Grim Family Shorts

Brave2000: There's not really a Death Hierarchy in the way I imagine the Grim Tales universe. Not to say there never was a hierarchy. According to the actual comic there used to be many Reapers, with Grim's father Earl being at the top. Then there was a war between the Reapers and their creators, a war which the Reapers apparently won but lead to some kind of aftermath that resulted in only one Grim Reaper per planet. At least, that's how I choose to interpret it. Grim is the only Reaper Earth has, not counting Junior. Mars has Morg. The New Gods of New Genesis and Apokolips have the Black Racer. I've even privately imagined what the Grim Reapers of Irk and the Gem Homeworld are like. Anubis exists but he is not considered a true Death like Grim, more of a gatekeeper to the Egyptian Underworld whom Grim delivers the souls to. Same with Osiris, Hades, Hel, and other mythological figures of death. Anime Reapers such as the Soul Eaters, Shinigami, and soul Society don't exist in the Grim Tales universe and are all alternate universe versions of what the Grim Reaper could have been. Grim doesn't really have any other Death above or below him.

I have thought about more Junior and Minnie stories, just not likely any very long one since I've already got a few other big stories I'm making. A Junior X Minnie lemon is almost a guarantee though. I will keep in mind that you're in favor for Junior X Korra and Grim X Phoenix Force.

nightmaster000: I'm glad you liked it.

Yinyang2017: It's still always nice to hear from you regardless of how long it's been. I like superheroes, so your oneshot idea could be fun. One idea I've pondered is Mimi being a superhero and either Junior or Chi being her archenemy whom is starting to fall for her, but sometimes that idea is a lemon and other times it's a comedy similar to Doctor Monarch from Venture Bros. I do really like your lemon idea for Chi and Mimi in similar roles to Aku and Jack. I definitely agree I need to do a lemon with just the two of them and no third party.

Brandon Storm: That's completely fair and trust me, I get it. It was for my sake as well as the audience's that I made so sure to explain exactly what Lilith's Nectar was and what it did in that story.

Guest: That lemon was me testing the waters and seeing how well lemons for work for this collection. So that's mostly why that story was made.

AMTT94: I'll definitely be doing more with Chi in the future, don't worry.

Summary: Just a collection of various short stories and gags featuring the Grim family. Not long enough for full oneshots.

What bumps in the Night

Grim Jr rubbed his empty eye socket sleepily as he timidly made his way down Grimskull's halls. He'd lived here his entire afterlife but for a child of the age of four, even an undead one, this giant castle could prove to be quite intimidating in the middle of the night, and thus the boy was slowly quickening his pace, his imagination making him terrified of every little thing that could possibly jump out of the dark.

With great relief he'd finally arrived at his destination; the doorway to his mother's room.

Junior clutched his pajamas tightly. He knew he should knock first but all the darkness made him afraid of making too much noise. Who knows what it might attract? A bit short for his age, Junior had to stretch to reach the doorknob but he thankfully managed to grasp it. Standing on his toes, the little skeleton boy managed to twist the handle and slide the door open.

It was only slightly less dark within the room than in the hallways, a few lit candles set up on the dresser to provide at least some luminesce.

Junior wandered in slightly but quickly froze in place upon looking towards the bed. It was too dim to make out fully what it was. Some kind of large, wiggling blob atop the mattress, moving in weird, constant motions, with strange noises coming out from it. The moans he was hearing made Junior tremble, fearing that it was a ghost.

"…Mom?" Junior finally managed to get out. It was less his courage managing to gather and more just a quiet plea for help, that somehow she was still somewhere around to save him from all his fear. "Mom?"

On that second ask, the writhing blob on the bed jerked its motions to halt. When it started moving again, Junior nearly fell backwards, afraid the blob was about to attack him.

But he was soon able to breathe a sigh of relief. The "blob" he'd been seeing was actually just a sheet, moving now only at the top so that the heads underneath it could poke out, making Junior so happy to see that it was indeed his mother underneath.

Though to his slight confusion, there was another person under the sheet with her; his father, the Grim Reaper. His dad usually fell asleep at his desk so Junior had no idea why he was here. Did he maybe have a bad dream too?

"H-hey, buddy!" Grim stumbled over his own words, his face just as bright red as his wife's despite lacking any skin or blood. "How…how's it going? Eheh…heh…"

Junior could only really see his parents' necks and shoulders but he could at least tell that his father wasn't wearing his usual robe. Maybe that's why his mother was on top of him? Was she worried he might be cold, even under the sheet?

"What are you doing?" The little skeleton boy finally just asked, truly not aware of what was going on.

Grim and Mandy's faces were as stiff and red as could be, both feeling quite trapped and exposed with their son just looking at them so innocently. The strained silence stretched on for nearly half a minute, when then…

"Your dad."

"MANDY!"

Junior just blinked, genuinely confused over what his mom meant by that, or why his dad looked even redder now.

Reaching down to the floor, Mandy picked up her discarded bathrobe, sliding it onto herself so skillfully that Junior saw little more than just her lower legs as she got out from under the sheet. "It's nothing, Junior. Just a little joke at your father's expense." She said to her son, very quickly being able to regain her composure. Within a few seconds, her face was back to its normal calm hue. "Now then, what are you doing out of bed so late?" She asked as she turned to him.

Junior gripped his pajama shirt again. "…I had a bad dream." He admitted, not being able to look at his mother directly as he said it.

Mandy was quiet for a moment but eventually gave a soft sigh. "Well…you are a Reaper. I suppose it can't really be helped." She shrugged, with understanding that probably surprised even her. "Even your father has trouble dealing with them sometimes and he's been living with nightly nightmares for a lot longer."

"Is that why he's here? He had a bad dream too?" Junior asked.

"Trust me, he was wasn't getting much sleep to begin with." Mandy's lip twisted just slightly enough to give the impression that the woman whom refused to ever smile was smirking at least a little.

"What is wrong wit ya, woman?" Grim asked his wife with a huff, sitting up but the sheet bunched up in his arms to keep his chest and body covered.

"What the point of having kids if I don't get to make jokes that go over their heads every now and then?" Mandy asked him rhetorically before turning back to Junior. "Let's get you back to bed." She said as she reached down, her son making no fuss as she picked him, letting him hug his tiny arms around her neck for security as she held him against her chest. He was extraordinarily light and, if Grim was any indication, Mandy doubted there'd ever be a time where she wouldn't be able to carry her undead child so easily, no matter how old he got.

"Can't I just stay with you and dad?" Junior asked hopefully.

"No, not tonight. Even I have my limits to what I'm comfortable having my kids around. But I'll stay with you until you fall asleep, okay?"

"…Okay." Junior mumbled, gripping his mother tightly like a baby chimpanzee. Mandy could already feel him starting to relax as she rubbed his back.

"Say goodnight to your father." Mandy told him as they made their way to the door.

"G'night, dad."

"Sleep well, Junior. I'll see ya in de mornin'." Grim waved goodbye to him, thankfully having calmed down enough to appear with at least some parental dignity. "Oh, and uh…yer mother and I were just…wrestling! Yeah, dat's it! Wrestling! Ya know how she always wants me ta stay in shape."

Mandy turned her head just slightly enough to raise her eyebrow at her husband.

"Well, what did ya want me ta say?!"

