The time has come for the final chapter…

Once again, this was meant to be part of chapter 10, but it didn't work out the way I had planned. This is the actual last chapter; Have fun.

A Grim Apprenticeship

Chapter 11: The Verdict

Grim left behind a trail of green as he left the stand and trudged back to his own table.

"You really proved your innocence with that display." Mandy said insultingly. She had some cuts and bruises from her fight with the guards, but she had calmed down considerably since then.

"Shut your face." Grim said with a scowl, not even bothering to wipe himself off anymore.

Billy stared at Grim and licked his lips, "I can help you get that slime off, Grim!" He suggested.

"Get away from me!" Grim shouted as he slapped Billy across the head.

"Billy, it is the defense's turn to show its witnesses." The judge ordered.

Billy tried to looked professional as he approached the stand. He quickly adjusted the clothes-pins that kept his shoe laces tied together and tucked his shirt into his pants.

"As my first witness I call Mandy to the stand." He said, trying to sound as serious as he could.

"I already told you, I'm not going up there." Mandy answered sharply.

Billy knelt down on the floor as if he were praying, "Ya gotta help me out, Mandy."

"I'd rather sit here and make short cynical comments while you and Grim humiliate yourselves." She replied.

"PUH-LEEEASE, MANDY!" Billy cried.

Mandy looked in the opposite direction and ignored him as if he didn't exist.

"You will be held in contempt of court if you don't come to the stand!" The judge warned.

"Wow, contempt of court." Mandy said in mock fear. "I'm so afraid…"

She turned her head to the side to see a spearhead pointed directly in front of her nose (or where her nose would have been if she had one). The opposite end of the spear was held by a minotaur guard, who grunted something inaudible as he motioned for her to move up to the stand.

Mandy muttered something back to the minotaur, but it was also inaudible. She reluctantly allowed the guard to escort her to stand, which she climbed up on (with some more 'help' from the guard). She crossed her arms across her chest after she had seated herself, a cold and angry stare on her face.

"What was your name again, miss?" Billy asked as he approached the witness.

Mandy gave a low growl, but she didn't answer.

Billy didn't seem to mind, "Young lady, how would you describe your relationship with the 'offendant'?"

"What is there to describe?" She replied in monotone voice. "He's a good-for-nothing coward who probably couldn't be a child molester even if he tried."

"And how would you feel if Grim were ever taken away?"

"I wouldn't really care."

Hoss interrupted Billy's questioning by punting him into the wall as he ran up to the witness stand.

"I'd like to cross-examine fish woman, if you don't mind." He asked as he looked at Billy, who was flattened against the plaster wall. Judge Spleen had no objection to this.

Hoss pulled out a toy doll and shoved it in front of Mandy, "Do you know what this is?"

"It looks like a plastic doll." She answered, becoming more annoyed with Hoss every time he spoke, especially after he called her 'fish woman'.

"Actually it's made of rubber, but that's not the point." Hoss corrected. "The point of is, I want you to use this baby doll to show me where Grim touched you."

"Excuse me?" Mandy shot back.

"Was it here, or here?" Hoss wondered as he pointed to the doll's hand, then to it's head. "Or perhaps, was it down here?" He placed his finger on the doll's belly button and slowly moved it down to, um…that region between a female's legs. I forget what its called.

Mandy smacked the doll out of Hoss' hand and left the stand, "I'm outta here." Meanwhile, Billy pulled his nose out of the wall and stumbled over to Grim.

The bailiff stepped forward to stop Mandy as she moved back to the defendant's table, but she glared at him and he quickly backed away.

"Your next witness, please…" Judge Spleen said quietly as he popped some migraine pills into his mouth.

Billy was already asleep; his head rested on the table and a puddle of drool was forming underneath his mouth.

"YOUR NEXT WITNESS, BILLY!" The judge hollered, though Billy continued to snore.

"Wake up!" Grim shouted as he shoved Billy onto to the floor in a splash of his own drool.

"MANDY, I DON'T THINK TYING YOUR BABY COUSIN TO A FIREWORK IS A VERY GOOD IDEA!" Billy exclaimed with a panicked expression the moment he woke up. "What's going on?" He asked in confusion after he realized his flashback was over.

"Billy, bring up your second witness…" The judge said in a unsteady voice. He would have screamed, but the pills he had taken were making him drowsy.

