Beyond Grim And Evil Installment 1: So It Begins
Mean And Evil (Morning)
One is mean, one is evil, which is which?
Mandy kicked open the door to the principal's office and looked right at the principal's seat. There sat the very person she suspected, feet on the desk and filing away at her nails. "Eris!" Mandy exclaimed, walking straight up to the desk.
Eris blinked then grinned at Mandy. About time one of Grim's stooges got here. She'd known it would happen sooner than later. She'd just expected it would take a while longer. She sat up, saying, "Oh Mandy darling, hello. What can I do for you, dearest?"
"Can it, chaos. What do you want here?" Mandy demanded.
"Mandy, what's going on?" a new voice demanded. Mandy turned, surprised. Eris looked up, curious.
GAoBaM
On seeing the figure, Mandy's eyes widened in confusion. "Miss Butterbean?" she questioned, taken aback by the appearance. Why would her teacher be following her? Since when did Butterbean even care?
Just then Eleanor noticed the woman sitting at the desk. Her eyes widened and her arms unfolded as she gasped and stared, shocked. She recognized this figure. Her image was plastered everywhere, from pictures and decorations she'd seen in her travels around Greece, to museums and mythology books! "Eris," she said in awed disbelief; the goddess of chaos, strife, and discord. Unbelievable… Just then her mouth closed as her eyes lit in realization. She went back to normal, simply raising an eyebrow while summing the goddess up. Come to think of it, she really wasn't overly surprised now that it had registered. Things always happened around here that seemed impossible. Still, this was turning into one weird day. Even for Endsville.
"Oh, is this your teacher? How lovely," Eris said, disdainfully looking at the mortal woman.
"Hey!" Eleanor shot, catching the disdain.
Eris smirked, ignoring the remark. "Oh well, the more the merrier," she sang.
"The more for what?" Eleanor demanded, coming up next to Mandy and frowning suspiciously at the goddess.
"Oh, you know. Just a little challenge in the mythical land of Asgard. Boredom and all that," Eris replied.
The two gasped. "Asgard!" Eleanor demanded. "The Asgard?"
"The Asgard," Mandy confirmed for Eris, frowning at the goddess.
"How is that even possible? Asgard was the Norse afterlife, the afterlife which warriors fought to gain after they were killed," she said. She believed that was right... Yes, it was. Valhalla was the residence of the gods in Asgard, she believed. Or something similar. "We'd have to be dead to even enter there," Butterbean finished.
"Not quite," Mandy stated. "She's a goddess, Miss Butterbean, she can take us whenever and wherever she wants to. All she has to do is jump through the hoops, and if Eris is good at one thing, it's jumping through hoops without consequence," Mandy explained, now tensed and ready for a fight.
"Clever little girl, aren't you?" Eris tauntingly questioned. "I knew that eventually one of Grim's little brats would come and try to stop me, so I said to myself, why not? If I can't enjoy my handiwork, I'll grab one of them and have a little fight. I see fate's made the choice for me." Eris continued, eyes icy.
"Bring it on, Eris," Mandy stated, punching her fist into her hand. Eris rolled her eyes. Looking at Miss Butterbean, who looked shocked, the goddess added, "Why not? I'll take you too."
"Wait, what!" Miss Butterbean exclaimed. Mandy backed away, but with a snap of her fingers, Eris had transported all three girls out of there!
GAoBaM
The next thing Mandy and Eleanor knew, they were standing outside of a fortress, arrows flying in the distance, rocks from catapults soaring at them. Behind them there was a crossbow, in front two guard towers and an open gate they didn't want to go beyond. "Is this really…?" Eleanor began.
"Asgard," Mandy growled. "I remember this place."
"You've been here!?" Butterbean demanded.
"Billy got himself into trouble," Mandy simply replied, shrugging nonchalantly.
"By the gods…" Eleanor said, gaping around.
"Why aren't you cowering like others would?" Mandy demanded, suspicious of her teacher's reaction.
Eleanor frowned at her pupil. "Because, you little brat, there's nothing to cower from. Besides, I've been prepared…" she answered. She trailed off a moment then finished, "by someone... This is just so… so amazing."
Mandy raised an eyebrow, but before she could probe into her teacher's meaning, Eris excitedly said, "Oh aren't they all a lively bunch!"
Miss Butterbean twitched at the pun. Mandy just blinked. Eris turned to them. Her eyes were hard, scheming, more so than Mandy had seen for a long time, and they knew they had better get ready. Eris gazed at the Apple Of Discord, saying, "You'll never know what hit you."
Mandy scoffed then replied, "I never lose."