Rolling her eyes, Mandy carried Junior with her out of the room, the little Reaper already about half-asleep in his mother's comforting hold.

…20 years later…

Junior carried his Nergal-spawned scythe over his shoulder as he checked the map again.

"Alright, El Malefico should be sealed up somewhere around here…" He remarked to himself absentmindedly as he strolled through the hellscape. "Just gotta break the seal, then I can collect the bounty on his head. Shouldn't be too much-"

It was like soap bubble popping inside his head. The barest connections making the memory rise to the surface before bursting with the realization that hit.

"…They weren't wrestling…" Junior cringed, having to cover his mouth as he felt a slight bit of vomit try and make its way up his throat.

Ice Charades

"And now, ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer's voice echoed throughout the rink from the PA system above. "Introducing the final fruit in the Ice Charades' Fruit on Ice: the Bloooooooo-Berry!"

The audience roared with applause as, from out of the giant cornucopia built for the show, the final figure skater slid out onto the ice to join his fellows in the show. Sliding so smoothly past the banana and the orange, the blueberry leapt over the stems of the twin cherries, performing a very impressive double axel spin before landing back on the ice, much to the crowd's cheers.

"There he goes!" Minnie clapped her hands happily together as the blueberry sped past the plexiglass barrier closest to their seats

"Ya could almost make out all de individual Bloos on dat pass." Grim said excitedly, getting just as into the show as his stepdaughter. Not surprising, given he was the one who'd bought them the matching soda-hats and giant foam fingers.

"Ooooh! I hope they start dancing again!" Minnie said, practically bouncing in her seat in anticipation.

"They should. Deir most popular routine is de Mixed-Berry Jam and they can't do dat without Blueberry."

Just as he said it, the music started up and the crowd freaked again as the skaters' movements synchronized perfect to the beat.

"Thank you, thank you for taking us, father!" Minnie had said the same thing so many times today and even in the days leading up to the show.

"Think nothin' of it. Not like I had ta buy de tickets. Contest winner croaked and de seats would have just gone ta waste if I hadn't taken dem from de dresser after reapin' his soul." Grim said humbly. Honestly, it had just been sheer coincidence this show happened so close to Minnie's fifth birthday, so it just kind of worked out that he could use that as her gift this year. It was fine by him, of course. Grim had loved the Ice Charades for years and was amazed that, of all things, this was what he and Minnie found themselves able to bond over.

As the multiple individual grapes circled around each other in majestic unison, Minnie shook the arm of the person sitting on the other side of her. "Brother! Brother, did you see that?!"

In contrast to his sister and father, Junior was having none of this show. Not that he was bored. Quite the contrary, the way he tightly gripped his mother's arm and trembled a bit whenever one of the skaters got too close to the glass for his liking, it seemed like Junior was afraid to take his eyes away from the performance.

Though a year older than his sister, Junior had always been more timid, so Grim wasn't too surprised the show wasn't agreeing with him and holding onto Mandy so much. That said, this was one of the few times his mother's presence wasn't likely to provide much comfort.

"How ya doin' dere, baby?" Grim called with a smirk to his wife over the heads of the two children.

Very stiffly, Mandy turned her neck to face him. It was somewhat impressive Junior had managed to get his arms around her own, as Mandy's hands had death grip on the arms of her seat, her nails digging into the black ceramics. Though her features were just as stoic as ever, Grim could see it in her eyes, the mini-panic attacks going on beneath the surface.

"I hate you. I hate you with every fiber of my being, Grim." She practically hissed at him, letting out all those words in a single breath.

"Dat's a lot of fiber." Grim chuckled, popping the straw of his soda hat into his mouth to suck more drink down, knowing he was eventually going to pay for having a laugh at her expense, so he might as well keep enjoying the moment.

The dance routine ended and was met by applause. However, in a bit of a strange turn, all the skaters slowed down, making more calm movements across the ice, like they were waiting for something.

The announcer's voice rang out again. "The moment you've all been waiting for, folks. The once in a lifetime opportunity. You entered your seat numbers in the lottery outside the rink. You signed the consent forms. So which of you lucky few with have the heavens shine down on them and get to skate alongside the Fruits of the Ice Charades' Fruit on Ice?!"

Grim could swear he saw Mandy's pupils shrink as the stadium dimmed and the spotlights started moving through the crowd, a literal drumroll playing to add to the anticipation.

"You did what?!" She spat at him with a panicked shriek, Grim just giving a smug shrug at her while Minnie clamped her eyes tightly shut, both hands with her fingers crossed as she wished for it harder than she had for anything else in her life. Mostly because Mandy was glaring at him, Grim only had the fingers hidden under his giant foam finger crossed.

"And the winner is…!"

The family was practically blinded as the spotlight stopped directly on them.

"Seats A4, A5, A6, and A7!"

Grim and Minnie practically leapt out of their chairs.

"We won!" Minnie grabbed at Grim robe, unable to contain herself. "We won, we won, we won!"

Grim wasn't exactly going to tell her to calm down. Frankly, with how giggling and squeeing he was being, he wouldn't be surprised if a video of him was going to be put up on the internet for people to make fun of in the next few minutes.

As half the audience cheered for and the other half booed their luck, Minnie quickly turn to pulled Junior up with them. However, upon looking, both she and Grim now noticed that seats A6 and A7 were quite empty.

"Where'd mother and brother go?" Minnie asked in confusion, searching around through the crowd and the rink but not seeing a sign of them anywhere.

Grim's calm mannerisms told her not to worry. "Oh, I'm definitely sleepin' on de couch tonight." He smiled to himself, still feeling a lot of pride regardless.

Junior had never seen anyone move so fast in his entire afterlife, though it was no surprise to him that his mother was capable of such a thing. One minute he was getting scooped up from his seat, a few leaps and a sprint later and suddenly the two of them were right outside the stadium, stars overhead from how late it was.

With Junior carried in her arms, Mandy walked briskly across the parking lot back to their car. It was easy enough to spot. Not only was it the only limo among the sea of vehicles, it was the only one with flaming tires and a chauffer with no skin or muscles.

"Goddamn figure skaters…professional my ass…never did nothing for no one ever…trying to hide under fruit…" She grumbled under her breath as she walked, her mind clearly working quite a bit to justify the way she was acting, without involving the F-E-A-R word.

Junior was just happy to be out of there. "I didn't like the way they twirl. It just…it doesn't look right." He said.

"You are wise not to trust them. Don't let anyone tell you any different." Mandy said with an assuring pat on his back.

From behind them, the two could still hear the crowd's cheers. Looking up, Jumbotron sitting above the stadium's entrance showed the cameras' views of the rink, including Grim and Minnie, laughing it up and having a grand old time skating on the ice arm-in-arm with orange and apple (no one in the show apparently questioning why one of them was a skeleton).

Both of them watching the screen for a bit, Mandy finally turned away and said "Let's go get Mexican. I don't want to think about ice or skating for the next several hours."

"Yeah! Burritos!" Junior threw his arms up with a cheer.

"Damn right burritos. I've got some steak sauce in the car. We'll make a night of it."

Pinch

Six shots, all one after another in perfect rhythm, followed by calm silence.

"Perfect aim, as expected of you, master." Lord Pain praised his queen as he stood beside her, the paper target coming down on the track to them from across the castle's shooting range, showing six clean holes right through the center.

