.
Grimmjow was conquering a planet for Frieza when he got word that Planet Vegeta was struck by a meteor. He was only 8 at the time, and now that his father, King Vegeta, and the rest of his race had perished, the remaining survivors and he had now become direct servants of Frieza. Vegeta was good at bottling up his feelings about the situation, but Grimmjow could not. He hated with every fiber of his being that he now had to do all of Frieza's dirty work, and he kept training with Vegeta, honing their skills so that they could one day break free. Raditz and Nappa were useless to him, but to Grimmjow, Vegeta was practically his brother. For the next 15 years, they were feared across the galaxy and were practically inseparable.
One day, however, Frieza assigned the Saiyans multiple planets to conquer within a short span of time, requiring them to divide and conquer. As they prepared to leave for their missions, Grimmjow and Vegeta conversed as they walked to Grimmjow's pod.
"You're sure you don't want me to come?" asked Vegeta.
Grimmjow smirked. "Appule said that Kadassil is nothing but a bunch of weaklings. It'll be a boring mission. What's wrong, scared to go off on your own? Still want me to hold your hand?"
"Shut the hell up. I just wanted to make sure that planet isn't too much for you. I know you get overwhelmed by the bigger ones."
"Nothing is a challenge for me, but how about you worry about the other two fuck ups instead."
"Hmph, if they die, then they didn't deserve to live this long."
"It'd be a good day if Raditz bit the bullet. I might have to kill him myself when I come back, he's really getting on my nerves."
They both arrived at the pod, and Grimmjow pulled out a tiny remote to open it up. Once the door came down, he stepped inside and sat down.
"I'll ask you one more time," Vegeta said as he grinned and crossed his arms. "Are you sure those weaklings won't kill you?"
"Worry about yourself," Grimmjow replied. "Because last time I checked, I was the one with the biggest power level around here."
"Well you're scouter must've been malfunctioning. We'll have to put that to the test when you get back."
"Numbers don't lie, Prince, and I'll be more than happy to prove that. Loser buys drinks tonight."
"Deal."
Grimmjow closed the door to his pod before it slowly lifted into their and took off with incredible speed. He landed on Kadassil and quickly terminated all hostile threats with ease.
"No challengers today?" he asked as he looked around at the bodies he had laid to waste. "What a bummer. I can't even get a warmup on this piece of shit planet." The scouter on his right eye started to beep. "Well, well, guess there were a few of you hiding from me."
Grimmjow turned around and bore a big smile as he shouted into the air. "Come on out! If you do, the first shot's free! Go ahead and take it anywhere you want!"
Three warriors native to the planet jumped out from behind a rock formation. While the Saiyan looked up at them, a small energy beam was shot from behind him, hitting his scouter and breaking it. One of the Kadassil warriors he thought he had killed before had feigned death and seized his opportune moment to strike. Grimmjow winced, but then turned and fired an energy wave, erasing the man from sight.
However, as Grimmjow was turned around, one of the warriors from the air fired a blast at the Saiyan's space pod, destroying it. Grimmjow quickly turned around in shock as the warriors landed. He could feel nothing but absolute rage.
"I'M GONNA TEAR YOU FUCKERS APART!" he shouted as he charged towards the trio. They tried to prepare themselves, but Grimmjow was too fast for them. He impaled one of the Kadassil natives through their heart. He quickly ripped out his hand and put it in front of the face of another warrior, firing an energy wave that blew his head from his neck. The third warrior was so stunned from the death of his allies, that he was completely caught off guard when Grimmjow clutched his throat and lifted him into the air.
Grimmjow scowled at his enemy. "You bastards think you can trap me here? Big mistake. My allies will be here, and now we'll burn this whole place to the ground!"
The Kadasilian tried to speak, even though Grimmjow's grip was tightening. "You… won't escape. You… are going… to… to die here… with us." The warrior smiled, but Grimmjow crushed his throat, as his neck began to ooze out blood. The warrior's head slumped to the side, as the Saiyan threw his lifeless body away from him.
