...
"Barragan would've never stood for this insolence," Aaroniero interjected his worthless opinion on his choice of words. Grantz, not missing a beat, flipped him off. His momentary urge to end the parasite almost overtaking him.
Groban's grinding teeth were admittedly the only thing that he seemingly paid attention to. The severity of the action generally indicating how angry Huaco Mundo's leader was. And judging from the expression currently been thrown his way...
Grantz idly fixed up his posture, his gaze turning towards his future science experiment. Aaroniero none the wiser, even as Zommari slowly edged away from both of them.
Eren and Nnoitra- Mostly Eren really, were quietly complaining of the fact no one was currently paying them, any attention.
His 'boss' on the other hand was in a good mood... Which given the situation meant he'd probably come up with some sort of plan.
Given the hollow in question, Grantz figured it wasn't too complicated.
Some form of sabotage, followed by a, in the long term, worthless distraction caused by either tweedle-fuck!(Ulquiorra) or tweedledu- Huaco Mundo's numero uno dumbass(Yammy).
And given he wasn't currently trying to rip his ears out, it meant the latter was currently fucking around in the human world.
And then... Well, it didn't really matter. Groban's plans very rarely left their second phase- Grantz blinked, releasing a hold of his reiatsu as he realised he'd instinctively. Yeah, instinctively muted everyone around him, meaning he'd simply shut off his hearing. Most of his attention focused towards Aizen Sosuke's screen. The shinigami currently trying to win the argument regarding who was the real main character of One Piece.
The most dangerous shinigami he'd ever laid his eyes on was currently trying to win said argument. With Nel no less. The +Espada firmly set on her favourite character, the live-recording letting him lipread the hollows speech on why she believed-
'His dad was the pirate king! Of course he's the main character!'
"-antz!" Grantz blinked, his focus shifting towards Groban, an unamused look going through his face.
"Are you paying any attention?" Josh Groban started, his displeasure rapidly rising as Grantz simply blinked in response.
"..." The +Espada considered the benefits of at the very least pretending, given he had a pretty good idea of what the other was probably talking about-
"No."
"I see." And while Grantz could describe the expression that had graced his beloved boss's face, his attention as it were was promptly taken away, nor did he actually care to.
Focusing towards the rapidly twisting expression on the more immediate danger, Aizen Sosuke's face. The shinigami's retort to Nel dying on his lips, his eyes widening as they stared towards the screen. An expression that seemed to freeze time itself. Dread and fear pilling at the bottom of his stomachs, Grantz's eyes widening the slightest as he recognised the look before him.
The finality it represented.
The urgency it brought about.
The realisations it created.
The reiatsu in the air shifted, Josh Groban evidently done with waiting for him to presumably apologise- and honestly, didn't the hollow have any sense at all?
Couldn't he see it yet?
Couldn't any of them feel it?
Everything was unravelling. Their plans and secrets were about to go haywire, the coming storm indiscriminate in it's timing. In it's victims.
Grantz locked gazes with Groban, withering the hollow's glare. His own reiatsu flooding the room covering him and blocking out Groban's own. If only barely, his boss was just as likely still in his good mood.
He could certainly understand the principle of the matter, not that he really cared all that much.
The screens before them, on his command, enlarged in size. Attracting the rest of his kins attention. Groban's false expression disappearing as he finally realised something was coming soo-
"What of it? What am I looking at?" Groban questioned, his irritation truly showing through. His bemusement as easy as a book to read.
"..." He didn't reply, unable to truly comprehend the hollow's answer.
And honestly? Wasn't that just sad. Grantz wasn't sure if he should even bother humouring his so called leader.
"It's funny," Aizen's voice echoed through, the shinigami's previous look of... Realisation having disappeared. "Of all the things to really put things into perspective-" The shinigami's voice continued, almost peaceful in tone.
Nel's joyful expression melting by the second at the sight.
"Grantz's obviously trying to change the-" Aarnoniero's voice grated on his skin, Grantz barely holding himself back from grabbing his head and screaming for all the realms to hear.
Why couldn't any of them see it!?
His brief frustration however was, in the end, just that. Brief.
Schooling his expression, Grantz shot two point-blank ceros, both of them grazing Aaroniero's 'sanity' containers. The camouflage disappearing in another static burst. The two beams carved through the purple flesh with ease. The hollow's screaming, whether in pain or outrage, entirely irrelevant.
"That," Grantz remarked pointing towards one of the many screens, his face paling the slightest as he waited for the bomb to drop.
"I never expected it to come from One Piece going AU-" He, for a moment, considered whooping out in joy as he watched the understanding slowly reach Josh Groban's eye.
Aizen Sosuke, ignoring Nel's stream of questions, promptly stood up, static generating and randomly hitting each and every screen before them. Their last image of the Shinigami-
Ulquiorra, his movements near a blur for the rest, flinched. A wince of pain filling up his face, his eyes momentarily closing.
'Whoosh!' The rush of wind, indoors, brought about with it a feeling of dread. Grantz immediately jumping behind Ulquiorra. The rest of the +Espada of Hueco Mundo rapidly scattering.
Currently straightening himself up, ontop of the middle of their table, was Aizen Sosuke.
"Hello, again!" Shinigami remarked, his grin ever present. The only difference been the shinigami's sudden change in hairstyle of all things, his brown hair unlike earlier combed into a controlled state-
"My first break out!" Aizen 'suddenly' remarked, his 'goofy' persona peeking through.
Grantz, despite himself, snorted, the slip accidental.
-And the current gleam in his eye.
"Congratulations!" Aizen echoed out, his eyes trailing towards Josh Groban's.
"You've finally got what you wanted. Josh Groban. One hundred percent serious this time! No more fucking around. I think I've wasted enough time as it were!" Aizen Sosuke grabbed hold of his zanpakuto, his grin though still visible, massively reduced in size.
Yet despite it all, Grantz felt the fight leave him as he realised one very startling fact. The one thing he hadn't in fact considered.
Aizen Sosuke had managed to traverse from one end to the other, of his Inner realm. Within seconds. And without a sign of fatigue to show for it.
"+Espada? Of Huaco Mundo," Aizen Sosuke unsheathed his blade.
"You have my undivided attention." The words, unsurprisingly, dropped the temperature n the room, Aizen Sosuke's reiatsu beginning to seep out as the shinigami raised his sword towards them.
"Give me a reason to let you live."
Despite the fact he had absolutely no reason to truly worry himself, as without him alive, Aizen Sosuke had no hope of getting home.
Grantz gave the shinigami one anyway.
"I am very good at-" He aimed a finger, the cero shooting out faster then the eye could see, hitting it's intended target.
"-friendly fire."
"Grantz!-" Josh Groban's voice and utter annoyance be damned-
Aaroniero's whine on the other hand was, admittedly, rather soothing to his ears.
Truly, the wonders of therapy were endless.
-And seeing as he couldn't do it himself, even he had limits he couldn't cross, he rather looked forward to the moment Josh Groban inevitably decided he wanted another sword put through his eye.
Aizen Sosuke's deadpan nod towards his answer was really the icing on the cake. Even if he was pretty sure the time traveller, albeit one who decided to comprehend his situation at the worst possible time, didn't even understand what he was supposed to be doing.
Honestly despite everything he'd witnessed so far, Grantz wouldn't be surprised if Aizen Sosuke was as lost as everyone else.
...
Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget feedback!
Next time on forget the rails, we have Not!Aizen's very first attempt at a prepared plan! The sudden change in mindset will also be... Explained? Shown? One of those.