Mandy weighed the pistol in her hand, feeling a bit unsatisfied. Her work these days was more strategic than direct and it seemed she'd gotten a bit rusty. Back during her time as Megaville's mayor she would have been able to get all six bullets through the same hole.

"The weight on this one feels a bit off. Hand me #6B." She ordered, Lord Pain giving a salute and understanding her perfectly despite the protective earmuffs they both wore. Taking the gun from his master, he placed it back in its proper place on the rack next to them and handed her another. To the untrained eye there was no clear difference between the weapons but apparently it was exactly what Mandy had asked for, returning to take aim.

When Grim finally entered they'd moved on to a more human shaped target, Mandy firing at various vital areas like the head and heart rather than just dead center. The range was the quickest path in this wing of the castle to the soldier's barracks, at least that wouldn't require a scythe portal, and he had some minor business to discuss regarding the family's upcoming trip to his brother's town.

Watching his wife's impressive skill for a bit as he cut through the path behind them, the Reaper couldn't help but notice that neither Charles nor Mandy had seen him come in, too distracted by their task.

Quite the bad thought came across the skeleton's mind. So bad in fact that it made him smirk.

"Hmm. That's fairing a bit better. Give me #8E and swap in the regular rounds. I don't want to become too reliant on auto-refill enchantments.

Obeying her, Lord Pain traded Mandy's current firearm for one that was much more of a Glock, filling it with normal bullets as requested.

Needing only a few seconds to find her aim on the new target, Mandy pressed down on the trigger.

…Her shot missed by a mile, sailing over the target's head and punching a hole in the wall right behind the paper.

Naturally, it was not the queen's fault that she'd missed. Her sudden stumble forward was what had thrown off her aim so much but it was from quite the immediate surprise.

Her butt had just been pinched.

Turning quickly to her side, Grim was already strolling along calmly several feet ahead, hands behind his back and whistling a tune so casual it practically screamed how smug he was about what he'd just done.

Feeling quite a bit of heat in her cheeks, Mandy took in a deep breath and released it to help herself calm down. Pink was her favorite color but she didn't feel the need to have it plastered all over her face.

"Charles. The #1MBL."

"Yes, master." Charles complied, having no concerns over what was about to happen as he handed her one of the rack's special guns.

Grim was nearly out of the range, a bit surprised he wasn't hearing any rapid footsteps coming after him.

Then he heard the bang of compressed air being released, seconds before something tore through the lower half of his robe.

It was a grappling hook, and one of its curves just hooked itself around his pelvis.

"Oh boy…"

With a sudden jerk, the hook was sharply recalled back to its gun's barrel, spinning Grim around rapidly as his entire pelvis was ripped clean away from his body. The moment it got into Mandy's hands was the same moment Grim's various bones clattered noisily all across the floor.

His neck still intact enough to shake his head back to its senses, Grim couldn't help but wonder if Mandy had deliberately waited for him to be looking, for the second his empty sockets glared at her, Mandy pinched the pelvis right where his ass would be (if he had one). Despite being solid bone, Mandy was pleased to see Grim's reaction was even more obvious than hers had been; the many disconnected parts of his body all giving a jump at the pinch. Grim could almost swear he saw her smirk at him.

Placing the pelvis under her arm to keep it secure, Mandy returned to what she was doing, taking this as an opportunity to practice firing one-handed at the target.

After about a minute, once the echoes of the shots had faded, Mandy heard a familiar clicking noise across the floor. Looking to her side, the queen had to then look down a bit. Grim had put himself back together but was missing quite the important piece. He wasn't so much standing next to her as rather having to use his own legs as stilts.

"Can I have dat back now?" He gestured his head at his pelvis, his arms wobbling a bit trying to keep balance atop his femurs.

"Not until you stop being a tease."

Crush

"You want ta know if we've ever had a crush on someone?" Grim repeated his stepdaughter's question.

He and Mandy had been simply reading in silence in the castle's library when Minnie had come up and asked them that. Mandy had noticed before Grim did how much the girl had been pacing before going to them and now they knew why. It was a perfectly normal thing for a ten-year-old girl to be curious about but it was still somewhat embarrassing.

Their respective armchairs were seated at about a ninety degree angle from each other, so Grim and Mandy were able to see each other's faces quite well when they looked up from their books, asking the other silently with their eyes how they wanted to go about this.

With a shrug from Grim that was basically the equivalent of "Well…why not?", Mandy was the first to speak up. "Your father would have more to say on that than I would." She told the little blonde girl between the two of them. "I'm not really a romantic person and Grim's been around for a lot longer. He's had more time to be desperate and alone; the two ingredients that typically lead to crushes."

Grim shot his wife a slightly offended look before turning back to Minnie. "Not quite how I'd phrase it…but yes, I've had my fair share of crushes over de years."

"I take it mother was one of them?" Minnie asked, seating herself down on the carpet, eyes sparkling as she listened with great earnestness.

Grim and Mandy snuck another look at each other before Mandy went back to reading the latest issue of Dictator Monthly, the magazine partially covering up her lower face.

"Yer mother and I are…somethin' of an exception ta de usual rule." Grim told her, needing a moment to find the right words. "We love each other, certainly, but… I wouldn't recommend tryin' ta have a romance like ours, nor a path like ours to it. How we started was not quite what you'd call a crush."

"O…kay?" Minnie said, a bit confused but letting it go for the moment. "But thee have had true crushes before, yes? On others besides mother?"

"Oh, yes. In fact, one I still have to dis day is Atrocia." Grim said with quite the smile over the fond memories."

"Atrocia?"

"She's his TV crush." Mandy explained, slightly lowering down her magazine to speak. "She was a late-night horror hostess with a weekly horror movie presentation show back in Endsville. We was also a redhead with a black gown that showed off a lot of cleavage, so you can see where the attraction comes from."

With a little bit of disappointment, Minnie looked back over to Grim, his head resting against his hand and his elbow sinking into the soft arm of his chair as his sighed blissfully. "Ahhh…she's the dark mistress of my cold, dead heart. The only one who sees the beauty in Zombie Caligula Sleepover III as much as I do."

"I…see." Minnie said awkwardly. "But…I was more referring to crushes on real people. That is to say…crushes thee had on people thee personally knew or whom thee would see beyond just an electronic screen." She clarified.

With that, Grim thought it over again. "Well…I suppose there was Eris, but I got over that crush pretty quick."

"Eris? The Goddess of Chaos?" Minnie asked, recalling the name from the Olympian family tree Mrs. Pataki had made her and Junior study.

"Dat's de one. And trust me, de attraction was purely physical. Once I got ta actually know her any romantic interest dried up pretty quick. Dere are just some people where it doesn't matter how attractive dey are, all ya can see is deir personality. Worst part is my crush on her was right near de tail-end of de whole "Valley Girl" phase she had goin' on. Ta dis day no one has any idea why she was doin' all dat."

"Didn't Atrocia also have a valley girl side to her too?" Mandy reminded him.

"Well, yeah, but hers was less…uh…what's de word I'm lookin' for…?"

"Bitchy and shallow?"

"Dat's de one."

Having never heard about the goddess of chaos before in regards to her stepfather, Minnie remained curious. "Any others?"

