The Ribbons
-A 'Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Fanfiction"-
Outside, the sky was a dark, solemn gray, and the hard pattering of the driving rain echoed through the house. Old, withered leaves were ripped from their branches and swept away like ashes by the blasting, icy wind. The air was chill and smelled of the rain that pounded down on the quiet, Endsville suburb, the streets deserted and awash with access water, which swirled in muddy, foaming pools in the gutters before spilling into the bowels of the storm systems, with a roar that mocked Niagara Falls. The drops cascaded down heavily over the town, dripping from the foliage and from the roofs of the houses, shattering the otherwise mirror-smooth surfaces of the many puddles.
Down the empty, flooded sidewalk walked one small, lone figure, wearing a hooded, rose colored raincoat and yellow, mud splattered rubber boots. Her hands were balled into fists and stuffed into the pockets of her raincoat, her face was grim, her eyes were narrowed and her mouth was twisted into a scowl. She splashed along the concrete pathway without even bracing herself against the fierce, howling winds, as if the storm that was whirling around her did not even exist; it might have been just like any other day. She did not even react as the relentless winds blasted her face with the icy rain and swept the hood off of her head, sending it flapping madly in the breeze. Her short, white blonde hair whipped around her deathly pale face and her coal black eyes glared straight ahead, her scowl deepening. Her gaze fell upon a certain house and she stopped in her tracks, staring, the raindrops glancing off of her coat and her corn-silk hair whipping in a hundred directions at once as the wind tore fiercely through it. Letting out a small, warm sigh that was immediately swept from her mouth, she hunched her shoulders and splashed up the front walk, her eyes narrowing further as she approached the front door, pushing it open with a grimace.
The first sounds that greeted her numb ears were the immensely irritating electronic singing sounds of yet another cheesy video game, mixed with the madly triumphant giggling of a certain familiar redheaded boy. She could feel the usual annoyance building up in the pit of her stomach; she growled and stomped through the doorway, ferociously slamming it behind her, shutting out the chilling bite of the wind and the hissing whisper of the cascading rain. Her sodden hair freezing against her chilled skin, which was a bit flushed from the cold, she pulled off her muddied rubber boots and unbuttoned her dripping raincoat, tossing them both on the floor and leaving the room without a second glance, her underlying sleeveless pink dress and white socks left relatively dry. Squeezing the water from her drenched hair, she padded softly into the dark, neighboring room, where images on the TV, which was sitting on a table against the far wall, lit the blue walls with flashing rainbows of color. There was a battered sofa in front of the TV, and sitting on the cushions of the sofa was a small boy who was clutching a video game remote in his hands, giggling like mad.
"HIGH SCORE! Oh, yeah, mama!"
Grimacing with annoyance, the blonde girl strode over and delivered a crushing blow to the boy's cheek, knocking him off of his perch so he crashed onto the carpet with a screech, the remote slipping out of his grip.
"Oh, hiya, Mandy!" the boy sang cheerfully as he sat up, his eyes shining with delight. "Watchoo doing here?"
"In case you haven't noticed, you brain dead monkey, it's raining like heck out there, so I had to abort today's mission." Mandy relied flatly, plopping down on the couch, right were the boy had been sitting. She picked the video game remote up from the ground and turned it over in her pale fingers, her cold gaze scrutinizing it carefully. "..But I will find those stupid, pathetic kittens…And when I do-"
"Mandy?"
"What do you want, pinhead?"
"Can I…can I has the remote back? Cause I wanna get that real high score and…"
"Fine. Catch, Billy." She replied flatly, squeezing the remote and flinging it into the ground with all of her might, cracking it into a dozen, useless shards of plastic that flew across the room; she sighed and leaned back against the cushions, her eyes glaring ahead in way that looked almost bored. Billy blinked, staring with a blank expression at the scattered remains of his game remote. His mouth suddenly twisted back into a delighted smile and he giggled girlishly, clutching his sides as his body shook with mirth.
"YAY!" he cried, seizing the lamp that was sitting on the table beside the couch and heaving it onto the floor with all his might, shattering the fragile glass with a loud crash. "Breaking stuff is FUN!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Mandy said flatly, dismissing him with a wave of her hand as he slammed the TV onto the ground, giggling madly as the screen cracked into pieces. "Now make yourself useful and go get me some hot cocoa; I'm freezing."