The big-nosed lawyer scurried to his feet and wiped the remaining drool off his mouth.

"My next witness is GRIM'S MEAN OL' DAD!" He shouted as he pointed to the door.

"Daddy?" Grim said weakly as the doors of the courtroom opened and his father was brought down the aisle.

"Where am I?" Grim's dad asked irately. "What did my idiot son do now?" He looked strikingly similar to Grim, except he didn't wear a robe and his age, which was in the tens of thousands, was starting to show.

"Old man Reaper." Billy addressed the elderly skeleton as he was brought to his seat. "Do you know why you're here?"

Grim's dad looked at the judge as he pointed a slim finger at Billy, "Who the hell is that freak of nature?"

Billy ignored the comment and asked his next question, "Do believe that your sweet and gentle son is even capable of something like child molestation?"

"My son has never been capable of doing anything." He began. "He's always been a failure."

Grim had his fingers imbedded in the table as he tried to hold back tears. Mandy said something under her breath about him being 'pathetic'.

"Though now that you mention it, my son probably is a child molester." He added after giving it some thought. "I hope he rots in prison."

Billy didn't ask anymore questions, instead he just stared at Grim's negligent father. Everyone else in the room did the same thing and there was silence for quite some time.

"Can I go now?" Grim's dad asked impatiently.

Judge Spleen had a delayed reaction to this request, "Ummmm, sure, Mr. Reaper. You can leave now."

"Finally." He said as he left the stand and went immediately towards the doors he had entered from.

"Bye, Daddy!" Grim shouted as he tried to force a smile. "I'll see you at Christmas, right?"

Grim's dad didn't answer as he passed right by his only son. He was grumbling something to himself the entire way to the door. Grim tried to keep his eyes from overflowing as he watched him leave the courtroom. After the doors slammed shut, Grim covered his face and began to sob.

"That was depressing." The judge said with a sigh. "Are you finished, Billy?"

"Not quite, talking pickle man." Billy replied. "I gots a surprise witness: some guy I found off the street!"

Everybody looked anxiously down the aisle as the final witness was brought up to the front. He was a strange looking character, with a smell that even the demons and creatures found repulsive. His mass of dark gray hair wrapped around his head to form an unkempt beard on his face and a grouping of large dreadlocks on the top of his head. His pot belly stuck out of the bottom of his shirt which, like the rest of clothing, hadn't been washed in years. His eyes had an irregular shape and were both different sizes, giving him a crazed look.

"I gotta stop drinking" He said to himself as he stood in front of the judge.

The man glanced around the room, stopping every once in a while if he saw something that looked particularly unusual. Grim wondered how somebody like this could possibly help his case.

"Crazy looking random guy whose name I don't know, do you know Grim personally?" Billy asked.

The man narrowed his eyes to get a better look at the defendant before he gave his answer, "That pasty guy over there without a nose? I thought he was in jail!"

For some reason, Billy thought this surprise witness was going to be more helpful. Since he wasn't, Billy wasn't sure what to do, so he tapped the ground with his foot before sticking a finger up his nose.

"This is just like that nightmare I'm always having, except with less naked people." The man said absentmindedly as he studied his new surroundings for a second time. He started to look paranoid when he noticed that everyone was looking back at him in stunned silence (this court case has a lot of awkward silences).

Grim began to smash his skull repeatedly against the table, while Mandy stared at the witness with a look of disgust.

"Get this guy out of my courtroom." The judge demanded. "I've seen enough of this nonsense."

"Hey, where are we going?" The witness asked as more bodyguards came to take him away. "Can we go to the IHOP? I'm really hungry all of a sudden."

Shortly after the man was dragged out of the courtroom, there was a flash of bright light coming from the opposite side of the door accompanied by a piercing scream. The body guards reentered the room, but Billy's surprise witness was no longer with them.

"I don't think we need to see anymore of this." The judge said before addressing the bailiff. "Please escort the jury to the back room so they can make their decision."

The twelve jurors all stood up, anxious to get out of their seats. They followed the bailiff towards the room where they would make their verdict, but one of the jurors stopped in front of the door and turned around.

"Hey, where's Fred Fredburger?" He wondered.

Judge Spleen pretended to look surprised, "You mean he's not here? Oh, he must have gotten stuck in traffic or had a bomb put in his mail box, that's too bad. I guess we'll just have to continue without him." He smiled uncontrollably at his own words (sorry Insane Guy of DOOM and captain deoxys :( ).