"Hrmm…I suppose dere ain't dat many other major ones. I've dated plenty of times before marrying yer mother but fer what you're askin' about, havin' a crush on someone before ever datin' dem…hrmm…"

"Stop trying to be aloof, Grim. Everyone knows you had a thing for Velma Green." Mandy remarked to him casually, the name making Grim look like he'd just been punched in the stomach. "You definitely would have asked her out at some point if the Boogeyman hadn't ruined things between the two of you."

Grim tugged at the collar of his robe to fan himself off, clearly feeling quite embarrassed, even though the only person he was being put on the spot in front of was a little girl whom clearly didn't know who that was. "Well…dat's how it is a lot of time wit best friends, especially of opposite gender. A lot of people thought you and Billy were eventually gonna end up together. He definitely would have asked YOU out if he hadn't died before reachin' his teenage years. That's when de hormones really start actin' up." He commented as an aside to Minnie, chuckling as he did so.

"Yeah…I'm certainly not broken up on missing out on that experience." Mandy told them honestly as she took a sip from the wineglass that'd been sitting on the table next to her.

"Honestly, I'm just glad Velma and I did eventually patch things up." Grim continued. "As much as my old middle school self might have imagined what a future between the two of us could have been, I'm just happy ta have her back in my life. It's always a great thing ta have friends, especially yer best friend, as much as Billy and yer mother may have tainted de term "Best Friend" fer me fer years ta come."

Minnie rubbed her arm a bit, seeming to hesitate to ask her next question. "So…is it…not wise to carry a crush on one's best friend? It can risk ruining the relationship altogether?"

"Minnie girl, I wish I could give ya a more solid answer but de truth is it's gonna vary from person ta person. Some will be willin' ta take dat big step and others will have no interest. If it helps any, there's at least a little less risk of disappointment or pitfalls in having a crush on someone ya personally know. Ya at least know whether ya can even stand dem and whether ya even really get along dat well. As unlikely a pair as we are, Mandy and I still knew each other extremely well before we got together. We knew what ta expect wit each other. Like wit Eris, once I got ta know what she was really like, I lost all interest. Kind of like my favorite story about one of yer mother's more notable crushes." Grim added with a smirk, turning to Mandy with quite the taunting look.

If it was just Grim waiting on her, she could have easily ignored him. But with Minnie also staring at her with wide hopeful eyes, Mandy could only give a sigh, having to set her magazine down on her lap, as there'd be no way she could concentrate on reading.

"It was several years ago. I was probably younger than you are now. Billy had made friends with some new kid to our school named Piff."

Minnie blinked for a moment. "P-…? Piff?" She asked, certain she had misheard.

"Piff." Grim nodded to confirm it to her. "Mind you, dat's just what everyone called him. We never actually found out what his real name was, now dat I think about it. He never told anyone. Thought he was hot shit or somethin'."

"It was part of this whole artsy, goth, beatnik thing he had going on." Mandy continued, eyes closed, leaning against her hand she recalled the humiliating experience. "And, sad as it is to say, I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I still hate thinking about it. My knees going weak. My palms getting sweaty. I don't think I was even able to talk to him right at first, I just made some weird goat noise. And to make things worse Piff's "Too cool for anything" attitude made me believe he'd probably never feel the same way about me."

"So what did thee do?"

"Well, first idea I has was to just try and get rid of my feelings by having Grim cut my heart out-"

"Which to dis day I'm still surprised I didn't do." Grim chimed in.

"-But in the end I settled on letting Grim give me a makeover. Something akin to Sandy from the movie Grease. And the moment Piff laid eyes on me, he was the one who fell head over heels in love. He finally talked to me but could barely even speak as he asked me to the school's upcoming dance."

Minnie's hands were clapped together happily. It sounded like the climax of an old romance movie. "And what did thee say?" She asked, on the edge of her seat.

"I said no, deliberately breaking his heart, and then I think I punched him through a wall." Mandy said like it was the most simple thing in the world, snapping her daughter back down to reality.

The unrestrained laughter from Grim did indeed confirm that was what really happened. "Served him right. Boy was a brat. Spat in my face just fer askin' his name."

Mandy just gave a shrug. "I don't get crushes, Minnie. I crush." She added on so casually as she flipped to the next page in her book.

Minnie was silent for a long few moments. "…Perhaps thee two wast the wrong ones to asketh about this sort of thing."

"You're not wrong." Mandy agreed with her, taking another drink of her wine.

Grim, still working out the last bits of his giggles, added on "Of course, given how she makes fun of me fer my celebrity crushes, I'm not surprised yer mother is leavin' out de one of her own. I might not have been bound by our deal anymore at de time, but we still crossed paths often enough dat I picked up on her inner fangirl. A crush on a certain half-ghost superhero named-"

"I will hurt you, Grim." Mandy gave him fair warning, not even looking up from her reading.

"Alright, alright." Grim backed off, though the giddiness of his face made it quite clear he was just dying to embarrass her with the old reminder.

"…Perhaps I should ask Mrs. Pataki when I am next given the chance, or maybe aunt Sally when we go to visit the town of Halloween on its namesake…" Minnie pondered aloud.

"Ohhh, they'd definitely have a thing or two ta say about crushes." Grim assured her cryptically. "I'm biased since she's married ta my brother but I'd definitely recommend askin' Sally over Helga. Woman's a good teacher but…like wit us, her method of dealin' wit havin' a crush is more an exception than a path ta follow."

That served only to make Minnie even more curious, but she put aside the matter for now, figuring she'd come back to them if Mrs. Pataki didn't give her a straight answer. "Alright. But…if I may have but one more inquiry…"

"Go for it."

"Besides the Piff fellow, did either of thee have anyone with a crush on them?"

Grim and Mandy sat in quiet, looking off into the ceiling and sorting through the long respective lists of memories in their heads.

"Our…our b-babies would be beautiful, yo." Irwin said to his, sweat trailing down his forehead and snot running down his nose as the hand holding the single flower out to her shook painfully from the fear of being rejected again.

"Go ahead, Grim. Tell Billy about US!" Blandy said, hugging his arm and rubbing her giant nose all up and down his sleeve.

Both Grim and Mandy gave noticeable shivers of disgust as they pushed the memories back down.

Leaning forward, Grim put his hand on Minnie's shoulder. "Just remember, Minnie, no matter what yer reasons may be, ya always have de right ta just say no ta someone."

"And if they don't want to take that as their answer, stab them." Mandy added, both of them looking like they'd just come out of a wartime flashback.

On that note, Minnie slowly backed away and eventually turned to finally leave the library, feeling quite a bit more confused than when she first came in.

Returning back to what they'd been doing before, the next couple of minutes passed by quietly enough for the parents, the only sounds being the occasional turn of the page. Though a thought did soon come across Grim's mind.

"Say, why do ya think Minnie was askin' us about all dat?" He asked his wife. "Usually kids start askin' about crushes when they get dem, but Minnie doesn't really hang out wit any other kids her own age besides Junior."

Mandy didn't say anything in response, not even taking her eyes away from her book. Just taking a long, and very audible, slip of wine from her glass.

"…Oooohhhhhhhh. Oh dear…"

Motherly Love

A punch to the face and knee to the stomach and her son was on the ground, coughing pretty hard for a creature that didn't have lungs. Grim covered his eyes with his hood, not wanting to even look at the sight, while Minnie had her hands cupped over her mouth in horror. But Mandy was not going to relent.