Miss Butterbean blinked. Her expression turned bored. "Of course. I see I won't get any enjoyment out of this visit with you two around. Let's just get this over with so I can get back to my nap," she said. You'd think she'd be completely unprepared and unaware, but honestly she was too annoyed and ticked off to be bothered being overwhelmed. She wanted to get back to school, get this day over with, then go to bed. This was a major inconvenience to her schedule.
GAoBaM
The trio lunged at each other. Miss Butterbean was first to lose her footing, but quickly she rolled backwards and through a wisp that looked like it did something important. She then attacked Mandy, knocking the girl down with four quick hits. Mandy sat up, surprised that her teacher had actually managed to knock her down. She had no idea Miss Butterbean could fight.
Mandy leapt up to fight back, but Eris was at the girl in an instant. Mandy had no choice but to change targets immediately, going after the goddess. Miss Butterbean quickly leapt into that attack, helping her student against a deity. To say the teacher felt edgy going against a goddess would be an understatement. She'd wasn't a big reader, let alone a reader of mythology, but she'd read enough of them to know it never went well when mortals defied their gods. However, she was determined to end this quickly.
Eris was shocked. She was about to lose this little skirmish with two mortals! She knew she was out of practice, but not this much! At the rate she was going, she'd never get the chance to prove Grim wrong. It was annoying how much that bugged her. She dodged an attack by Miss Butterbean and pulled back. Mandy, though, took the opportunity to pounce. With a battle cry she decked the goddess, knocking her off her feet!
"Get up again and I'll knock out the rest of your teeth," Mandy threatened, as Eris rubbed her sore jaw.
Eleanor made the best of her student's distraction. Before Mandy could turn, the teacher had the girl at her mercy. Quickly Mandy fought back viciously. She swung, but Eleanor rolled then attacked as she came up, sending Mandy flying! Mandy cried out in pain then slowly began to rise, scowling viciously at the teacher. "Learn some respect you little brat," Butterbean stated.
Eris, who had indeed rose up again, silently crouched behind Miss Butterbean. The moment the woman's back was turned, Eris pounced! Butterbean screamed in surprise as the attack came. Quickly she turned to try and fight it. "Here's an apple for you teacher," Eris taunted as she fought with the other woman, who desperately tried to fight back. Suddenly Eleanor gave an exclamation of surprise as she tripped over a piece of wood from one of the watchtowers. Wait, wood from the watchtower? That couldn't be good. She looked up with a gasp. A boulder had hit it. It was coming down, and taking the other with it! She screamed again and ran out of the way of the falling debris.
GAoBaM
Eris prepared to go after the teacher, but suddenly Mandy attacked Eris from behind. "Take this!" Mandy shot.
"What the…" Eris began. Quickly she caught up to who it was. "You're getting on my nerves," Eris stated as Mandy pulled her hair and hit. Quickly the goddess flipped Mandy over her shoulders and attacked with a heavy attack! Miss Butterbean ran at the two as well. She leapt into the dog pile, coming down hard! Eris cried out in pain. She coughed, winded, and scrambled away from the other two as quickly as she could. Eleanor grabbed Mandy from the ground by the arm and threw her into a wall! Oh if she were at school she would so be fired, but on the battle field all was fair. She was defending herself, after all.
Mandy hit the wall hard and fell back from it with a groan of pain. Viciously her eyes lit up, and she set her sights on her teacher. She was beginning to lose! She couldn't lose! Losing wasn't allowed. Then again, she'd lost before, like at the dog show. She scowled at the memories. Oh how she hated losing. She never lost. She refused to let it happen again, but on the other hand, did she really want to play into Eris' little game anyway?
If she bit, technically Eris had won the mental game, regardless of whether or not the goddess came in last place. The fact was, they'd still played and tried their hardest. Eris was attacking Butterbean now. Mandy quickly decided to let things happen as they happened. Maybe she could tone it down a little and hope good enough was victory material. As much as she forced the thought away, though, something told her it wouldn't be. She ran into the fray and attacked heavily, sending both Eris and Eleanor flying. She ran at Eleanor, despite Eris being closer.
Miss Butterbean hardly had time to gasp and try to defend when Mandy was on her. Eleanor hit the ground with a cry of pain, and Mandy leapt at her. Eleanor gasped in alarm and rolled, trying to get out of the way. Mandy came down on the ground hard and viciously watched after her two enemies. "Good pounding dear teacher, good pounding to you," Mandy sang towards Eleanor.
