Raging Demon Reaper

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Grim Tales. If I did, this would be on the SNAFU website.

theeternalguest- You're right on one part. And wish granted.

bubbajack- Glad you like it. And the shit will only get insaner. And Junior's sanity should always be in questioned.

DPSS- A very bad implication if Junior were to find out, I imagine. Not saying it's true though.

Cf96-We'll see.

Blood Brandy- Maaaaybe.(grins) And yes, he probably could.

nightmaster000- I'm looking forward to writing the path Junior goes down and how it all effects the underworld. And don't worry, the Reaper-Brother's past will be explained.

coldblue- I honestly, for the life of me, could not picture Grim Junior and HIM just suddenly starting a fight right off the back. TI just seemed against both thier characters, HIM's more so. And yes, everyone is going to be fearing or revering Junior now.

Your Questions- 1. A very probable possiblity later in the long plot of things. After all, Junior is the first Demon-Reaper. As for Mandy willing to 'whore Junior out' (waves hand back and forth) it's a 50/50 possiblity on that front. I don't have every last detail planned here, jsut a great deal.

2. Yes, yes it will. As for your sggestion, I actually think you misread something, or I'm misreading your suggestion. Junior's scythe has four blades on one side and a sharp, twist metal on the other side of it. Still, four armed Junior isn't out of the question. He shape shifts, after all.

3. Possibly. I'm having a lot of ideas. Some for one shots, some for stories.

Your Answers- 1. Your actually very close with the first guess. 2. This will be answered in future chapters when Minnie and Junior eventualyl have to retell their stories. 3. Junior's dealing of the Nergal is in this chapter, at least for the moment. 4. All around, that's a pretty good estimate. 5. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the eagle is a character of its own- and it's not an OC. 6. ...I find that image very appealing. But, I doubt it'll end up in this fic. Maybe another though. 7. Honestly, I think Junior could handle it better if it wasn't so terrorified of him. 8. Hehe, we'll see. 9. I refuse to answer on the grounds that I'll give away the surprise. But I love your guesses all the same, Cold. 10. Invalid arguement, I'm afraid. I doubt Minnie "wanted" to know all the secrets she knew. And the only reason Juunior didn't want to know is that he didn't even know that secrets were being kept from him. 11. Oh yeah, Junior is getting his scythe back. It's the 'how' that will be tricky for him. 12. True, true on all account. But there is more to HIM than you might think in this. 13. Answer is in the chapter, kind of. 14. The first two, nice guess, but the third? You're actually very off on this one.

15. You do realize that now someone, probably me, is going to end up writing a 'HIM is Junior's Father' fic now, right? Not that its a bad thing. Also makes you wonder what would have happened in canon if Junior had taken HIM's offer.

16. I'd suggest rereading 'Divine and Demonic Intervention' for hints as to what the vision was about. I'm surprised no one figured this one out, honestly.

Regular speak

Thoughts and Emotions talking to person outside mind

Demonic or Animalistic speak

Demonic or Animalistic Thoughts

Junior glared as he tried to keep his mind in one place. He had learned and done much this night, and it only left him questioning and thinking harder; Too much, too quickly. His psyche just couldn't cope with it all in so little time. If he kept going, he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep from...reverting back to the part of himself that almost killed his family. From sinking back into that red haze...

"You have your answer," Junior snapped, glaring up at the red demon. Even with his mental state starting to crack, his glare didn't lose any of its power.

"Indeed I do," HIM said smoothly, smirking proudly for all to see, as if he had won something. He probably had.

"Then let her go," Junior demanded, almost daring the Lord to refuse his end of the deal. To the surprise of more than a few beings in the room, HIM nodded to Mimi. The Puff-Demon hybrid rose an eyebrow slightly but did as commanded. Mimi, while ultimately not caring, usually wasn't surprised by the plans of her father. She may not know them in detail, but his actions rarely struck her as odd.

This did. He was actually keeping his word? And giving a soul back? Something wasn't right about this. His Infernal Majesty never gave anything away without something of equal or greater value being given in return. So what did he get out of this?...Then again, Junior was 'his'son. And it showed in this...Demon-Reaper, this Devourer of Afterlives. It showed very well, she realized, as her claws nearly cracked from how hard they pinched together.

Junior watched as Minnie's eyes faded from red to their usual shade of grey. She stared at her brother for a moment before her eyes started to tear up, making Junior grimace. He couldn't help the stiffening of his spine as she ran to him and embraced him tightly, "Brother...," She whimpered helplessly. There were a million things she wanted and needed to say but had no idea what any of them were.

Junior slowly allowed his arms to wrap around his sister. He had nothing to say. There was nothing he could say, really. Nothing that would change what had happened. All that mattered now was getting her home and ending this nightmare, "We're leaving," Junior said protectively, always keeping his gaze on or near HIM.