"I'll say this one last time…" Mandy warned Junior as she stood over his kneeled over form, the little girl whom had broken into her vault and insulted her laying on the floor unconscious behind him. "Move!"

She saw Junior's body give a tremble and for a second Mandy was certain he was about to start crying. Strict as she was, she'd never laid a hand on either of her children to quite this extent before.

But then she heard a sound that was almost like the hiss of a mass of vipers, as fleshly black tendrils and demonic green spikes spread open from underneath the little Reaper's hoodie. He stood back to his feet, his claws and tentacles practically forming a wall between his mother and Mimi, as he said a few colorful choice words in Nergalish that Mandy was almost certain he'd learned from her.

The intention in his glowing green eyes was clear. He wasn't going to back down.

"You've got some balls, boy! I'll give you that." Mandy finally said after a long moment of stressful silence for everyone else in the vault. "For a while I thought you were just as spineless as your father." Her words applauded Junior, though her foot squished one of his closer tentacles under her heel to prove a point. "If you wanted a pet, all you had to do was ask. Just get her out of my vault."

She turned her back to her son, showing off to everyone present just how confident she was even before the beast that'd nearly destroyed Halloweentown in a single night.

"One more thing. If that thing ever sets foot in this vault again, I'll add her head to my collection." Mandy said as her final warning to him without even looking back.

Junior gave his response as he picked Mimi up from the floor, cradling her beaten body in his arms. "Her name is Mimi!" He yelled in the incomprehensibly guttural and sickly words that was the Nergal language.

"Write that on her leash." Mandy replied back simply, impressive to say the least, given she was one of the few outside the species to speak the language so fluently. As she proceeded to walk up the stairs to the exit of her vault, she yelled out "Charles! Clean up this mess!"

"Right away, master!" She heard Lord Pain call back to her with a salute as she left the entire place behind her.

The walk back to her room was a fairly short one. That'd been a deliberate choice when creating the layout of the castle. In case of an emergency, she didn't want to be too far away from her collection, whether it'd be to get one of it many powerful items out or, such as the case with HIM's brat, to personally inflict swift punishment on anyone who'd dare to try and break in.

A few turns and hallways later and Mandy was back inside her surprisingly pink abode. Dan wasn't there anymore but that was of no concern to her. She'd seen him near the vault's ceiling, watching her and the little she-devil duke it out while eating a turkey leg. He'd likely be leaving the castle any time now and even if he didn't, Mandy had something far more significant on her mind right now.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Mandy's back fell against it, sliding down against its frame until she was sitting down on the floor, both hands covering her face.

"Fuck, that was too close!"

In truth, she was very proud of her son. The cowardly boy whom had always come crying to her over every little thing that scared him had grown up quite a bit since the Demon Reaper incident. Not only had he stood his ground, he'd stood it against her, something even some of the most powerful demons of the Underworld didn't dare to do. Yes, she was very proud of him. But that pride was being slightly undercut by another very motherly emotion.

"THAT WAS SO CUTE I COULD JUST SHOOT HIM!" Mandy's thoughts loudly squeed at her, her bright red face so hot it felt like it was burning her palms. For someone notorious for hating anything that even be remotely described as "lovable", her reaction was very much like how most normal peoples' would be upon seeing a box of puppies play-wrestling with each other. "He looked like a little baby Shub-Niggurath!"

No one within the castle would ever dare turn against her for such a minor slipup. But still, her pride refused to allow her to show even a single break in her unshakable public image. To think it'd be her own son who'd get such a reaction out of her… She'd had to turn away so Junior wouldn't see the pink coming across her cheeks. Just that image of him there with his arms and tentacles out protectively, his adorable little demon face snarling up at her from under his hood…!

"If that girl's scream also destroyed the security cameras, I really will kill her." Mandy commented to herself, her blush still consuming most of her features. No way was she not going to be saving those pictures of Junior in some kind of album.

Edible Revenge:

It'd been driving Minnie insane for the last five minutes and now she'd thankfully found the source of those infuriating cracks. "What in the many levels of Tartarus is that infernal racket?" She said with a bit more of a foul temper than one would normal see from the young princess as she stormed into the dining hall.

Long as the table was, taking up most of the room's length, it was hardly ever used that much, as Grim and Mandy rarely invited other guest over to the castle for security reasons. But there at the very end of it was the most recent resident of the Grim Family, Mimi. Not that Minnie had seen her right away. The massive piles of bright red crustaceans on the table practically towered over the small girl and Minnie only realized she was there by the handless stumps continuously snatching from the top of the heap.

"Oh! Hey, Minnie." Minnie was suddenly alerted to the presence of her older brother, causing the red-faced girl to quickly recompose herself. He'd apparently been just standing watching and came over to greet her. "Sorry about the noise. It's been loud in here but I didn't realize how much it was carrying through the rest of the castle."

Unconsciously, Minnie straightened out the skirt of her dress; her long purple sleeves eclipsing her hands. "It… It is fine, dear brother. But please, pray tell, what is happening in here?" She asked, a much calmer tone than when she'd arrived.

Both siblings gave a jump at another loud SNAP, through Junior's was lesser simply because he'd grown so used to it.

"Well, basically, I couldn't just keep feeding Mimi muffins. It was all she'd take from me but eventually it'd make her sick. So I asked Charles for help and he gave us a tour of the food stack in the kitchens." Junior explained awkwardly, leading Minnie over to have a better look at where Mimi sat. Empty lobster shell and shattered claws were scattered all around her and the number of forks and knives nailing the meats to the table was like something out of a slasher movie. "She wasn't really going for anything at first until she saw how much lobster we had. And she's kind of been like this ever since."

Just when Minnie was about to ask how she was doing all this with no hands, she was given her answer, watching Mimi place a claw in the metal cracking tool and then slamming both sides with her stumps, the claw practically exploding from the force. For someone whom was usually so frustratingly expressionless, Minnie was quite amazed by the manic, almost deranged smile spread across Mimi's face. She looked like an almost entirely different person.

"I…see…" She remarked, feeling admittedly a bit uneasy as she watched Mimi practically dive to grab another lobster. "Not that I do not find such a delicacy wonderful in taste as well, but I am somewhat surprised thee's new pet is so into it. True she is lacking her former claws and red color, but I feel there would be at least some discomfort consuming a creature with so many similarities to thine self."

Junior put his hand up to his chin. "Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think I've actually seen Mimi eat that much of the lobsters. It's mostly just been breaking them open." He said with some puzzlement as another claw burst within the crackers.

…Meanwhile…

Watching the dimensions outside the window pass them by as the limo made its way to Aku City, HIM shifted restlessly in his seat, his stump scratching at his remaining claw.

"Why do I feel the sudden urge to stab anyone who mentions lemon butter to me?"

Holding it Together

Junior's eyes jerked open.

It was past the middle of the night and there was no reason that he should have just woken like that. He'd long since gotten used to the nightmares that come with being a Reaper and the dream he'd been having wasn't even close to the worst he'd had before. His bed was still as comfy as always. Looking over the edge of his mattress, Mimi was still sound asleep under the frame, so she hadn't woken him, and even the Nergaling attached to his body was only now groggily coming out from its own slumber because Junior had.

By all accounts, Junior had woken up for no reason.

And yet, unable to say why, Junior somehow just knew exactly the reason.