Eleanor recovered from the close encounter then scowled. Eris suddenly ran at Mandy before the child could rush her first. Butterbean watched as Mandy and Eris went at it. She couldn't take this much longer. She was deciding very quickly to back out and let them settle it. In fact… She looked to the cross bow. She ran at it and leapt in. Mandy was beneath Eris at the moment. The teacher took aim and fired right at the goddess. Eris heard the twang and looked up with a gasp, pausing in her attack. Mandy looked back and saw the arrow coming at them. Her eyes widened. All at once Eris was torn off of her.
GAoBaM
Mandy sat up quickly looking in disbelief. The arrow had struck Eris directly! Eris screamed in pain as the missile hit her, pinning her against the wooden walls through the stomach! She gasped in agony and seized the spear, pulling it out. She fell with a groan and growled, holding the injury. "No way…" Mandy said in shock.
"And that, children, is how you deal with chaos and panic," Eleanor taunted with a smirk. Mandy frowned once more, now over the surprise of seeing such a human like figure pull an arrow from what would have been a mortal wound to any mortal, and go like it never happened. Then again Eris wasn't human, she had to remind herself. Mandy scowled back at her teacher. Eleanor's smile fell as Mandy ran at her, but Eris was back in the game now. Before Mandy reached Eleanor, Eris tackled Mandy, and the girl fell.
"Now I am the alpha female," Eris crooned, making monkey sounds. Eris turned to Eleanor and added, smile falling to frown, "Besides, Mandy, this moral is mine."
Miss Butterbean smirked at the challenge and jumped from the cross bow, collecting more of those mojo balls, as she'd heard them called before. She didn't recall where, but she knew what they were capable of. Wait, Billy was the one who had ranted about Moe and Joe making him more powerful and filling others with rage. She hadn't really been paying attention, but she remembered enough. This was her chance to end this. She was almost filled to the brim with their power already. She liked these mojo wisps. Grabbing the last one, she initiated the so-called mojo meltdown-as Billy and Irwin dubbed it-as soon as Mandy and Eris ran at her. They slid to a stop with gasps. Instinctively Eris seized Mandy and pulled the child behind her. Mandy blinked blankly at the shielding action.
The teacher pulled out a book and began to lecture. The two blinked. In seconds, though, they were getting tired. They fought desperately against the power pulling them down, but they couldn't win. Soon enough they fell asleep. Taking the opportunity, Eleanor took out a clock time bomb and threw it at them. Eris, though, had revived enough to spot it. She cried out in alarm and pounced backwards, taking down Mandy as well and covering the child with her body, having forgotten the girl was in the way of her escape.
GAoBaM
Eleanor smirked as the bomb blew, shrouding the other two in smoke. So much for the battle. She'd won, she had to. They couldn't come back from that. Yeah, sure. They came back all right, and they were furious. Eleanor's victory smile fell, and she screamed as they went at her. She tried to run and just barely avoided a boulder falling onto her. It hit Mandy instead. Mandy cried out in pain and tried to struggle from beneath it. Eris leapt over the rock. Eleanor slid to a stop, however, when a Viking appeared and sliced at her! She screamed and ducked. She attacked swiftly, finishing it off in seconds. Eris attacked, but the teacher had moved. Eris hit another Viking instead. Mandy, meanwhile, had finally escaped from the boulder just as a large Viking brought his sword down at her! Mandy rolled and attacked it. Butterbean needed to finish these two soon, though, before they decided to team up.
All at once Eleanor ran at them and powerfully attacked. They both fell to the ground hard. Mandy, though, was the only one who didn't stand up immediately, and when she did looked dazed. Eris had recovered a second earlier. Mandy tried to shake out of the fog, but her head was pounding. Curse Eris for being so fast. She could have been the one to revive first! Even through her haze she saw the attack coming, and Mandy knew she was about to lose. Strange, then, that she didn't really care. Usually she would. Then again, she remembered the mental games Eris liked to play. She lost, it would seem to say she hadn't been trying. Eris knew her well, after all. If she wasn't trying, it meant she hadn't allowed herself to be engulfed in Eris' game, which meant that in a way she'd won, right? She could sense that Eris wasn't too impressed, almost as if the goddess knew Mandy's game. Ugh, she couldn't think when her head was pounding. Fine. She would take this loss.
Eleanor attacked and quickly finished off her student. Eris gaped after Mandy then scowled. At least she'd out lasted the girl, so there, Grimmy. She looked over at Miss Butterbean. Now, what about Eleanor? She was losing steam quickly. She didn't know if she could hold out. If the Reaper heard she'd lost to a mortal who'd probably never fought in her life, though, she may never live it down. Then again, who knew with Grim? It wasn't like he was one to talk. He was a slave to two children who'd beat him in a limbo game by cheating. It was his own mistake not to ensure there would be no loopholes.