"Sure thing, best friend!" Billy proclaimed proudly, halting his crazed kicking of the cracked TV screen and giving her a small salute. "Comin' right up!"
"It had better." Mandy snarled, pulling a blanket off of the arm of couch and wrapping it around her shaking shoulders, her teeth gritted and her eyes flashing dangerously. After giving her a few quick nods, Billy scampered off, his footsteps pounding as he tore down the hall, skidding to a stop as he reached the door of the basement. Giggling to himself, he seized the doorknob and twisted the door open with a creak, playfully skipping down the steps and into the darkness, singing cheerily to himself as he did.
"I'm a gettin' some coooocoa, uh-huh, uh- huh. I'm a gettin' some coooocoa, uh-huh uh-huh. I'm a gettin' some cocooooa, oh yeaaaaaahh…..And I don't even know what it is…YAY!"
Reaching the bottom of the staircase, Billy bounced over to a particularly dusty corner of the cold, empty basement room, which was swathed in a bone chilling darkness. There on the ground sat a large, forbidden looking trunk; Billy's eyes lit up when he saw it.
"You's can find anything in Grim's trunk!" he sang, seizing the clasp and opening the lid with a creak, giggling again. "Let's see….Hmmm…"
He rooted through the gloomy trunk's contents with his grimy fingers, mindlessly tossing the rejections across the room.
"Uh huh….Shrunken head, invisible underwear, voodoo dolls (ooh, that one looks just like me!) a kitty cat snowglobe, pizza, a Barbie dolly, a spell book, a funny lady magazine…and YAY! A cocoa!"
Billy triumphantly closed his fingers around one of the enchanted objects, pulling it from the cavernous interior and slamming the trunk's lid shut, giggling yet again. A smile shining on his face and the mysterious object clutched tightly in his fist, he scampered back up the stairs, slammed the basement door so hard that it shook the entire house, and darted back into the TV room where Mandy sat, shaking and muttering, her wet hair dripping on the blue blanket that she was holding tightly around herself with her tiny, white fingers, which were tinged a bit blue from the chill. Billy's smile grew even wider; an unearthly, searing white heat was emitting from the object in his hand, and he was positive that Mandy would be delighted with the results.
"Hey, Mandy, looks at what I've got!" Billy announced triumphantly, bounding over to her side like a faithful puppy. "A cocoa!"
Mandy raised an eyebrow and Billy shoved his hand in her face, the glowing object sitting in the middle of his outstretched palm. It appeared to be a marble sized, metallic cube, with strange jagged symbols and grotesque patterns etched onto all six sides of it.
"And, look, it's real hot too!"
Giggling cheerfully, Billy tipped his hand, the tiny cube tumbling off of his palm and dropping into the collar of Mandy's dress, sliding down against her paper white skin. She jumped as if she had been ferociously pinched, her eyes bulging and a piercing screech bursting from her mouth. Billy stared blankly as she frantically tore at her dress, fishing around desperately until her fingers closed around the searing hot cube, burning like a white hot blade against her chilled skin. Her face flushed and distorted with rage and pain, she ripped it out of her clothes and heaved it across the room with all of her might; it glanced off of the couch arm, the wall, the windowsill, and the remains of the TV, before finally clinking onto the floor and promptly beginning to sizzle a hole through the carpet, the pungent odor of burned fabric coloring the air.
Mandy pushed her blanket aside and slid onto the floor, burning with fiery rage that was as hot as the mysterious cube. Her teeth gritted and her eyes narrowed into piercing slits; she sharply drew her arm back and slammed Billy with a crushing blow, sending him crashing back into the wall, screeching with pain. He groaned, rubbing his head, but before he could pull himself up into a sitting position, Mandy's fist seized the front of his blue striped, white shirt and yanked him upright, her enraged face looming above his.
"What…what were you thinking, you mindless, empty head, bumbling galoot?" she hissed, her menacing eyes flashing and her jaw jutted with fury.
Billy shrunk back, whimpering, as Mandy's searing voice ripped through the air like whiplashes, sounding like the voice of the Devil himself. In fact, as she spoke, one could almost hear a second voice speaking in unison, a deep, cruel male voice, speaking in a chilling tone that was nearly dripping with hatred and malevolence.