Hopping off his bed, his bone feet treading lightly as to not disturb Mimi, Junior left his room and moved down the halls. Ever since he was a toddler the castle gave him the creeps at night and even getting his powers hadn't changed it that much. The only thing that made him a little less jumpy tonight was that his thoughts were greatly focused on something else, his mind's eye guiding him swiftly through the darkness to his destination: Minnie's room.

The door opened easily with just a turn of the knob, surprisingly not locked but then again it was rare the residential rooms in this old castle ever were, the actual treasures being deemed far more important. He entered cautiously just in case but once inside, Junior saw that his suspicions had been right. There was Minnie, on her bed and asleep but far from soundly, tossing and turning hectically and practically fighting with her own sheets.

As soon as he started hearing the almost whimpers that escaped through her mouth, her closed eyes twitching like she was in pain, Junior rushed over to her bedside.

"Minnie! Minnie, hey, wake up!" Junior took a gentle hold of her shoulders to shake her.

That little bit extra seemed to do the trick, as his sister finally emerged from the nightmare that'd been trapping her, her eyes finally opening.

Minnie abruptly sat up, breathing a bit hard from her sudden splash back into reality. She blinked quite a few times, as if to get the dreams unstuck from underneath her eyelids. If her ragdoll body was capable of sweating, Junior imagined there'd be a good deal of it making her mattress cold by now.

It took Minnie a minute before her mind worked itself out of its daze, but once it did and she turned to look at Junior's skeleton face…

"B-brother!" Minnie nearly shrieked, grasping at her sheets to pull them up over her chest, fearfully protecting her modesty despite the fact that her nightgown was about as conservative as Junior's own black flannel pajamas. "What-! What are thee doing in my room at such an inappropriately late hour?!"

The zombie girl's already pink face had become several shades redder, her anger and shyness warring it out with each other, and even Junior's own bare skull somehow managed to gain a blush (he'd have to ask his father sometime how they did that). He'd come here without thinking and it was only now that he realized how this must look.

"You-you were having a nightmare!" Junior stuttered as he tried to quickly explain. Things were already weird enough between him and his sister and he didn't want to add to it by making Minnie think he'd come in here to do something to her while she slept. "I…I just…I just somehow knew you were having a bad dream. I just woke up because I could just…feel something was happening."

It sounded so lame now that he said it out loud but to his surprise, Minnie did seem to relax at that explanation, apparently having little trouble believing it. "I see… More than likely it is a lingering effect of the right eye's transfer." She said, throwing out that possibility, as nothing else was coming to her mind.

Seeing that her breathing had not yet completely settled, Junior asked awkwardly "…Was it a pretty bad one?"

Minnie looked at him hesitantly before her head turned away to her side. Her teeth bit her lower lip and her hands still held a death grip on her sheets. "Twas…nothing too major. Just but a simple fright a restless brain conjures up. Twas nothing."

With a smile and a wave of her hand, she denied any problems but something in the pit of Junior's non-existent stomach wouldn't allow him to believe her. Something was wrong but she was either too proud or too selfless to tell him.

Rubbing the back of his skull, blushing as he tried to find the right words that wouldn't make him sound like a creep, Junior spoke up again. "Hey…you know that…promise…I made you? Back when Mimi broke into the house?"

Minnie looked up at her brother, eyes slightly widened as, yes, she did remember, and she was quite surprised he was actually bringing it up.

If Junior rubbed his skull any harder he'd start making scratches across it, so in spite of his nervousness he forced himself to put his hand down. "Well…would you like to…sleep in my bed tonight? I know it's late but…if you're having nightmares, the best way to get back to sleep is to have someone else with you. That's what mom did for me a lot when I was little."

Minnie's back held itself very stiff and straight, almost having to hold her body back from giving an immediate (and very loud) yes. "Would… Would there even be any room for me? Thee's new pet I'm certain takes up a decent bit of space at the foot of the bed. Like a dog…" She said, unable to help herself from letting some of her jealousy seep into her words.

"Mimi sleeps under my bed, actually." Junior explained, the envy just flying right over his head. "Especially at night I can't get her to come out. So if I scooch over there should be plenty of room."

Minnie felt her cheeks burning but she forced herself to stay composed, slowly lowering the sheets that she'd held protectively over her body. "…Tis as you said…it is quite late. As I have no intention to inadvertently give thee a reputation as a welcher…perhaps I could spend the remainder of the night in thee's bed and then tomorrow sleep in it again, just to collect on the accumulation of a full night's stay?"

It was fairly obvious his sister was trying to slyly convince him into letting her sleep in his bed for an extra night, as she knew he wasn't likely to just kick her out of his room once the time was up, but Junior said nothing about it, actually smiling a little to himself and taking it as a sign that she was okay. "Sure, that's fine. With kind of a stranger as my new roommate, having someone more familiar might help me relax enough to sleep better too." He gave as his excuse.

Holding out his hand to her, Minnie hesitated only for a few seconds before taking it. The young Reaper leading the way off her bed and out the door, the siblings made the trip back to Junior's room, Minnie hugging his arm the entire way.

Junior's eyes popped open again but this time there was a very clear cause.

Just a side glance at the clock and apparently he'd been asleep for at least a couple hours. The sheets had been abruptly pulled off his body, which had been what first stirred him, but what had brought Junior's mind truly had to reality was the whimpering.

Siding up and looking to his side, Minnie wasn't tossing about as much as she had back in her own bed but she was still twitching like her dreams were causing her pain. A bit to Junior's surprise, Mimi was by her side already, having come out from under the bed sometime while he slept. She didn't come on the bed and in fact only barely glanced at Junior to see that he was up now too. She simply stayed standing where she was, watching Minnie struggle in her sleep, the look on her face being one Junior couldn't decipher.

"Minnie. Minnie, hey, you're dreaming again." Junior took a light hold and shook her shoulder like before, only half-awake himself. A few more shakes and she still stayed asleep. What was it she was dreaming about?

Junior then saw Mimi place her bandaged stumps on Minnie's body, leaning forward to then lightly touch their foreheads together. Before he had a chance to ask what she was doing, small surges of luminescent sparks jolted out from the odd pendant above Mimi's brow, casting themselves upwards into the air above the bed.

Images and shapes of a scene where soon made solid. It reminded Junior of the memory Horror's Hand had pulled from Mimi's head and replayed before his family but these images were more wispy. It was very clear this was a vision he was being shown while the Hand's illusions were almost impossible to tell apart from reality.

It was a scene Junior recognized all too well. The large metal hand reaching down and snatching his sister away from him. He felt himself nearly puke as he watched it rip away first her arm and then her leg, spraying her neon green blood everywhere as it tore her in half by her stomach before tossing both parts away like they meant nothing to the cruel machine.

"The Pumpkinator…" Junior could only get out with a breath, his skeleton throat feeling too closed up to even talk. It was just an illusion but Junior could swear he could still feel the heat blazing off the burning jack o' lantern face in the robot's chest as it towered over his sister.

When Minnie had given him her right eye, it'd transferred all her memories to him as well…including those of her final moments. Just a second of allowing himself to remember what she'd gone through from her point of view had been more than Junior could take and he'd shut that door tightly in his mind, never daring to venture that deep into his sister's old memories again.

"But…" Junior thought to himself sadly as he looked down with guilt at the small tears streaming down the sleeping Minnie's face. "She can't just block it all out. I'm just seeing it. Minnie lived through it, she…died from it. Begged me to let her die from it. And now that you're alive again you're…still living through it."