Miss Butterbean suddenly turned to Eris. Eris attacked, but Eleanor managed to avoid it and attack again. Soon enough Eris backed away from the mortal. She was not in the mood to deal with this. Or was it just that she had just lost her confidence? At the moment, mind you, not permanently, right? Right. She could have easily beaten them both if she had been trying. On the off chance she might lose, however, she wouldn't let herself be humiliated like this. Miss Butterbean ran at her. She scowled then snapped her fingers, disappearing.
Miss Butterbean slid to a halt blinking blankly at where the goddess had been. Soon enough she smirked victoriously and boasted, "And that, class, concludes the lesson of the day."
All at once she was transported back to the school. She gasped as she found herself in the office. Eris wasn't around anymore, but Miss Butterbean spotted Mandy there, waiting. On spotting her teacher, Mandy paused, looking slightly intrigued. After a moment she said, "So, you can fight. At least you're good for something." The girl then walked out of the office.
Mandy was used to random battles starting, Eleanor supposed, but she sure as heck wasn't. She needed a nap. Better yet, a vacation. At least the school wasn't plunged into utter chaos anymore. The goddess had probably gone away sulking about how her fun had been ruined. Eleanor yawned, then walked towards the teacher's lounge. She couldn't wait to get home. Maybe, just maybe, the shadowy figure would appear again.
GAoBaM
Eris looked on, furious. She'd just been upstaged by a mortal! How dare she overstep her place and defy then try and defeat a goddess! She had a complaint. She smirked cruelly. True, she hadn't wanted you know who to hear of the loss, but there was the Billy and Mandy thing. Besides, who better to complain to than Death? Besides, she had some gloating to do. She'd outlasted Mandy, after all. That was more than he could say. Fury in her eyes once more, she snapped her fingers. She'd get there soon enough. She just had to tie up a few things.
GAoBaM
"Hey Mandy, where ya been?" Billy asked.
"Fighting," Mandy simply replied.
Irwin and Billy looked at each other, then back. "Fighting who?" Irwin asked.
"Eris and Miss Butterbean," Mandy replied.
"Aw, and you didn't bring us?" Billy asked.
Mandy couldn't help but sardonically smirk. Her idiot boy probably didn't even know how violent he really sounded. Billy wasn't a force to be reckoned with if enraged. Neither was Irwin, now that she looked back on the mojo incident, and Underfist. What a melee that had been. If nothing else, she could pick her friends. "Come on morons, let's get to class," Mandy said.
"Um, just a thought Mandy, but am I the only one who thinks something evil's lurking on the horizon, yo?" Irwin questioned.
"What makes you ask that?" she asked.
"I don't know, yo. It's like this really creepy feeling I'm getting. Like something's about to happen," Irwin replied.
"What could possibly go wrong? We haven't done anything," Billy said.
"You haven't gone into Grim's trunk?" Mandy suspiciously asked.
Billy answered, "Noooo."
"Are you sure?" Mandy pressed.
Billy thought back, then replied, nodding vigorously, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!"
"It ain't the trunk Mandy. It's like old enemies plan to arise from the darkest depths of our memories and come back for revenge against us, taking out the world in the process and enslaving humankind!" Irwin stated.
"Big deal. It hasn't happened yet," Billy scoffed, picking his nose.
"Don't question me man! I'm a hybrid!" Irwin shot. "Something's gonna go way wrong, yo. It may not be right away, but somehow I think this is gonna end up being another mega brawl that will slowly escalate over several different stages, lasting longer than we know. We can't trust anyone, yo, not even our friends! Who knows what Eris has planned, or even the Grim Reaper. Something's off balance guys, really off balance."
"You could be right Irwin. We'll just have to be watchful," Mandy stated.
"If kicken' butt is wrong, I don't wanna be right," Billy stated.
"You know big nose, there are times I don't half mind being your best friend," Mandy remarked nonchalantly.
"Aw, you're the best Mandy!" Billy said, hugging her. She twitched, scowled, then decked him across the hall. Irwin cringed.
"Don't do that again," she warned. Billy laughed stupidly then ran back to them.
"So, we goin' back to Billy's for lunch still?" Irwin questioned.
"Might as well," Mandy replied with an uncaring shrug. "We'll meet later, and don't be late, either of you."
"Oh boy, lunch!" Billy exclaimed, as they reached Mandy's locker and Mandy unlocked it to get her supplies.