With the jury gone, all Grim could do was wait and hope that the jurors would have pity on him, though he quickly convinced himself that none of them would feel that way. He was going to lose the case, without a doubt.

"I can't go to jail, do you know what they'd do to me?" Grim didn't want to think about it, but it was impossible not to.

"Yeah, they'd mop the floor with you." Mandy replied unsympathetically.

"Don't worry, Grim!" Billy exclaimed as he tried to give him a comforting pat on the back. "We'll come visit you!"

"Speak for yourself." Mandy added with bitterness.

Half an hour had gone by when the bailiff opened the door of the jury room and stepped out, "It's a hung jury, your honor." He announced.

"They couldn't make a decision?" The judge asked in astonishment.

"No, I mean they all hung themselves." The bailiff explained. "They just couldn't take it anymore."

"I guess that means I have to give the verdict." The judge decided. The last thing he wanted was a mistrial.

Grim closed his eye sockets and waited for the sentence with dread.

The boredom in Judge Spleen's voice was gone as he prepared to end the trial, "I do not believe that it is appropriate for the Grim Reaper to live with these two little boys-"

He was interrupted by the bailiff, who whispered something into his ear.

"What? The blonde one is a girl?" He shouted after the bailiff finished speaking.

The judge stepped down from his desk to get a better look at Mandy, who obviously wasn't happy with the judge for making a mistake like that.

"Whoa, good luck with that, kid." He said in a low voice as he turned back to his chair. "Anyway, back to my verdict: I don't believe that the Grim Reaper should-"

The Judge paused for a moment to look back at Mandy.

"Seriously, is that a girl?" He blurted out, asking anybody in the courtroom who could give him an answer. "Because there is nothing feminine about that kid. And what's wrong with her friend? His nose is bigger than his entire body!"

The creatures in the crowd all looked at each other in puzzlement as the judge continued to babble. Hoss glanced down at his wristwatch, then stood up impatiently.

"Honestly though, those must be the ugliest kids I've every seen." Spleen continued. "I can only wonder how they'll ever get dates when they're older. It's a good thing they know each other, otherwise they'd die lonely."

Grim saw this as an opportunity to go reason with Hoss. He told Billy and Mandy that he had a plan and that they should both move slowly towards the exit and wait for him.

Billy nodded with a smile, but Mandy wasn't listening. She had been getting increasingly angry as Judge Spleen went on with his tirade and was approaching the judge's desk with a sharp pen in her right hand. Billy pulled her away with some difficulty and brought her down the aisle to the wooden doors, where Grim had told them to wait.

"Hoss, you have to end this." Grim begged as he approached the prosecutor. "You have to drop the charges against me!"

"I'd never let a sick freak like you escape justice." Hoss replied dramatically. "Unless….you have enough cash for a settlement." He added.

Grim didn't have any money, but he had the next best thing (assuming that his plan worked). He pulled out a folded piece of paper and dangled it in front of Hoss' face.

Hoss' eyes widened and he was little short of breath, "Is…is that what I think it is?"

Grim smiled for the first time in a while, "Yep, it's that photo you were looking for." He replied. Hoss had humiliated him throughout the entire case, but now Grim had him at his mercy.

"Give me that thing!" Hoss shouted as he tried to grab the paper.

"No, no, no." Grim said as he pulled the paper away from Hoss' outstretched hand. "First, we have to negotiate."

"What do you want?" Hoss groaned, though he already knew the answer to that question.

"I want you to drop all the charges against me, then I want you to stand in front of the entire court and say that I'm not, nor was I ever, a child molester." Grim smiled again as he finished his proposal.

"Whatever, just give me that picture!" Hoss roared as Grim stuffed it into his hand.

"Oh yeah, baby." Hoss whispered softly. "You're back with me now."

He began to unfold the paper as Grim backed up slowly towards Billy and Mandy, who were watching from the other end of the room.

"Wait a second…THIS IS A COUPON FOR MAYONNAISE!" Hoss bellowed.

Now it was Grim's turn to scream, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" He sprinted towards the door and pushed Billy, Mandy, and himself through it before the bodyguards could intervene.

The trio could hear Hoss' frantic footsteps behind them as they traveled down the dark tunnel. Grim realized that none of them could outrun the spectral exterminator, so he summoned for his scythe and quickly ripped a portal open.