"Good luck," The sinful lord commented in an almost friendly tone, still smiling devilishly.

"Brother...what of the angel?" Minnie whispered gently into his sweater as they backed away slowly.

"I didn't come for him, Minnie," Junior said evenly, having no intention of helping the holy warrior. He probably would have killed him under other circumstances.

"But...," Minnie whispered in light protest, not wanting to leave her angelic protector to the mercy of HIM's claws. Still, Junior just moved her closer towards the exit.

"Junior?" HIM called, making the children stop in their tracks, Junior casting him an even stare, "Care for another deal?" He asked temptingly.

"I don't care what happens to that winged bastard," Junior spat, feeling his sister look at him in concern. She didn't want to leave him here, in the cruel care of this Devil-Lord, but her brother...he had already made a deal with HIM for her soul, odd a deal as it was. And if Junior's attitude really was anything like their mother's, he wouldn't be fond of helping someone he seemed to hate.

"Who said anything about choir boy?" HIM asked mockingly, making Junior raise an eyebrow, "Would you like to know about your real father?" He asked as the world went silent, save the howling wind outside.

In Halloween Town

Mandy smirked as she turned to watch Junior's clones at work from an alley way. It was one thing to watch them swarm the Reaper-Beast with their cannon arms, like wasps, but it was another to watch three of them fuse their arms together and form a triangular cannon. Unfortunately, the beam didn't do a great deal more damage like they were hoping, "I think you need a bigger gun," She commented evenly to Clone, halfway above her on the wall of the building.

He gave a hum of approval before jumping off the building and onto another, "Where's he running off ta?" Grim asked with a raised, nonexistent eyebrow as he climbed out of a hole in the wall half way back into the alley. He was still flexing his right arm, getting the feeling back into it.

"To get a bigger gun, probably," Mandy answered simply, "You got it?" She asked coldly.

"I really don't like dis," Grim said with a sigh as her gave something, something very small, like a pebble.

"I'd rather not risk this thing making a comeback if the clones can't stop it," Mandy replied simply as she slid the small item in between her breasts, "And I can't use the sword any more today. My hands are starting to go numb at this point," She pointed out, 'And I'm all out of Yponika plants to help speed up my healing,' She mentally added to herself.

"Makin ya more vulnerable dan de res of us fer de moment." He summarized, making her frown but nod, "So, wha is de plan now?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I'm assuming Junior, the original one, is coming back. The plan is to either make that thing dead or hold it down until he gets back and stops it," Mandy answered evenly.

Grim deadpanned at that, "And wha makes ya dink Junior even can stop it?" He asked blankly. Mandy usually had a better plan than this, but he couldn't blame her. They used up a lot of their tricks against Junior and his army.

Mandy didn't respond, just giving Grim an even stare as something big crashed onto the street outside the alley, right behind the Queen. She just smirked, turning to walk out as Grim coughed at the dust, squinting his sockets, "Wha de fook is dis?" He asked in confusion as the air cleared. It was...one of that cannons from their army. Though, it was broken up, even more so from the fall.

On top of it was Clone, smirking under his hood, "Bigger Gun," He growled out as nearly two dozen clones started to jump from rooftops onto the broken machine, Grim watching in amazement as they turned into tentacles and started merge with the piece of technology, fixing and remaking it...

"If you were a weapon, Son, you'd be on my Christmas list," Mandy quipped with a smirk as she looked over Clone's creation. It was just as big as the normal cannons were, but covered in black Nergal-flesh. And the barrel was twice as long, getting narrower at the end, and had two smaller cannons over the main one, shaped almost like vents. On both sides of the main body was a large, red Nergal eye- with many smaller ones all over. It's base was on the ground and the barrel had three sets of large legs to hold it up.

Clone gave her an almost playful look before pointing to the back end of the weapon. Mandy rose an eyebrow at what looked like a control terminal of some kind...

"Okay, new plan. You go off and help the others while I test this thing out," Mandy said to Grim with a smirk. She always did like new guns, and this was brand new. The Reaper just gave her an annoyed look.

"If he wasn't our son, I'd dink you were flirtin wid him," Grim commented as he turned to leave. Mandy glared for an instant but didn't bother to look at her husband as she walked to the cannon.

Clone, still standing on top of his new creation, blinked and blushed as that comment sunk in before grimacing, unnoticed by Mandy or Grim. Now he remembered that animal-minded theory he conjured up for why he had been sad to see Mandy die earlier, about her being a powerful woman...Ohh, the original was so going to love THAT thought, and all the little images that came with it.

