Day out with mom

Part 1: Prologue

"This game cheats so bad." Junior grumbled to himself as he continued mashing away at the buttons of his Game Slave 5 anyway. It was stubborn pride at this point, which he at least had the excuse of inheriting from both his parents, even if not their talent. No vampire piggy was going to get the best of him…for the 53rd time anyway ("Stop spamming, you $%#$er.")

Wandering the halls of Castle Grimskull without watching where you were going wasn't a particularly good idea on the best of days, given the numerous traps laid across it to take down potential ignorant intruders, and especially lately now that the castle was on extra alert, just in case HIM tried to pull anything else after his last attempt. But Junior had a roommate now. Two, technically, but oddly the one physically attached to him was easier to ignore. And while they were getting along better Junior was still in a bit of a struggle to gain Mimi's full trust. She was aggressive and could turn hostile in an instant if she felt under threat by Junior. He hadn't known either of them very long but if Junior had to guess, Jeff was probably the only person Mimi since her mother she felt comfortable around. Somewhat ironic given he was an 8-foot-tall, 500-pound giant spider but hey, who judges by appearances anymore?

Letting her have some time to herself where she could at least sleep in privacy was going a long way in helping to ease Mimi into her new situation, and thus why Junior kept this little portable device on a nice full charge.

…Also the last time he'd played a video game in front of her Mimi wanted to join in. Junior had been delighted at first, happily letting her go in co-op…at which point she absolutely destroyed him. Be it Versus or just in high scores, it was a slaughter in her favor and he couldn't bring himself to go through it all again (she had no fingers. How could she use a controller so well?!).

"-wish you'd consider at least taking some Hanzos with you."

Junior looked up from the screen, pausing it as he heard Charles' voice. The Lord of Pain and faithful servant of the Grim family.

Peeking around the corner, he spotted the large-cloaked knight, along with a small collection of armored skeletons lined faithfully in a row as they awaited any commands they may be given. And before the group was…

"I don't need a babysitter in my own town." Mandy stated simply. To most it would sound like the same dull, even tone she'd always use, but for someone who worked as closely to her as he did, Lord Pain understood that statement was the end of it. There was nothing more to be said. She had declared it and thus it was so.

"Very well then." Lord Pain bowed his head to her, arm across chest. "Then I shall ensure that the castle shall continue its operations without fail in your absence, and that our forces are on standby should you summon us."

Mandy didn't even give a nod. Her orders were being followed, as was the natural way of things. What more was needed?

It was then that she turned her head, just slightly to the right.

"Junior, I know you're there."

"Gk-!" Junior would have felt something get caught in his throat if he actually had one. How did she always do that? He'd heard the phrase of moms having eyes on the back of their head but never that they had those that could peer around corners.

Not much other choice, he awkwardly walked himself into view, joining the small crowd. "I… I wasn't trying to spy. Honest. I was just walking along and happened to hear you guys." He explained himself, rubbing the back of his skull out of nervous habit.

"If your pet is going to keep kicking you out of your room we may need to find a new arrangement for her." Mandy said, thankfully seeming to believe him but those words still weren't exactly a comfort to Junior.

"She didn't kick me out, I'm just letting her sleep."

"She apparently needs a lot of sleep, given how often you're out in the halls." She retorted pointedly. "Perhaps we should get her a doghouse. I'm sure we have Cerberus' old one around here somewhere."

Junior felt something boil within him. "Mimi's not a dog and she's fine where she is."

With the exception of Lord Pain, whom stood like a statue at the ready for a command from either of his present masters, the guards shifted nervously. This stare down between mother and son felt all too similar to what had happened back in the vault and they dreaded the possibility of a repeat. Their loyalty was to their queen before anything else but that didn't mean they enjoyed watching her strike the prince, whom they also had an oath to. How many of their hearts sank with fear of what Mandy might order them to do when Junior had gotten back up and seemed like he was actually about to fight her?

"…We'll see." Mandy was finally the one to break the long stretch of silence, causing the guards to feel like they might fall to pieces in their relief. "We can talk about this more when I get back."

"Get back…?"

The comment caused Junior to finally take notice of the odd attire his mother was wearing, though he supposed they only looked that way to him because he was so used to the more traditionally strange outfits she normally had on. In comparison most others who didn't see her everyday would probably find these clothes pretty normal. A red business suit and black skirt, kind of reminding him of those photos he'd seen of her back when she was mayor of Megaville. And a large brown overcoat over that, stretching down past the knees.

"You going somewhere, mom?"

"Just running a few errands up top. I doubt it'll be longer than a day."

"Up top? You mean…oh!"

It was easy to forget sometimes with the red sky hanging overhead but it was called the Underworld for a reason. Many realms existed within and alongside it but many, many more were considered to be above; as in higher planes of existence reserved for the pure, or at least the less condemned. But given Junior doubted most of them would allow his mother in (not that they'd be able to stop her, probably), what she was talking about was likely the world considered right above theirs, sandwiched between the Underworld and the Pearly Gates. The realm of mortals.

As Mandy made her way past him, Junior admitted he felt a small sense of envy. He'd been to many different realms of the Underworld, from Malebolgia's to Halloweentown and a few in-between; seeing sights both amazing and that'd make you never want to leave home again.

And yet his only experience with the mortal world, with Earth, was through entries in his father's dusty old journal. He'd never been himself. He just had stories, from his parents, from his godfather, from Ms. Pataki. He considered asking Mimi about it every now and then. She'd grown up there, after all. But remembering what Horror's Hand had dug up from her memories and thrown in her face, that probably wasn't a good idea.

Also…you know…she couldn't talk.

"I'll, uh… I'll see you later then." Junior lightly waved his mother off, unsure really what else to say.

Mandy didn't turn around, though not that he expected her to, and gave a simple lift up of her hand to give him a slight wave with its back to acknowledge him.

But then…she paused.

Rather uncharacteristic of someone as steadfast as her, thus how instantly it caught the attention of everyone else, including her son. Junior and Lord Pain found themselves exchanging glances in their confusion. She seemed to be pondering something, and that made everyone scared.

Finally, she turned back around, eyeing Junior.

"Did you want to come with?"

"….huh?"

Author's notes: I want to try writing more Grim Tales again and I've wanted to write something inspired by beppodragon's Lineart - Day out with Mom for years ever since I first saw it since, well, it's cute and I like Junior and Mandy and want to show them off more as mother and son. Since this will be too long for a oneshot and I've actually managed to write a few Overlord fics, I figured why not make this a short story, probably only four or five chapters at most.

I'd really like to use the original art as the cover image but I don't have permission from the artist yet and haven't managed to get in contact with him.