Author's Note: So one day I was cleaning, and bam! An idea for a fanfiction randomly popped into my head! I haven't seen any like this yet, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I apologize for the length, it ended up being a rather short introductory chapter, but the rest will be longer. Feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy!
The experiment should have been a success. Szayel had carefully researched the subject for some time, and was confident in his findings. He had wanted to create young Arrancar, ones who are born as Arrancar and grow up the same way humans do. It was an odd experiment, fueled more by curiosity and his thirst for knowledge than for anything particularly useful, though he imagined once he could create a child Arrancar, it would gain immense power as it grew, perhaps surpassing that of even what Aizen could create.
The first thoughts about a child Arrancar came when Noitora had decided to get rid of Neliel. His cracking Neliel's mask had had a rather interesting affect: the fully grown Espada had shrunk down to a mere chid, forgetting everything about her position among the Espada and having the mentality to match her small body.
Most Arrancar also weren't born as such. A Hollow had to work it's way up, gaining power and becoming a higher rank. When they become a Menos, life becomes truly chaotic, as they eat other hollows in order to grow. Gillians feed on Hollows and other Gillians, evolving into an Adjuchas if one of the Hollows that comprise a Gillian can overpower the rest. In order to retain this form and evolve further, it must eat more Hollow still. Should a part of a Menos be eaten, it is doomed to stay among the lower-class, never able to evolve. Compared to the Hollow population, few Adjuchas ever make it to the Vasto Lorde level. It is these Menos that have the greatest chances of having a human form when ripping off their masks in order to become an Arrancar.
Though, not all Arrancar had to go through such an ordeal. Aizen had the power to create powerful Arrancar using the Hogyoku, which is how the child-like Wonderweiss had come into existence. Now, Szayel wanted to find yet another way to create powerful Arrancar. Should his experiment have worked, he would be able to make young Arrancar from Hollows. Though they would be weak at first, he calculated they would have amazing potential as they grew, possibly surpassing that of Arrancar born into adult forms. It could also serve as another way to create Arrancar when the Hogyoku needed rest.
Unfortunately, things did not go quite as planned. The results were something Szayel would have never imagined.
"Yammy, what have I said about coming near my lab?" A very annoyed Szayel asked the large Espada.
Yammy scratched his head. "Uh...never to come no matter what."
"Good. Then why, may I ask, are you in here?!" The scientist was quickly losing his patience. Yammy being anywhere near his lab meant certain doom, and he would not have that moron of an Espada ruining his experiment. He was too close for any mistakes now.
"But I got lost and I had to ask somebody for help! You were the only one nearby!"
Szayel had to stop himself from throwing a glass beaker at Yammy's head. No doubt Ichimaru was playing with the corridors again. That oaf Yammy always fell for it, leaving destroyed walls in his wake. Apparently, this time he couldn't find a way out even by punching through the walls.
"I am extremely busy right now. Step out of my lab this instant, and find your own way out."
Yammy frowned. "B-but Szayel! I ca-"
"I don't care what you can and can't do! Get out of my lab before I strap you down to a table and make you a lab rat!"
The bigger Espada clenched his hands into fists. "You are always so mean to me! All I wanted was for you to show me the way out! I'm not moving until you help me!"
By this time the pink-haired scientist was ready to throw burning acid at Aizen's Tenth and leave him there to become a puddle of fluids. Putting the glass beaker of some liquid substance aside, he slammed his hands on the table, stood up, and finally turned to face Yammy. "If you do not turn around and leave this lab right now-"
"I'm not afraid of you! You have all your fancy stuff, but you are small! You can't make me move!"
Outside the lab, Grimmjow had paused from where he was going to listen to the argument between the geek and the dummy. "The hell is going on in there?" Curious and with nothing better to do, he stood by the door, listening.
"Want to bet, you big oaf?" Picking up a vial from it's holder nearby, Szayel approached Yammy. He held the container up, showing off the neon green fluid inside. "Do you see this? This is one of the poisons I created. Just slip some of this into a drink, or force it down somebody's throat, and it will decay their body from the inside out, until the organs are nothing but a sticky mush. Oh wait, I'm sorry, you are not smart enough to comprehend that. Let me word it in a way that is more simple for you to understand. It will hurt. Badly."
Yammy's face turned red with anger. "I know what that means! Stop talking down to me!" He made a move to punch Szayel, but the smaller Espada gracefully avoided the fist flying at his face.
"Fine then. I see you leave me with no choice."
Grimmjow laughed at the fight happening in front of his eyes. He was now joined by Noitora, who found the fight as humorous as Grimmjow did, and Stark, who had been dragged there by Lilinette.
"Don't you think we should do something?" Stark asked, just waiting for something in the lab to explode.
Noitora waved a bony hand. "Nah, let 'em fight. Maybe we'll get lucky and Yammy will strangle Szayel to death while Szayel injects some kind of poison in him."
There was a sound of breaking glass followed by Szayel yelling.
"You idiot! This is why I don't want you in my lab! I should make you clean that up with your tongue!"
"You did it again! You called me an idiot!"
"That's because you are one!"
Soon, all the Espada had gathered around the entrance to Szayel's lab, be it because they were eager to see the fight, or because there was a commotion they felt a need to break up. Whatever the reason, they were all in the wrong place at the very wrong time.
Szayel continued trying to threaten Yammy away with a scalpel in one hand and a vial of some dangerous fluid in the other. The smaller man was easily pushed away, however, as Yammy shoved him, making Szayel fall into the table he had been working at before the intrusion.
The scientist's eyes widened in horror, time seemingly slowing down as he watched two beakers, a vial and a petri dish all fall to the ground. For a split second, Yammy seemed to realize something was wrong as his large mouth dropped open. Before Szayel could make any move to stop the ingredients from falling, they shattered on the ground, combining with some other concoction that had fallen from a shelf earlier. The moment they all came into contact, a bright flash of light followed by a thunder-like rumble filled the lab, engulfing all that were anywhere within twenty-five feet of the lab.
The explosion interrupted Aizen's afternoon tea with Ichimaru and Tousen. Interrupting Aizen's tea time was a big no no, and something every Espada made sure not to do. Aizen sighed, setting his cup down.
"Gin, Kaname, can you go see what in Hueco Mundo is going on? Whatever it is must be serious to be taking place at this time of day."
Ichimaru nodded. "Of course."
Leaving their tea behind, Aizen's two partners-in-crime swept down the halls of Las Noches, following the reiatsu of the Espada.
"Ichimaru, is it me, or did their reiatsu suddenly...weaken?" Tousen asked, noting the sudden lack of spirit energy in the air after the explosion. All the Espada were still there, but their power seemed to have dropped drastically.
"Seems that way. I guess we'll find out what happened whe-" The Shinigami's remaining words were lost as he came upon the scene of the crime. His mouth dropped open as he discovered what had happened to all of the Espada.