A single tear came down from Junior's right side, which he quickly brushed away with his sleeve. How long had Minnie been having these nightmares and not been telling anyone? So selflessly pretending everything was fine so no one would have to worry about her on top of everything else that'd been happening lately? A horrible pit formed in Junior's stomach as he gently guided a few loose strands of hair out of her eyes so that he could wipe away some of her own flowing tears. The anchoring thought wondering if she was doing it for his sake, so that others would focus more on healing his trauma from that night than hers.

Giving Mimi a gentle signal to please move back, Junior sat Minnie up against him. The projected vision of the dream ended but only because Mimi's connection had been interrupted. Minnie was still quite asleep.

Putting his arms around her, Junior hugged her tightly, as the Nergaling flesh within his core spread out across his bones and through the openings in his pajamas. Following his arms' direction, the black tentacles wrapped around Minnie's body, forming a protective cocoon over everything but her head.

It was something he'd noticed in her dream, that the Minnie getting ripped apart wasn't how she was back then. Rather, she was the current ragdoll body. All those stiches and lines across her body? They had to be a reminder everyday where the Pumpkinator had torn at her. Where she'd been separated and had to be sown back together. If she hadn't been caught by surprise, with her Nergal powers Minnie might have had a chance against the machine. Being stuck as a ragdoll even in her dreams…that was just the nightmare's way of keeping her helpless. To remind her how easy it'd be for her to just be ripped apart again.

Junior felt Minnie's hands grip his shirt as she whimpered against him and he held her tighter, thankfully, so it seemed, to her assurance. Though still trembling in her sleep, the shakes did decrease, and the ragged breathing against his body did start to normalize.

There was so little Junior felt he could offer, but if nothing else, he could at least do this. With her body encased in his many tentacles, keeping her warm and secure, if Minnie's fear was being taken apart again, then he could at least try to reassure her that she was still whole. With the gentle pressure around her body, Minnie could know that her arms and legs were still there. Within his hold, she could sleep safely. Nothing was going to get her as long as he kept his arms around her.

"It's okay." Junior whispered, eyes closed as he felt the shaking Minnie slowly sink into his chest. "I'm here. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. Not ever again."

"Junior, ya all right dere?" Grim asked from his seat at the table as his son walked into the kitchen. "Ya look exhausted."

Junior knew there were no bags under his eyes but it certainly felt like they were weighing on his skinless face anyway. "I didn't get much sleep last night." He yawned as he walked with only half-awareness to the cabinet to grab some cereal. "Minnie was having bad dreams and I wanted to stay awake for her like mom used to do for me."

"Well, good on ya fer dat." Grim said with some genuine praise as he took a drink of his coffee. He didn't bother asking why the two were in the same room at night. He felt no need to make the conversation potentially awkward for either of them.

Junior placed his bowl on the counter and was about to pour his breakfast into it, but paused tiredly right before. Setting the box back down, he hesitated greatly. He wondered if he should just leave but eventually he convinced himself to turn.

"Hey, dad?"

"Hm?"

"…Why wasn't Minnie immortal?"

Grim nearly choked on his drink in his surprise at that question. "Wh-what?" He asked as he wiped up some of the coffee dribbling down his chin, hoping he'd just misheard his son.

Junior hesitated to asked again. "…You were able to make mom immortal. Why not Minnie?" He finally managed to spit out. "I mean, I kind of get why I'm not immortal. Immortality means living forever and I'm already dead. But Minnie was mostly a living human. Was it because she was part demon like Uncle Nergal? Would it not work because of that, or…?"

Grim rubbed the back of his neck tentatively. He'd been wondering for a while now when either of the kids would ask him a question like this. Even so, he wasn't quite prepared with what to tell him. "No…Minnie bein' a little quarter Nergal wouldn't have mattered. Even most full demons are alive in a manner of speakin', meanin' Death would have an influence over them."

"But then…why-?"

"Givin' eternal life ain't a simple thing, Junior. Dere be many complexities ta it, and it just so happened dat yer mother checked off all de right boxes needed ta make it possible fer her. It's somethin' I always say, dat Mandy and mine's relationship ain't one ta try and emulate, regardless of how well it worked out in de end. But that bet I lost dat forced me inta bein' her "Best Friend Forever" developed quite de bond between us and opened up de opportunity fer me ta give her de gift of immortality." He hated seeing the hope being crush from his son's soul, but he had to tell him at least this. "I care about yer sister, Junior. Really, I do. But me givin' her de same power as yer mother simply wasn't in de cards. At de end of de day, I'm Death. Ninety-nine and a half times out of a hundred, I can only take life, not extend it."

His father's apologetic tone is what made Junior accept that as fact, regardless of how much he didn't want to. "Yeah. Okay." He said, looking off to the side with his head hanging a bit lower. Honestly, he wasn't sure why he'd asked in the first place. What would it matter what the answer was? Minnie was still killed regardless.

Thanking his father for answering him, Junior grabbed his bowl and a gallon jug of milk from the fridge, taking them and the cereal box out of the kitchen with him, feeling like eating his breakfast in front of the TV to help him get his mind off things for a bit.

Feeling horrible as he watched his clearly depressed son leave, Grim gave a heavy sigh, bringing his coffee back up to take a drink.

"He's going to find out the truth eventually, you know."

The mug didn't even reach his mouth yet and already Grim was lowering it back down, completely unsurprised that she had been listening.

"I don't think I could keep count using both hands just how many holes are in that story you told him." Mandy continued as she walked into the kitchen. How Junior hadn't seen her when he left was a mystery but Grim supposed a former assassin had ways of masking her presence, even when in plain view.

"Did you want ta be de one ta tell him?" Grim asked his wife, turning to her with that sarcastic tone.

"…I'm just saying that you're always going on about wanting to train Junior up to take over as Death someday. The more he learns about what Death can do, the more likely it is he's going to realize you lied to him." Mandy pointed out, noticeably not answering her husband's question.

"If dat means he'll be more angry wit me dan himself, den I can live wit dat." Grim stated with surprising firmness for someone whom could traditionally be so spineless. Mandy was admittedly impressed as she fished her own mug out of the cabinet. "He's already goin' through a hard enough time. He and his sister both, and they seem ta be coping wit it by finally gettin' along wit each other. Dey learn de truth and they'll be split right back up again."

"You think Minnie will hate Junior for it?" Mandy asked as she poured herself some coffee, not bothering to add any sugars or cream.

"She'll hate him. Junior will definitely hate himself. Forgive me if I don't feel de need ta basically punch him in de stomach for just trying ta put an end ta his sister's pain. We both saw Minnie's remains after de Demon Reaper broke down. I've seen people who've been ripped apart like dat more times dan I can count and de pain was always unendurable. I'd bet money Minnie was begging Junior ta just let her die."

The memory was unpleasant for them both, though Grim's face showed it more openly while Mandy's refused as always to budge. He rubbed his scalp miserably.

"I should have been dere. Never should have taken my eyes off dem two."

"There's no point in grumbling about what you should have done in the past." Mandy stated simply as she sat down at the table with him. "If there was, Clockwork would have gotten you out of your lost bet with me and Billy years ago."