"Mandy…" Billy interrupted, his eyes brimming over with hot tears. "I'm sorry, Mandy; I didn't mean to…"
Mandy didn't have the time to reply, for at the very same moment she opened her mouth, a flash of blinding light burst from the tiny, burning cube, which was still sitting on the carpet, a few inches from Mandy's feet. The light hit both the boy and the girl with such intensity that each of them stumbled as if just buffeted by a physical force. Billy screamed and tumbled onto the ground as his shirt slipped free from Mandy's slackened grip, the burning, white hot glow filling the entire room. Mandy's previous fury was extinguished; she stood frozen, staring at the unearthly glow with wide, awestruck eyes, her short hair whipping around her face, which had gone deathly white. Crying in terror, Billy squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face with his hands, cowering on the floor like a frightened dog. Even through the darkness of his eyelids, the bright white pierced through, stabbing his eyes and blinding him. Just when he felt that he would be consumed by the whiteness, a plethora of colored streaks slashed through the air as if shot from a cannon, shimmering and twisting and swirling in every which way, the intricate network growing vaster by the second as still more colored light ribbons blossomed from the glowing cube, weaving and winding and curling….
Suddenly, the white light died, flickering and fading into nothingness. The colored streaks vanished from Billy's view and the air was heavy and deathly still, like the interior of a crypt. Still shaking, he slowly uncovered his eyes, his breath coming ragged and fast; when he caught a glimpse of his surroundings, he jumped in a panic, screeching. He was still in the TV room of his own home, but the familiar room barely looked like his anymore. Covering every inch of the space were ribbons, satin multicolored ribbons, stretching from seemingly every direction. Billy's mouth fell open and he rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. The ribbons had coiled themselves around just about everything in the room, like a mass of thirsty, overgrown vines; the broken TV, the couch, the chair in the corner, the table…. They clung to the walls and the furniture, writhing sluggishly like sedated snakes. Trembling, clutching his arms to his chest, Billy slowly back away from the sofa beside him, which was enveloped in a net of slithering ribbons. The ribbons were everywhere, overtaking the entire room, so Billy stood still on the same patch of bare floor, the only part of the room that remained clear.
"Mandy…?" he squeaked softly, gazing slowly around the room, searching for any sign of the small, blonde haired girl among the mess of multicolored, slinking ribbons. "Mandy?"
His eyes scanned every inch of the room, his panic multiplying by every second of the fruitless search. He feared the worst for his friend; maybe she'd been strangled and was lying dead on the floor, her motionless body hidden by a mass of choking ribbons. Maybe the ribbons had somehow zapped her into another dimension, and she was trapped and alone and scared, about to be eaten by a giant mutant chicken. Even worse, maybe she has been turned into a ribbon, and was slithering along the wall somewhere, intent on consuming Billy flesh.
This last thought horrified Billy to such an extent that he let out a fresh scream of terror.
"MAAANDYYY!"
There was no answer.
Just as Billy sunk to floor in despair, sobbing, there was a roar of flame and a familiar cloaked figure materialized in the far corner of the room, his bony hands clutching a tall, curved handled scythe.
"Grim!" Billy cried as the skeleton floated down into view, his black cloak rippling sinisterly behind him as he scanned the room with his dark eye sockets, unfazed.
"I tought I sensed abnormal supernatural activity; seems I was right."
"Grim, Grim! Guess what; you's never believe what happened! I.."
"You were rooting around in me trunk again for some stupid reason and you unleashed the destruction of the world as we know it." Grim replied flatly, cutting off Billy's rambling explanation. "Yes, I tink I can believe it."
Billy sniffed and smiled through his tears.
"Yeah, and when I opened my eyes Mandy was gone and I looked all over for her but she didn't answer and now I think she's GONE but now it doesn't matter 'cause you can find her, can't you, Grim ol' pal?"
Grim blinked.
"Mandy's gone?"
"Yep!" Billy exclaimed. "But don't worry because you can find her, right Grim?"
Grim burst into a bout of deep, echoing, fiendish laughter, holding his scythe aloft in ultimate glee, hellish fire crackling in his eye sockets and his cloak flowing like the essence of darkness. Billy stared at Grim, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
"So that's a 'yes', right?"