Clone sighed as he rubbed his forehead. That just made his mother aiming the giant cannon made of his flesh-tentacles a bit awkward in his mind...And there was no non-awkward way to think about that now. The fact that he could sense her excitement over firing the cannon..."Oedipus," Clone grumbled to himself as he walked to the front of the barrel. After all, awkward or not, he wasn't about to risk letting the Reaper-Beast destroy this new weapon before it was even fired...Still, he really wished he couldn't feel Mandy's hand on the control stick...cue Blushing Demon-Reaper.

In the Land of Tainted Souls

"Don't listen to him, Reaper!" Redeemer cautioned frantically, "He will steal your soul if you let him!"

"I have over a thousand souls to spare." Junior retorted evenly, narrowing his eyes at HIM, who just looked sickly amused with everything, "Though...I can't help wondering...why you of all demons would know about...my biological father?" Junior said slowly and cautiously, as if trying to piece together what this devil was up to.

HIM just chuckled, "If you knew who he was, you'd know why. There isn't an immortal alive today that hasn't heard of That Man," He answered, almost relishing the mere memory of the one he spoke of, "None save you. Only you know nothing of 'him', Grim Reaper Junior," His Infernal Majesty added, finding his own words delicious.

"And what is so awful about my father that my mother, the one you all call the Bitch Queen, would try to keep me from knowing anything about him?" Junior asked curiously yet evenly, not willing to let Minnie be the center of HIM's attention more than necessary. Something really was up about that, about this man that sired him, more than the rest.

"Indeed. What could 'he' have done to your mother to make 'her' soooooo unwilling to even say his name around you, his son?" HIM asked in a twisted, joking matter as he emphasised the gender pronouns. Junior blinked at the implication, but for the sake of his own fragile mentality, reminded himself that this man was a master of word play and chose not to believe the logical conclusion...for now.

"Brother, please, let us go...," Minnie begged lightly. As much as she wanted to save the Redeemer, she didn't trust HIM not to harm her brother, mentally or physically, with one of his deals or his own claws- which was obviously his intent.

"Yes, yes, by all means, go! Go back to the family you almost killed, the family that has left you in the Dark all your life while telling her everything behind your back," HIM taunted wickedly as Junior's eyes glowed lightly, "Why, I would wager they even told Minnie who your father is," He added, as if he just said a scandalous rumor.

"Ye art mistaken, Lord of Lies." Minnie said firmly and bravely as she stood by her brother, whom she turned to now with a solemn look on her face. He stared back at her with his red eyes, much like their mother's, as if he was judging her to see if she really did know of this secret as well, "I swear to ye by the Styx, and by any other force or deities ye demand of me, Mine Brother...though it be true that our Mother and Grim Father placed much of certain wisdoms upon me, I know not by whose seed ye were conceived," She swore, starring into his eyes and barring her soul to him, almost literally. She could see it in his eyes. Too suddenly had too many secrets had been revealed to him for Junior to trust his own family so easily.

"Ohh, but you do know of him, MiniMandy," HIM countered smoothly, smirking down at her before turning to Grim Junior again, as he kept starring at his sister evenly, "And why should you believe her, really? She's hidden from you as much as your parents have. She even admitted to it just now," HIM pointed out. Minnie watched on as Junior stared at her a moment longer.

"Nary a member of our family hath laid a hand against you in violence until tonight, Brother," Minnie said firmly, hoping to remind Junior that he did have a family, a real one. That it wasn't all lies, "Mother and Father hath horded secrets, from ye and mineself, but never to harm ye."

HIM chuckled long and sickly at that, "Ohh, but dear, naive Minnie. You have no idea the kind of danger Mandy has been putting him in just by not letting him know," He argued with a cruel look in his eyes, which bore into Junior's, "Just by leaving you in The Dark," He added wickedly as Junior's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

In Halloween Town

It was so easy to forget that the one called Jack Skellington was the Brother of Death; such a normally good natured and kind skeleton. But watching him, standing tall and defiant in the street with his injuries and bandages with such a fierce glare in his skull sockets, Sally couldn't help remembering just who she was married to. He wasn't always the Pumpkin King...he was not always nice.

"Sally, get out of here," Jack called knowingly and evenly, not even turning to look at her.

"But Jack, you're hurt..." She called out in concern, having come to find Jack, believing he would need to get away from the fighting in his condition. By the looks of it, she might have been wrong. Her attention shot towards the monster attacking her home as a roar cut through the air, half-a-dozen giant tentacles emerging to try to ward off and attack it's numerous enemies, four of them sweeping away at the area directly around the main body, leveling everything near it.