Hoss let out a piercing battle cry as he lunged towards the portal, which vanished before he could reach it. His impact with the ground was enough to knock him unconscious, as well as knock a few teeth out.

Back in the courtroom, Judge Spleen's rant was over and he had just realized that neither the prosecutor nor the defendant were present.

"Where did they run off to?" He asked, relieved that the trial was finally over.

"Hoss went to get an old photo of him when he was younger." The bailiff replied.

"Hmmmm, I think he's going to have a hard time finding that." The judge said as he pulled out a small photograph. He looked at it, gave a small chuckle, then slipped it back into his robe.

It was early evening in Endsville; the town had recovered from the 'reaper incident' and business was as usual. At least it was until a giant portal appeared in the middle of the sidewalk and the Grim Reaper stepped out with two children.

Grim, Mandy and Billy all stood up and looked at each other. Everything was back to the way it used to be. They started to walk home, but neither one of them said anything. The suburbs of Endsville stretched out in front of them after they had gone a few blocks.

Billy and Mandy's houses were already visible when Grim broke the silence, "I get the part about you two becoming reapers while I'm sick, the part about you two stealing my job, and the part about me having to get my job back…" He began. "But the one thing I don't understand is the part about the child molestation trial."

Both kids looked up at him as he paused for a moment.

"I mean, you two must have killed at least a dozen people while you were reapers, and I'm the one who goes to court?" He was starting to get angry just thinking about it. "That was the most random, most idiotic thing I've ever seen in my life! Nothing in that court scene made sense! Why couldn't we have just gone home after I got my powers back and had some ice cream? What's wrong with that ending? Why does everything bad always have to happen to me?"

Grim continued to talk, unaware that Billy and Mandy were already walking far ahead of him.

"Hey, come one now!" He screamed. "You guys….wait for me!"

Grim ran down the sidewalk after his 'best friends' as the sun began to set over the city.

THE END

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Alright, that's my second story. I should probably have a lot of regrets about this story, but I only have one: I wish I had been able to get the entire court scene into one chapter. I think the story would have flowed much better if it had all been together in one document. The horrible truth is, people would have lost interest in the chapter before they got half way into it if it were that long. There was really nothing I could do. There's actually one more thing that bothers me. I recently watched a rerun of Keeper of the Reaper and the characters in the Underworld court are a little different from mine. For example, the bailiff is giant fly and there's a octopus stenographer. And apparently the snake lawyer actually does have arms, which doesn't make any sense. But it doesn't really matter anyway.

(going for the record for longest authors notes ever.)

Obviously, Fred Fredburger isn't in this story. Yes, I know. It's an abomination. I know some people wanted me to put him in here and I can't blame them. Fred Fredburger is a popular character who anyone would expect to appear in a fanfic involving the Underworld court. Sadly, he isn't in this one and I have no intention of including him in any of my future stories (oh yes, there will be more). I used to find Fred more annoying than funny, but I've gained some respect for the little guy over the past few months. I actually considered putting him into the story somehow, but it was a last minute sort of thing and it just didn't seem to fit. So, sorry for crushing your hopes and dreams. I shall make amends: Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger Fred Fredburger YES! Are you happy now? WHAT MORE DO YOU PEOPLE WANT FROM ME?

Response to Endsville's review: I'll be honest, I burst out laughing when I saw that you almost screamed when you read that part of the chapter :) . I thought I would have to write at least three stories before I got someone to react that way. I know I've done at least one thing right if my story almost made someone scream. Bizarre is always good. Anyway, thank you for the review, but I especially thank you for reviewing Mandy's Addiction. I always like it when people review that story even though its already been completed for awhile.

(btw, if there are a lot of misspellings its because my spell checker decided it didn't want to work anymore.)

Ok, time to wrap this up: I thank ever single person who read or reviewed this story. More than twenty reviews is more than satisfying for me and I really appreciate it. As for my next story, well….I wanted to get at least the first chapter of my third story submitted before summer ends, but I'm not sure if that will happen. I haven't even made a rough draft of the plot and believe me, the plot needs a lot of work. Plus, I want to take a little break from writing. I'll keep an update on the progress of my next story in my profile (yeah right).

Once again, thank you all (did I break the record?)

I say we go wit a little RIBBIT.