"Are you kidding me, you stupid boy!" Grim cried triumphantly. "Of course I'm not going to go looking for Mandy; now I'm finally rid of dat heartless, overbearing demon child! I can finally do whatever I want and she's not here to tell me not to! So long I've been waiting for dis moment! YES!"
Laughing gleefully, he swung in scythe in rhythmic circles, rotating his bony hips in time, in some kind of dark victory dance.
"C'mon, Billy! We don't need that psychotic little tyrant to have fun! We don't need to go look for her; she's long gone anyways."
Billy just stared blankly up at Grim, who floated down to land beside the child, his face practically glowing with ecstasy.
"You see, dese ribbons are not any ordinary ribbons," Grim said, gesturing around him. "They come from…." Grim's face lit with a sinister smile. "…another dimension!"
"Everything in that trunk is from another dimension." Billy said sullenly, pouty and unimpressed. Grim stared at the boy for a second, for the level of intelligence of his statement had been surprisingly high, but then the reaper cleared his throat and continued with his story.
"You see, long ago in another plane of existence called the Plane of Perpetual Midnight, dere was a great and revered wizard named….Florence, or something stupid like dat.(don't ask me to explain the actions of mortals…) Anyways, Florence was known for being the only wizard to perform a perfect Life-Stream charm, the magical spell dat can supposedly breathe life into the dead. I hate the ting; takes away from me job! Florence used the charm to bring all of his stupid dead friends and relatives to life, and eventually his actions threw the functioning of the Underworld into complete chaos. Florence was brought before the Underworld Court and found guilty of upsetting the nature of the dead and the living; he was sentenced to lose all of his magical abilities. But just before he was taken away, Florence shot a Life-Stream spell at a woman in the jury, and it struck the large ribbons dat she wore in her hair, bringing dem to life. But, since the spell had been used on a nonliving object instead of a dead body, the magic mutated horribly, causing the living ribbons to multiply and seek to suck the life energy out of every sentient being unfortunate enough cross dere path. Luckily, I was in the Court dat day, and I used me scythe to trap the ribbons in a tiny little metal cube, where dey would cause no harm, and I locked the cube in me trunk. However, if the cube was to be touched by a mortal, the ribbons would be unleashed back into the world, where dey would multiply and feed off of the life energy of every human being. So, now that you've released dem, Mandy's probably worse den dead, the life energy sucked clear out of her! The ribbons probably mistook you for a chair or someting because you're about as smart as one!"
Billy stared blankly at Grim, blinking stupidly, as the reaper burst into fanatical laughter once again.
"So, Billy, do you want to go play on the swings?" he asked excitedly, brimming over with glee.
"I wouldn't, if I were you, bonehead."
Grim gasped and whirled around; a delighted smile burst onto Billy's tearstained face.
"Mandy!" he cried, jumping up and down with bliss. "You're alive!"
"Not for long, according to bonehead's amusing little story." She said flatly. "Why is there always something stupid coming from another dimension and ruining my life?" Grim could not understand how the little girl could still be alive; she was tangled in a corner, her body wrapped in an unbreakable hold, the slithering ribbons circling her like hungry anacondas. Her left arm was strapped to the wall and the other was bound behind her back, her legs dangling helplessly, ribbons encircling around her ankles and crawling up her shins. All of the ribbons in the room were slowly inching towards her, a bloodthirsty, advancing mass. Her face was lined with stress, but her coal black eyes remained glaring and cold, her skin white as a sheet.
"Get…these…off…of…me." She hissed through gritted teeth, as a neon green ribbon slithered from the wall and wound itself around her throat, another red one crawling into her damp hair. "Now."
That last word hissed out her mouth along with the menacing Devil voice, and this was enough to convince anyone. Billy, despite his fear of the ribbons, crept over to the corner were Mandy struggled fruitlessly, and he began to tear at the many rainbow cords that bound her, cringing. But as hard as he pulled, he could not loosen the bonds; instead, one of the ribbons caught his wrist and sent an electric shock rippling through his body. He screamed and pulled his fingers away, lightheadedness fogging his mind. He stumbled dizzily for a second, but he felt Grim's bony fingers closing on his shoulder, steadying him before he could fall.