Sally let out a scream as one of them slammed down on a nearby building, the tip going for Jack...who grabbed it with his free right hand, stopping the massive limb in its track and burning the tip it with his mere touch. "I'm fine, Sally, just a bit out of shape," He assured, smirking evilly as the Reaper-Beast turned to look directly at him, "Now get out of here!" He yelled to his wife before jumping onto the now-burnt tentacle, which reeled back quickly to get away from him.

"Jack!" She called in worry, watching him grab onto the tentacle one-handed as it went to the Reaper-Beast.

"You!" The massive beast roared as it held up Jack in front of its main and largest eye, "You reek of the Little Reaper, of our Master! You burn us like he did!" It screeched, rather insanely, at the death-creature.

Jack smirked at that. "I hope so. We could use another pyromaniac in the family," He commented as he pulled himself up with his good leg and arm to stand of the slithering limb, hundreds of scythacles now pointed in his direction, ready to reap his deathly soul. "Now, I'm very sorry to do this, but you see, my town is in a wreck. I'm not going to blame Junior, personally, but I still need to vent," He apologized in a clearly unapologetic tone as the bladed appendages tensed back to strike. "So, you'll have to do," He added confidently as they all shot at him...

Jack scrapped his limb-less left foot against the demonic flesh he stood on, flaming claw marks appearing in the tentacle, severing the end. The reaper smirked as he crouched and fell with the now dismembered and burning appendage, the scythacles just barely missing him. The flesh burned rapidly as it fell, yet they did nothing to the Skeleton or his tattered clothes, merely lapping at him harmlessly.

With a grunt, he leapt from the descending chuck of demon meat and reached into his mouth to pull out another fireball, tossing it over his shoulder uncaringly. He grinned as he saw one of the many scythacles closing in on him hit the orb of flame, causing it to explode, engulfing the entire swarm, the flames racing up their limbs to the main body.

Jack let out a cackle as Grim, flying on his scythe like a broom stick, grabbed his falling brother by the arm and pulled him onto the weapon's staff, "Ya idiot, ya trying ta get eaten?" Grim asked in annoyance to his brother.

"I'm considering it, if only to launch a fire ball or two inside it," Jack answered, only half joking. "Four more, for the record," He reminded, Grim sighing at his flaming-brother's insane antics.

Mandy smirked as she watched the scene through the screen on the cannon terminal, "Very agile for an injured old man," She praised before frowning. "Now if only this cannon didn't take so long to fire," She commented as she fired the mini-cannons on top of the main one. It had been charging for more than five minutes now.

Clone growled out loudly from the end of the barrel, helping the mini-cannons ward off the tentacles, scythe-ended or not. What did she expect, it was his first time fusing with such a massive firing weapon, and it was a rush job. He was a clone-fraction of an unnatural, afterlife-devouring abomination, not a miracle worker!...Okay, that sounded worse than he expected it to, even in his head.

"A shot from this thing better be worth the wait," Mandy grumbled in displeasure. Still, she did get to fire the smaller guns- they didn't do a great deal of damage, but they hurt like hell, by the looks of it. And they shot much more rapidly. The queen smirked as she saw, as if on cue, the ARMED Signal that flashed over her screen for a moment, signaling the main battery was ready, "Here goes nothing..."

In the Land of Tainted Souls

"You're right," Junior said suddenly and grimly, his sister looking saddened as he turned back to the lord, "She did hide everything that my Mother and Dad told her not to tell me," He admitted, the red lord looking very pleased with Junior's admission while Minnie just stared at him, begging him to not do what she thought he was doing, not to turn against them all over this.

"And they'll continue to keep the truth from you for as long as they can, Junior," HIM promised evilly, "Especially after this night. Every scrap of information will have to be earned through tooth and nail. Everything question racing through your mind right now, you'll only know through force with them," He prophesized knowingly. "But I...I am more than willing to share with everything about That Man," HIM assured wickedly.

"I'm sure you are, Lord of Tainted Souls, I'm sure you are," Junior acknowledged with a nod, "The question is how high your price is? Everything my parents ever told Minnie points to you being a very treacherous, backstabbing, con-artist of an Underworld Lord," Junior commented bluntly, "Yet you've been strangely reasonable with me," Junior pointed out in suspicion, HIM just smirking at the accurate description, "So, what do you want from me then?"

"Nothing you won't be willing to give," HIM promised, snapping his claw playfully. He blinked as he heard a large clump of snow fall from a crack in the ceiling...and spun around, holding up his cane with both claws to block the angelic blade of the Redeemer.

"About damn time you got free!" Junior yelled in annoyance, "I thought I was going to have to stall him all night, you slow-ass halo-fucker!" He cursed as Minnie looked at him in shock.