"Hmph, die here? None of you even had the strength combined to-"
Grimmjow was cut off as he and everything around him began to violently shake.
An earthquake? He pondered. What the hell's going on here?
He had no way of sensing if this was a new threat or just a natural disaster, so he jumped into the air to look out for more enemies. Within a few seconds, however, the ground under him began to cave in and give way to magma. The sky became clouded, and lava shot thousands of feet into the air.
"No way! Those idiots are crazy enough to blow up their own planet?!" Grimmjow quickly flew across the dying world, searching and praying for a ship, space pod, or any type of transportation. Every ship he had found, had sunk into molten rock, and Grimmjow lost hope. On the last spot of ground he could find, Grimmjow fell to his knees. He could feel the heat beginning to burn his skin, while air became drier, making it harder to breathe.
"Dammit… so this is how it all ends. What a waste, I never even came close to killing Frieza. I… I never came close to being a Super Saiyan."
As Grimmjow accepted death, a ship came flying into the atmosphere and rapidly approached the Saiyan. A ramp on the underside of the ship opened, and a man with brown hair and glasses came and stuck his hand out.
"Get in, now!" he shouted.
Grimmjow, without any more time to hesitate, flew up into the ship, as the ramp closed and they took off. Kadassil exploded into nothingness as they flew into deep space. Grimmjow was hunched over, trying to catch his breath, as the man began to speak to him.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Grimmjow stood up straight. "Yea, I'm fine now. Who the hell are you, anyway, and how did you know where I was?"
"My name is Sosuke Aizen, and I'm a Saiyan, like you. I was in the area doing research and I happened to see that Kadassil was self-destructing, and that's how I found you."
Grimmjow inspected the man closely, seeing that he was not dressed as a Frieza Force soldier, nor did he have a common trait that all of his Saiyan brethren shared.
"A Saiyan, huh?" Grimmjow questioned. "Well, where's your tail then?"
"I removed it because I felt it was unnecessary. Not only is the form unsightly, but it's also a detriment to speed and precision."
"Why would that even matter when you have the power to destroy everything in sight?"
"Grimmjow, do you want true power, the power to crush enemies like Frieza?
"Of course I want that power, and one day I will have it when I become Super Saiyan."
"I can guarantee you strength that isn't a myth if you join me.
"Join you? But, I can't… I can't abandon-"
"Vegeta can take care of himself. If you want to be stronger, then come with me."
Aizen put his hand out, and Grimmjow hesitated but ended up shaking his hand, agreeing to Aizen's proposal.
Grimmjow's eyes were closed, but he could feel that he was laying in sand. He opened his eyes and looked at his new environment: a deserted wasteland with a night sky. Sandy white dunes stretched as far as he could see. He tried to stand up, but something felt off, extremely off. He stood up on four legs, and his jaw was filled with razor-sharp teeth. The thing that was confusing him the most was that he had no idea if this was normal to him or not. In fact, he didn't know what or where he was before that moment. The only things he remembered were his name, and his innate desire to be the strongest. It was this desire that allowed him to survive in Hueco Mundo.
As an Adjucha class Menos, the panther roamed the realm, searching for more Hollows to devour to continue to increase his power. Along the way, he would encounter a group of Adjuchas that would later become his Fracción. Even though he became their leader by default, he didn't truly care about them. They were only there to assist him in gaining more power.
Eventually, Grimmjow gained enough power as an Adjucha to take notice of Aizen. After 30 years of prowling through the deserts of Hueco Mundo, he had been turned into an Arrancar, gaining back his original form with the addition of a bone mask on his right jaw, green eyeliner, a hole through his abdomen, and number 6 on his back. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez had attained the power he'd sought for so long, but it still wasn't enough to gain his independence from people like Aizen. It still wasn't enough to crush a foe like Ichigo Kurosaki. It still wasn't enough to make him feel like the king.