"You see, stupid? Dose ribbons are sucking out your life energy, just like dey are doing to Mandy. It'll only be a matter of minutes now, and den she'll be gone forever."
He burst back into fiendish laugher, which was instantly silenced by a single, icy glare from Mandy's flashing, deathly black eyes.
"Are you going to stand there like a useless sack of bones or help me, you pathetic waste?"
"Fine, fine; just give me a second, you little psychopath."
Irritated, Grim held his scythe aloft, and an intensifying electric whining filled the air as the blade began to glow with supernatural energy, shining brighter and brighter.
"Get out of the way, you stupid child!" he ordered in an irritated fashion, and Billy backed away, his eyes wide.
The reaper gave his scythe a flick and a bolt of pure, cold, undead energy shot with a sharp snap from the curved blade, striking the mass of ribbons with an ear-shattering boom; Mandy squeezed her eyes shut as she was enveloped in the blinding, violet light. When the brightness had faded, she opened her eyes to find the ribbons completely intact, in fact, slithering even faster than before, coiling around her body and constricting, sending an electric shock tingling through her, weakening her. She slumped over sideways, dizzily. Grim stood there next to Billy, his face blank with horror. He was clutching his scythe in his bony fingers, the blade of the supernatural weapon completely melted away, the empty handle sizzling. The bolt had merely glanced off of the satin surfaces of the ribbons and had reflected back at the scythe, scoring a direct hit and burning the blade away. Grim let out a high pitched scream of dismay, his fingers tightening desperately on the handle of his destroyed weapon.
"Jodie!" He screeched, his voice high and dry. "Oh no, what have I done! Now I've lost you, Jodie, oh how could I!"
He clutched the handle to his bony chest, sobbing in despair.
"You…idiot." Mandy hissed weakly, straining to hold her head up as a thin yellow ribbon snaked its way around her waist, feeding off of her mortal life energy, which flowed out through her skin in a thin stream of glowing white light. "Why didn't you just…just trap the ribbons back in that stupid cube thing…"
"I couldn't!" Grim cried, sniffling and cradling the empty handle of his scythe. "When Billy released the ribbons, the cube was destroyed! And now I've lost Jodie!"
"Get…a…get grip, Grim," Mandy whispered through gritted teeth, cutting off his cries of distress. "You can just…get it fixed."
"But I need it now!"
"Th…think of something else."
"Grim, Grim, Grim!" Billy cried, jumping up and down. "Can I help, can I help, can I help?"
"Of course not, idiot boy! You'll only make tings worse! You're the one who unleashed the ribbons in the first place!"
"Hurry…." Mandy breathed softly, her eyes closing as the green ribbon around her throat began to constrict, cutting off her air and drawing out more of her life energy in a sinister glow of white. Billy squeaked in horror and seized the ribbon in his hands, pulling with all of his might, summoning every ounce of strength in his body, and yet still weakening with every bolt the ribbons sent rocketing into his arms, feeding off of his own energy as well as Mandy's.
"Move aside, you fool…"
Grim finally dropped the useless handle of his scythe and shoved Billy out of the way, gripping the same green ribbon and pulling. The ribbons attempted to penetrate Grim's bones with their greedy, energy sucking bolts, but these leech rays had no effect on the undead. Grimacing from the effort, Grim finally pried the green ribbon loose, tearing it from Mandy's throat and tossing it to the other side of the room, where it flopped limply onto the carpet and lay still. Billy cheered and clapped his hands, bouncing up and down.
"See, I knows you could do it, Grim!"
"It's no good, boy! Did you see how long it took me to pry a single ribbon loose?"
Billy blinked.
"Well, tink of long it will take me to remove all dose!" Grim pointed a bony finger at the writhing mass of ribbons binding Mandy. "And the number is constantly growing as more of dem latch onto her!"
The ribbons from the rest of the room were slowly advancing on her limp, faintly wriggling form, wrapping themselves around her, feeding off of her. Her body gave a faint shudder and a moan escaped her mouth; a large purple ribbon around her thigh squeezed her flesh, drawing out yet more of her dwindling life energy.
Billy sniffed, tears filling his eyes.
"What'll we do, Grim? What'll we do?"