HIM growled as he leapt to the side of the Redeemer, who was too slow to defend against the cane hitting him in the side of the skull, sending him flying to the cave wall behind the royal children, "Junior...that was underhanded, treacherous, and conniving," He said in a cold voice before smirking proudly, "Well played, my boy, masterfully done. You truly are your father's son," He praised as the Redeemer stood behind the souls of the children.

"Your offer will have to wait for another time, HIM," Junior said with a small smirk as he grabbed onto Minnie's arm, "We're leaving. I had nothing to do with the angel's escape, so I didn't violate our deal," He pointed out.

"You don't need to justify yourself to me, Junior. You've both been free to leave since our first agreement," HIM waved off, unconcerned as he glanced at Mimi and Jeff, wondering why neither of them did anything. Jeff was unconscious and belly up while Mimi was pinned to a wall by spider-silk, "I suppose you've noticed them?" HIM asked knowingly to Junior.

"Of course, I can smell them. You really think they'll be enough to take me on?" Junior asked with a smirk.

"Brother, what tis occurring? What doth ye speak of?" Minnie asked, confused and worried. While she was grateful to learn that Junior's agreement to HIIM's claims were all just an act, she still worried for his state of being.

"There are a lot of souls gathering outside the cave," The Redeemer informed, being able to sense them, "None of them with good intent for us."

"Be thankful. If I hadn't smelled them when HIM made the second offer, I wouldn't have waited around for you to get free," Junior informed coldly.

"Not confident in your abilities, Junior?" HIM asked with a chuckle.

"More like I wasn't willing to risk losing Minnie to you, HIM. And as much as I hate this angel right now, along with Heaven, I'd rather Minnie end up there than be stuck with you if it comes down to that," Junior explained with a tired sigh, "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be leaving..."

In Halloween Town

The night sky was bathed in a red light, painting it a bloody color as the beam shot from the hybrid cannon of technology and demon flesh raced towards the Reaper-Beast. The giant abomination barely had time to look at the incoming assault before it was hit. All soldiers and civilians watched in awe at the effects. The mere backlash of the attack making impact destroyed every building within half a block of the enormous beast.

And to everyone's amazement, not only was the Reaper-Beast screaming in pain, it was being lifted off its tendril-feet. The beam was pushed back for a brief moment before it cut right through the demonic flesh, bisecting it through the middle. The top half flew off, raining green blood before it fell to the ground with a loud thud. The remainder of the beam rushed on, past where the Reaper-Beast had been created and into the unknown wastelands.

"That boy of yours," Jack commented with a chuckle from his spot on the back of the scythe, "Really knows how to make a wondrous mess of things."

"Yah, he does," Grim said with a sigh as he looked at the ruined town below him.

"Reminds me of the old days," Jack added nostalgically.

"Ya say dat like it's a good ding," Grim commented tiredly.

"Who says it's not?" Jack asked with smirk, "After all, we were Death and Fire," At that, the Reaper of Death had no retort.

"Junior, that is one nice cannon you made," Mandy praised with a smirk as she stepped off the platform regally, the Nergal flesh on the weapon morphing into tentacles and rejoining into Clone. All that was left was a cannon that was ripped and torn from the fusion with the demonic flesh, 'Though, that means that if he ever goes berserk again, he'll have artillery along with the clone army,' She realized grimly, always thinking ahead and for the worst.

Clone just growled his thanks as he jumped down off the cannon, looking out towards where the Reaper-Beast's upper half lay. Was it really dead? He couldn't be sure, really. It was a bit like himself- he wasn't sure what it would take to put the Nergal-symbiote down for good.

Mandy frowned as she followed his gaze, "It's not dead, is it?" She asked, getting a shrug in response. She rolled her eyes, wishing these clones could speak properly instead of just growling out the occasional word. Still, at least their body language was easy enough to read. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she heard buildings cracking and collapsing in the distant, "What now?" She asked, clearly annoyed.

"Damn, this thing doesn't quit," Jack commented as he watched the bottom and top half dissolve into tentacles and converge on a middle spot, destroying the buildings in between.

"Jack, ya got any idea how much power is lef in dat ding?" Grim asked, trying to get a read on the situation.

Jack hummed as his Reaper senses tuned into the creature, "This thing is on its last leg. The souls it currently has have been powering it, same as with Junior, but it is virtually sucking them dry now, over taxing them and making it harder for the energy to refill until it gets new souls," Jack explained.

"In English, we jus hafta break dis ding down one las time," Grim summarized as he saw what the Reaper-Beast had become. Instead of a beastly-blob of Nergal flesh and tentacles, it now mimicked a human...or a reaper, more exact. It stood on two legs with taloned feet and two arms with hands. It had a torso that lacked a head, sporting an extremely large green eye in the center with many more around it. And in its right hand formed a gigantic scythe, the blade gleaming an eerie green light.