After his defeat at the hands of Ichigo and his betrayal by Nnoitra, Grimmjow had been left for dead under the bright canopy of Las Noches. However, when Aizen survived Ichigo's Mugetsu and escaped into Hueco Mundo, he returned to Las Noches when all of the Soul Reapers had left. Aizen and Grimmjow escaped into space through the Garganta with a dozen other Arrancar. The 6th Espada was the only member of Aizen's elites to survive.
Grimmjow's wounds healed quickly, but his pride had been shattered at the hands of Ichigo. Inside of his quarters, Grimmjow couldn't contain his rage any longer. His veins popped out of his head, and his palms were bleeding because of how hard he was clenching his fist.
"Me… beaten by a damn Soul Reaper?" he asked himself. "What the hell is this? Damn him… that damn kid thinks he can make a fool out of me?! I am Grimmjow… I AM THE KING!" His rage boiled over, as he summoned his aura, and it transformed from white to golden. His eye color changed from light blue to green, and his hair turned golden. Grimmjow had broken through his barrier and ascended to Super Saiyan status.
Almost instantly, his old memories began to come flooding back, as Grimmjow felt a mixture of anger and joy. He was enraged that he was turned into a science experiment by Aizen and made to forget his origin, but he was also joyful that he was experiencing the moment he and Vegeta had dreamt of. Before he could relish in his moment any longer, Aizen had already begun to plot his next move.
Using Grimmjow's new discovery as his inspiration, he decided to reopen his study of the remaining Saiyans. Although Grimmjow had a deep disdain for Aizen, he decided to hide his true feelings, electing to learn more about the potential for even greater power. As they unraveled the secrets of Universe 6 and 7 through the recordings of Goku and Vegeta, Aizen used the time to reawaken the Hogyoku, teach himself Instant Transmission, and track down the Super Dragon Balls, while Grimmjow continued to train to ascend past a normal Super Saiyan.
This led up to their encounters with the Saiyans on Earth, as Aizen used Grimmjow as a distraction to summon the Super Dragon Balls to resurrect the fallen Arrancar army. Grimmjow didn't care about being used as a part of a plot, or about the Arrancars being revived. As long as he got to prove his might in battle, he was satisfied. At some point, however, this too ended.
It was at Planet Sadala that the pure-blooded Saiyan came to a crossroads. Aizen had tasked him with absorbing the souls of the Saiyans on that planet, but it didn't feel right at all. It felt like he was seeing the destruction of his race, but this time it was at his own hands. He pleaded with his leader to spare the planet, to no avail. Grimmjow did the job, but he hated himself for it. The screams of his people as he sucked their souls away had haunted him. He sold out to a man that took everything from him, just as Frieza had before. The loyalty he felt that he owed in exchange for his powers was gone, and now the Espada had enough.
Grimmjow was impulsive, but he knew that impulse wouldn't be enough to stop Aizen, especially with loyal Espada like Ulquiorra around. After his mission on Sadala ended, he decided that he would bide his time and strike before Aizen could achieve godhood, just as Gin Ichimaru did before him. All he had to do was put on a show until February, and then he'd have his chance.
After plotting the ship's course back to Hueco Mundo, Grimmjow stood up and began walking back to his quarters. As he walked down the corridor, Nnoitra came walking in the opposite direction. Grimmjow bumped the 5th Espada and kept walking, but Nnoitra stopped and confronted Grimmjow.
"Is there a problem, number 6?" Nnoitra asked.
Grimmjow stopped. "I didn't have one till I saw your ugly ass."
"Damn Saiyan, how about I teach you little respect!"
Grimmjow turned around and looked at his fellow Espada with serious intent. "Nnoitra, if you don't choose your next words carefully, I will end your life, right now. Do you understand me?"
Nnoitra grunted, then turned to walk away, mumbling to himself, "Bastard."
Grimmjow turned and continued to walk to his quarters. When he finally arrived, he dropped to the floor and started to do one finger push-ups.
Kurosaki, Vegeta, Aizen… all of them are gonna see. I'll make sure they all know that I'm the strongest. No one will ever be above me again. I am the predator. I am the king.