"Hold on, boy, I've got one more idea…"
Grim dug into the pocket of his cloak and withdrew a small, ornately carved whistle, holding it up to his mouth and blowing; a shrill whistle split the air and Billy covered his ears.
"What the heck was that thing?" Billy babbled as Grim slid the whistle back into his pocket. "Was that your dog whistle?"
"Of course not, you idiot. Cerberus never listens to me anymore anyway. Dis is my Irwin whistle."
"Irwin….whistle?" Mandy gasped weakly; Grim was surprised to that the girl was still conscious.
"I know it's lame and cheesy and totally invented by the author as a last ditch effort, but I had no choice, child." Grim replied, shrugging. "Hopefully Irwin'll be able to do someting stupid and help or someting."
Mandy's eyes narrowed even further and she shuddered, but this time it wasn't because of the ribbons.
"J...just let the stupid r...ribbons…eat me…I don't care; I j…just don't…"
But it was too late.
She heard the front door slam open and she groaned, weakly flopping sideways. Into the ribbon infested room strode a familiar chocolate skinned boy, with a plump, round body and wearing round, black glasses, whistling to himself.
"Hi, Irwin!" Billy cried happily, waving to his friend.
"Hey, Billy; do you wanna play Dinobonoids or someth…"
Irwin caught a glance of the state of the room and he shrieked in terror, clutching himself.
"Ohmigosh; I think I just wet myself, yo…"
"Irwin! Hey, Irwin!" Grim called to the boy, cupping his hands around his mouth. "I called you here because we have a real emergency! It seems that Billy accidentally released dese life consuming ribbons on the world, and the ribbons have got Mandy!"
"M..Mandy…?" Irwin said softly, still shaking from initial shock. He looked to where Grim was pointing and spotted her, bound helplessly, by an uncountable number of slithering ribbons. He gasped as if someone had just committed the crime of the century. "MANDY! Oh no; not you, my precious flower, yo! I swear on the stars above that I will rescue you, woman, and finally win your heart!"
Irwin thumped his fist to his chest and then began to roll up his sleeves, his face determined. Mandy's face was flat, shadowed with pure, simmering malice.
"I hate you, Grim." She hissed under her breath, and the reaper chuckled evilly.
"I'm coming, my love!" Irwin cried as he broke into a run, charging straight for the small, bound girl, determination flashing in his eyes. Mandy glared at him with immeasurable hatred. Grim smiled, amused by Mandy's annoyance. Billy held his breath, his eyes wide. If Irwin could not save her, then no one could; even Billy knew that. Irwin threw himself at the mass of ribbons, yelling out a ferocious battle cry, his fists outstretched; just as he was about to reach his target, a small white bolt shot from a tiny blue ribbon around Mandy's pinky finger and struck him straight in the chest.
"No….MANDY!"
There was a loud, electric zapping sound and Irwin vanished in a burst of greenish-white light, his glasses clinking to the ground, the lenses shattering. Billy, Mandy and Grim stared at the place where the boy had just been standing, dumbstruck.
"Well, what do you know? I believe the little fool's been zapped into another dimension!" Grim exclaimed, slightly amused. "Now he's probably being eaten by a giant mutant chicken or someting!"
Billy squeaked in horror, and Mandy gave a great, shuddering gasp, falling completely limp against her multicolored bonds, her eyes closed.
"MANDY!" Billy shrieked, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
"Oh my…." Grim said, defeated, the amusement sliding off of his face.
"Grim; we've gotta do something!" Billy moaned frantically, seizing the folds of Grim's cloak and tugging them desperately. "Grim; Mandy's gonna die!"
Grim looked down at the small, sniffling boy, and Billy stared back at him. Somehow, something in their gazes connected, and Grim let out a tremendous sigh.