"Of course it has a scythe," Mandy said with a sigh as her army started firing at it. Only now, it spun its scythe to deflect the attacks, batting them away skillfully, "Impressive."

Jack hummed as he threw another fire ball at the creature, purposefully missing it like the first time, prompting the fireball to U-turn and launch towards the monster's back side. The flaming reaper was honestly unsurprised when the Reaper-Beast kicked a large chunk of debris into the orb's path, prompting its destruction and almost hitting the skeleton siblings, "Smart. It can't regenerate very well anymore so it's on the defensive. It's put all its energy into physical strength."

"Warn me before ya do someding like dat," Grim grumbled as he masterfully flew above and over the income stone and rubble. He rose an eyebrow as the Reaper-Beast paused and he felt Jack jerk on the scythe, "Boder? Wha is it?" He asked curiously.

"...Your son is back," Jack answered as Grim went wide eyed.

Mandy rose an eyebrow as she saw Clone jerk his head to the side, looking away from the Reaper-Beast, "What is it?" She asked as she saw the Reaper-Beast turn away from her army. Mandy walked forward and squinted, seeing something in the distance.

"Me," Clone growled out, Mandy looking at him oddly before realization set in.

"Captains, order all cannons to cease fire!" She yelled into the walkie-talkie.

"But Milady, its back is-" The soldier protested.

"Do not question me, Soldier," She ordered coldly, making him gulp and give a submissive affirmative, "Junior, you better know what you're doing," She murmured, turning to look at Clone, who was gone, "And now he's Batman, great," She quipped to herself, scolding herself for not noticing his leaving.

Junior scowled as he stepped out of the portal, covered in the blood of tainted souls. The town was in even more of a wreck. He hummed as he looked up at the now humanoid Reaper-Beast, looking down at him with anger, fear, and madness in its many green eyes.

"Hello, Master," It greeted in an insane and angry voice that it tried to keep calm as the cloned armies gathered on the roof and walls of the building Junior stood on, "Where is Mistress? Didn't you go to save her?" It mocked, feigning sadness as its host glared up at it with disdain.

"She's where she needs to be," Junior said simply and tiredly, his copies crawling and prowling around him protectively as they glared up at the Traitor.

"Even now, with all that power, you're still a failure, Little Reaper!" The Reaper-Beast declared, cackling loud into the night.

"I see you've made a things a little bit messier than I already had," Junior commented offhandedly as he looked around at the ruins of the town. Fires burning buildings, streets collapsed into the sewers, shreds of demon flesh here and there. Most of it, Junior knew he did himself.

"A-and we're just getting started!" It yelled, its voice quivering in insanity and fear, the gaze of its many eyes shaking erratically, "We-we'll consume everything! And no one will be able to stop us! No reaper, no demon, no god, and not even that Bitch you call Mother! And especially not you!" It yelled triumphantly, its madness forcing out its terror.

"You forgot something," Junior said evenly as it stopped laughing, "That's my body, my bones you're using in there. How long do you think you'll be able to channel my Reaper powers properly without a reaper's soul?" Junior asked, smirking wryly, "And I can just smell the fear rolling off you at the prospect of sharing a body with my soul again."

"We-we'll eat another reaper! An-any will do! Any but you! For you will be deader than dead!" The beast roared, fear returning to its voice as it lifted up its scythe to strike the Demon-Reaper and all his army.

"I'll drag you down with me," Junior vowed with a narrowed, crimson gaze as the giant blade came down. The clones jumped away from the unmoving Junior as a razor-winged Clone flew directly at him, slamming into him and flying away from the large crash the over-sized weapon made, debris flying high into the air as the ground shook.

Junior smirked as his soul-form glowed red for a moment before dissolving into Clone. The Prince of the Underworld smirked as he felt his mind fully realign with his horde of clones, 'It's not my real body but it should do for now,' Junior thought as he turned and gazed up at the Nergal-Reaper monstrosity that glared back at him as it raised its scythe out of the ground, 'This thing can't take too much damage anymore or it'll fall apart. Trouble is, I'm not sure I can keep fighting much more,' He thought, mentally and emotionally exhausted, 'So, how do I attack something this big?' He wondered before smirking as his clones started firing at it from all sides.

The Reaper-Beast hissed, but didn't look away from the main Junior. They hurt, but they were weak attacks, many as they were. Unfortunately for it, it honestly didn't think it could take Junior on yet, not with his Primary Clone's body. It snarled as it swirled its scythe against the ground, leveling dozens of buildings while sending the clone army back. It smirked, or rather it would have had it a face, as Junior's eyes narrowed under his hood.