Grim made a sour expression at the name of someone he'd for a long time before thought of as his friend. "Smurf-colored ghost bastard could have at least given us warning somethin' bad was gonna happen before we went ta Halloweentown." The skeleton took a bitter swig of his coffee. "If I'd been dere instead of Junior, or even if I'd been dere wit de both of dem, I could have made Minnie just as immortal as you, without messin' wit Clockwork's precious timeline."

Mandy was quiet for a moment, pondering a thought. "…Is there any chance that Junior could have-?"

"I'd have ta say no. Not dat de boy doesn't have de potential, but de biggest difference between him and me beyond de scythe and de title is dat he doesn't know what he is capable of." Grim shook his head. "We Reapers…we're de one who decide how de coinflip lands. When an event happens that could kill ya, we decide whether or not it does. I couldn't make Minnie immortal before Halloweentown because nothing had happened to her before dat threatened her life. De coin hadn't been flipped. It was flipped so many times over wit you and Billy, so despite everything that should have killed ya little brats, you two were never gonna die until I said so. Ya can thank de Stockholm syndrome fer dat."

"Also my natural charisma." Mandy remarked so dryly Grim couldn't tell if she was joking or being serious. After a minute of watching the brown liquid swirl around in her mug, she finally spoke again. "I've never been under any delusion that my kids are me. I coped just fine with everything that nearly killed me, but being immortal wouldn't mean the trauma wouldn't still be there for Minnie."

"But at least she wouldn't be stuck in an unaging ragdoll body forever on top of dat."

"We'll find a way to give her a new body. My scientists and sorcerers are already working on a solution."

"I certainly hope you're right. Minnie's dealin' wit it fine right now but give it ten…heck, even just five years livin' wit a mind dat's far outgrown her body and depression would be de most optimistic road she could take." Grim said, his hand reaching for his coffee but holding itself back, the drink not feeling like it'd bring him any comfort right now. "All Junior tried ta do was put an end ta his sister's pain. I don't want him beatin' down on himself even more dan he already is fer not waitin' fer me ta arrive ta save her."

"You wouldn't even have known anything was happening if he hadn't. It was you sensing him reaping Minnie's soul that alerted you something was up and made us go looking for them." Mandy pointed out.

"Dat's de logical way of thinkin' about de whole situation, yes. Ya really think Junior would look at it dat way?"

Mandy couldn't argue against that counterpoint. For a skeleton with no organs, Junior certainly had quite the heart constantly worn on his sleeve.

"Logic and facts ain't gonna matter in dis case. All Junior's gonna see is dat he ruined his sister's life twice over in just a matter of minutes, first by gettin' her caught by de Pumpkinator and den by reapin' her soul when she could have been saved. I can't… I can't make him go through dat kind of guilt. Not when dere's nothing ta help him cope wit what he's done."

Leaning back against the counter, Mandy took a few silent swigs of her coffee. "…Your old habit of procrastination better not be rubbing off on me." She grumbled with her mouth behind her mug, it being her way of telling her husband she wouldn't tell the children either.

"…Ya ever wonder if normal parents have ta go through dese kinds of things?" Grim asked after the obligatory moments of silence that followed them deciding to keep lying.

"Grim, you've met my parents and Billy's. Flawed as we are, I wouldn't trust my children to normal parents."

"Ya make a surprisingly good point."

Author's notes: Before I forget, I put up a new poll on my profile page, just to gage people's preference. Vote whether you'd rather get a Junior X Minnie lemon first or a Mimi X Chi lemon.

Sometimes I get these ideas for little scenes and gags involving the Grim Tales characters but I'm never sure how to fit them into one of my bigger stories or how to stretch them out into a full oneshot. So, I decided an experiment and tried to see what would happen if I just put some of those various shorts into one oneshot. Depending on how well this goes, I'm very likely to do more. Honestly, some of these would probably work better as short comic panels, but I can't draw worth a damn.

What bumps in the night: This was mostly done just because I wanted to have Mandy make the "Your dad" joke. But I've always liked the idea that Junior has looked to Mandy as a source of comfort since he was a baby. The woman everyone else fears and yet the only one Junior feels safe around, probably because she's the scariest thing in any given room.

Ice Charades: I have many headcanons I've developed while writing these fanfics and my favorite is that while Minnie has inherited many of Mandy's more obvious qualities, such as looks and natural talent, Junior inherited Mandy's weirder quirks, such as an irrational fear of professional figure skaters (which I believe was in the Attack of the Clowns episode of the cartoon). Also maybe a desire to drink steak sauce, though Mandy said she needs to kick that habit. I also believe this is the first time I've referenced Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends in one of my stories.

Side note, this story was inspired by, of all thing, a bit of Star Wars fanart. I don't remember who the artist was but it was Padme and toddler Luke playing and building sandcastles on the beach…while Anakin and toddler Leia are standing off to the side both just glaring in distaste at the sand. This led to an image of Grim and Minnie having a great time ice skating while Mandy and Junior refuse to participate due to their very similar hang-up.

Pinch: Inspired by a scene from The Incredibles, though obviously taken a step further on Mandy's part.

Crush: Another odd, random headcanon I have is that Mandy used to have a crush on Danny Phantom when she was younger. No real reason for this beyond it maybe giving another reason why she was attracted to Dan Phantom upon meeting him. Typically I think of there being about a four year age difference between Mandy and Danny, with OG Mandy being 10 and OG Danny 14, so that along with Danny already having a girlfriend (Sam) obviously nothing ever happened between the two of them even as the years passed. I just like the idea of Mandy having a celebrity crush and Danny isn't the worst person for that.

Motherly Love: This is based entirely on the Deviantart image "Motherly Love" by Beppodragon. This person has actually drawn a lot of cool and cute Grim Tales artwork, so I'd definitely recommend checking out their stuff.

Edible Revenge: This was also based on another Beppodragon artwork titled "First Revenge", only in this case I took the opposite approach. Instead of Mimi being uncomfortable eating lobster, she REALLY loves getting lobster for dinner. Not necessarily because she likes eating them but because it lets her fantasize about boiling her own father in a pot of water and then crushing his claws in a lobster cracker.

Holding it together: It's something that even I have to be critical of my stories for, that Minnie doesn't get that much attention, nor does what she went through. There's no way a ten-year-old gets literally ripped apart, killed, and then brought back to life as a ragdoll zombie without some lingering trauma. This was also a chance for me to throw out my headcanon for why Grim didn't make Minnie immortal like he did with Mandy, which is a question I think the fanbase has had before. My simple reasoning: he couldn't. Minnie had never died before and thus Grim never had to put off letting her die like he did with Mandy. He was supposed to reap Mandy's soul a long time ago and until he does, Mandy's body is in kind of a purgatory state where she simply can't die. It could have been the same for Minnie, as she was never going to die from the Pumkinator ripping her apart until her soul was reaped; until she was allowed to die. For Mandy, Grim never made the choice that she would die, thus she can't. With Minnie, Junior made the choice that she would, thus Minnie is dead and couldn't be made "immortal" like her mother. It's just kind of a tragic situation. Junior just wanted to end Minnie's pain and now she's stuck in an ageless ragdoll body, but would Grim have ever even arrived if Junior had just left Minnie to keep living and suffering?

QTP: Are there any other short little stories, gags, or interactions you'd like to see or imagine with the Grim Tales characters? It doesn't have to be just the Grim Family.