"Fine…." The reaper muttered. "You can help…"
Billy's face lit up; he suddenly plunged his hand into the pocket of Grim's robe and fished around, ignoring the reaper's cries of protest. His fingers closed on something and he swiftly pulled it out of Grim's pocket; it was a small and flat, like a business card, except in the middle, there was a small, black button. His face screwed up in concentration, Billy slowly extended his pointer finger and pressed the button. Swirling green light enveloped the two children and the reaper; pulling, sucking…they felt themselves floating in nothingness, bathed in the rippling green light, soaring through space…
The light suddenly faded and the three friends fell through blackness, landing heavily on a flat, foreign surface. Grim opened his dark eye sockets and found that they were on some kind of moon; the rocky, mountainous, desolate landscape stretched as far as he could see. Above them, the night sky stretched out like a deep, vast blanket, scattered by twinkling, diamond-like stars. The velvety darkness pressed down on them, wrapped itself around them; somehow, it was comforting. Grim looked beside him and saw Billy, the black card lying in the dirt next to him, Mandy's limp form draped across his lap. He had caught hold of her shoulders and was shaking her frantically, attempting to wake her up.
"Oh, Maaaaandy…Mandy!" he hissed in her ear. She didn't respond; the only sound that could be heard was her soft breathing, in and out. Frustrated, Billy frowned and leaned close to her face.
"Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy! Mandy!"
She shuddered and her eyes fluttered open; they widened like galaxies when she spotted Billy's cheerful face, looming above hers. The next thing Billy knew, he was crashing backwards onto the ground, reeling from Mandy's ferocious punch to the chin. Shivering, the starlight reflected in her eyes, Mandy sat up and noticed Grim, sitting there beside her.
"Grim. Where the heck are we?" Mandy demanded, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth.
"In another dimension, child." Grim replied, seemingly awestruck. "Billy remembered about me emergency card dat I use when me scythe gets busted; it allows me to travel inter-dimensionally without me own magic."
"Hmmm. Are we staying here, then?"
"Might as well, now dat Billy's unleashed unstoppable terror on the Earth. It'll just end up getting destroyed anyway."
"Fine then. But I expect the quality of this place to quadruple; it's nowhere near meeting the expectations for my inhabitance."
Grim grumbled and shifted his gaze towards Billy, who was giggling and chasing some kind of flying insect.
"I like it here, Grim; can we stay? Pleeeeeeeease?" the boy whined, adjusting his red baseball cap.
"Mandy hates it." Grim replied sullenly, crossing his arms.
"Well, what did you expect, bonehead? I hate everything."
Billy looked pleadingly at the small, blonde girl, his eyes shining in the starlight and his lower lip quivering.
"Why do you hate it, Mandy?" he asked.
"The list is far too long and complex for your primitive brain to comprehend, but for starters, this moon is way too cold…"
Her sentence was cut off as her throat constricted in pure terror; Billy had sidled up next to her and wrapped his arms around her, his body warm against hers, a blissful grin shining on his face. For a moment, she could just sit and stare, locked in Billy's embrace, her eyes huge in her face; but then she growled and wriggled her arm out of Billy's grip, smacking him brutally. He cried out and she untangled herself from his loosened hold, glaring coldly as she paced over to Grim's opposite side and sat down, her arms crossed tightly.
"I expect you to take us to some other dimension, Grim, now."
"Fine." The reaper grumbled, picking up the emergency card from the ground. "But let's at least wait until after the Earth explodes, because I want to watch."
Mandy raised an eyebrow and Grim pointed upward. She followed his finger with her eyes and spotted a small blue planet, glistening in the distance.
"I thought we were in a different dimension."
"Shush, shush, shush; don't pound me with reality now, girl, it's about to happen!"
Mandy's ears caught a faint, distant rumbling sound, which instantly began to intensify both in volume and in magnitude. Her eyes widened as she watched the small stones bounce on the ground and the dry, white dust swirl thought the thin air, the entire moon shaking. Billy and Grim counted down excitedly, in unison.
"Three…two….one…ZERO!"
On zero, the sky itself seemed to split. The tiny earth burst in a flash of multicolored light, its shattered remains flying into the yawning black nothingness. The rainbow shock wave rippled the very substance of reality, tearing across space like a tsunami, sending all matter shaking and quivering, distorting the space-time continuum; Billy and Grim screamed in delight as they felt all the atoms in their bodies quiver, the shock wave ripping through the tiny, dry little moon. Mandy squinted into the brightness and watched as numerous, shimmering, multicolored streaks stretched across space, blossoming from the dark, empty hole that was once planet Earth.
"I hate ribbons." She murmured ferociously, through gritted teeth, over the delighted laughter of Billy and the reaper.
-End-