The Reaper-Beast swept its scythe back into the air, launching a large and long cloud of smoke and ruined buildings at Junior. The red-eyed boy growled as he raced into the cloud, the smoke and dirt making it hard for him to see clearly. His left arm turning into a cannon and fired at brick wall coming at him, making a hole for him to fly through. His wings narrowed together as they did to make it though.

He used his axe-tail to slam into the side of a building that was coming his way and threw himself under its path before he hit into it. He gritted his teeth as he slammed head first into a stone pillar, but kept flying forward. His eyes went wide as, through the eyes of his clones, he saw the Reaper-Beast rushing toward his mother and her armies, hoping to eat their souls while he was distracted.

With a growl, he aimed to get a higher altitude, hoping to get above the cloud. His cannon arm turned into a long blade as he cut through what he believed to be a large tombstone-cross. With a pant, he reached above the clouds and saw with his own eyes as the Reaper-Beast barely dodged the attack from a cannon as it rushed for the army. With a roar, he flew as fast as he could, his clones already swarming to his destination.

"Okay, now he's just showing off," Jack said, half annoyed and half impressed as his nonexistent eyebrow twitched, Grim gapping as he looked at what his son was doing. As the Reaper-Beast raised the scythe fast, Junior's clones sent out their arms as tentacles to grab onto the staff and pull back hard, using the momentum against the monster. The Reaper-Beast went wide eyed as it found itself under point-blank assault of the army, momentarily unable to defend itself. Its eyes went wide as Junior flew down from above and slammed his foot into the main eye of the Reaper-Beast, making it cry out in pain as it fell backwards.

Mandy gave her flying son a long stare as he floated high above. In a way, it only now sunk in how much Junior had changed in the last few hours. By day, he had been a fearful eleven year old momma's boy with jealousy issues with his sister. Now? Now he was a force that could end all afterlives, a creature that killed her once and nearly twice. Her little boy was gone. The Demon-Reaper was what was in his place now. How similar the two were still, she couldn't know yet.

Junior felt the stare of his mother but couldn't bring himself to meet it yet. Not until he was sure the Reaper-Beast was put down. He narrowed his gaze as said abomination flipped back onto its feet with a bang, putting some distance between it and Mandy's army, and Junior for that matter. This fight was almost over, both the Nergal and Junior knew that. It all just came down to a few more attacks and one of them would fall.

All attention turned to the sky as a burst of light filled the air. Junior went wide eyed as he saw Minnie, unconscious and falling like a star from the heavens. The Reaper-Beast practically did grin, without a mouth, as it saw Junior instinctively race toward his descending sister.

"Junior! Look out boy!" Grim called as the Reaper-Beast's scythe was swung again, aimed at where Minnie, and Junior, would be. Junior just growled as he tried to fly faster.

"Come on, you just need one more little miracle," Mandy grumbled to herself as she watched helplessly at what could be the true end of both her children.

"He's never going to get to her and get out of the way in time," Jack said gravely as the tip of the blade, Minnie, and Junior all converged to one spot.

"This is both your ends!" The Reaper-Beast roared as time seemed to slow down, the three paths were about to intersect...

*SKKKKKRRRRAAAAAAAAA!*

The worlds seemed to freeze as it happened. Junior, just barely a few feet away from Minnie, went wide eyed as something shot down like lightning from above grabbed her, flying her down and away from harm. He turned and saw it was a large eagle with golden feathers on its head, Minnie grasped in its talons. It took a second for Junior to recall the avian from Clone's memories. That was also the last thought he had before he screamed as the scythe hit him in the back, embedding out the front with green blood spilling out.

Mandy's eyes were wide as she saw the emerald-eyed bird flying towards her with her daughter in its clutches; the Reaper-Beast brought the scythe down into earth as hard as it could. She braced herself and held out her arms as the bird released Minnie, sending the princess to the queen. Mandy held the soul of her child in her arms, glaring lightly up at the eagle before losing sight of it as a dust cloud washed over her from the impact of the scythe, the blade of the giant weapon almost completely buried in the earth.

With a horrid screech, the army of clones withered in pain before they all dissolved into tentacles, their bones dissolving away, leasing not even dust in their place...

"Junior!" Grim yelled as he tried to make his scythe fly down, only for it not react to him.

"Grim, calm down," Jack called calmly, holding onto the staff of the scythe firmly, "If we rush down there, it'll probably eat one or both of us. Then this will all have been for nothing."

"Easy fer ta say! Dat's me boy down dere!" Grim retorted.

"We both know that either that strike did end him or it didn't," Jack retorted sharply, "There is no in-between for this. So calm down so that we can either help your son or avenge him in either case," He finished as he let go of the staff.

"...How are ya so calm, man?" Grim asked with a sigh as he looked on helplessly.

"Insanity has some benefits," Jack answered with a weak smile.

The Reaper-Beast couldn't be happier, despite not hitting its former Mistress. With its Master dead, it had nothing to fear anymore! No more would it have to fear that devil of a reaper's dark soul and mind burning away at its consciousness, tearing at whatever sanity it had! It dare not eat its master's soul, less he retake control. The beast didn't put anything past Junior anymore, for its own safety.

Mandy watched as the creature took its scythe out of the ground, seeing a very large smear of green blood over it. She quickly realized the blood was from the many gallons of blood that had washed into the sewers from all the fighting between her soldiers and the clones. She could feel the Reaper-Beast staring at her, at Minnie, wanting to destroy and devour its first host. Her gaze looked behind the behemoth as something caught her attention. A flash of lightning...and moments later, a clash of thunder.

The Reaper-Beast was caught off guard by this, turning to look in the direction of the booming noise. It looked suspiciously before seeing the storm clouds in the distance. It turned back in its previous direction and its main eye went wide as it saw a sea of tentacles swarming into the large crevice, "No...No, No, NO NO, NO, NOOO! YOU'RE DEAD, REAPER, DEAD!" It roared in defiance, fear, and rage as it brought its scythe up for another blow...

There were no calm eyes at what happened next, no un-amazed faces at the spectacle before them. Out of the hole, blocking the blade was a giant axe-tail; an exact replica of Junior's own had emerged. The Reaper-Beast looked on in fear as two large, clawed hands reached out and grabbed each side of the slit-shaped crevice. The ground shuddered and groaned as the appendages tried to force the hole open wider. Slowly, a hooded head emerged with thorns across the top. Its body slipped out as two clawed feet scrapped against the walls to climb out.

"Great, now we have a kaiju fight," Mandy commented as she saw the enormous version of her son's nergalized form, shaking his form to make the rubble fall off his body. She looked down as Minnie groaned in her arms, shuddering against her mother's form.

"B-brother," She whimpered out weakly as Junior growled in his giant form and finally raised his gaze to look at the Reaper-Beast, who gazed back at him in terror.

"S-stay away from us!" It screamed as it retracted its scythe back away in a hurry, as if to run from the fellow giant abomination that stood before it. In response, Junior leapt at the monster, grabbing the scythe as the traitorous Nergal tried to block and was pushed back several giant feet.

"I'm beginning to think that it would be easier just to build a new town elsewhere than to try and fix this one," Jack commented offhandedly as Grim watched the fight intently, the two hybrids wrestling over the scythe. He couldn't help flashing back to fighting with Junior in the Reaper-Beast earlier, when his son was still maddened with rage, "Are you really that surprised that your son could do so much?" Jack asked in empty amusement.

"Wha's dat suppose ta mean?" Grim asked uncaringly as he watched the Reaper-Beast try to kick Junior, only for Junior's tail to grab the limb and pull, making the beast fall backwards. The fall, however, made the ground crack and give way under both of them, making Junior lose his grip.

"Just thinking about that time on the Sarnos," Jack commented offhandedly as he looked back at the fighting, "We had a lot of fun back then."

"You are mighty, Master, but you should have dealt with us before you left!" The Nergal yelled as it kneed Junior in the gut before slamming his head into the sewer water, using the scythe to prop itself up, "Maybe then you wouldn't have failed Mistress again, and maybe then you wouldn't have failed your fam-AH!" The Nergal continued, only to yell as Junior's tail slashed into its arm, making it release the Demon-Reaper

"You shouldn't have tried to turn against me!" Junior retorted, his voice booming due to his size, as he picked himself off the ground, "Maybe then I wouldn't have to kill you! Maybe then we wouldn't be in this mess!" He roared as he saw the Reaper-Beast's arm fall off from the stump, "But it's too late for all that..." Junior said as he leapt at the giant monster. It raised its scythe to hold him off, but it did no good. Junior grabbed onto the staff of the scythe and bit into it with his enormous teeth and jaw, breaking through it and slamming into the Reaper-Beast, sending it onto its back.

What happened next was a nasty show for most of the onlookers. Junior used his mouth yet again to bite into the largest eyeball of the Reaper-Beast, slamming its remaining arm into the ground with one of his own. With all the savagery he had originally shown his family earlier this night, Junior began to rip and tear into the Reaper-Beast, the very monster he had created, scooping up chunks of flesh and eating it, green blood pouring down his chin and body.

Mandy didn't flinch at the scene. Idly, knowing that the Reaper-Beast and Junior's giant form were of the same Nergal-flesh, she did wonder if this counted as cannibalism or self-mutilation, or both? She looked down at Minnie as she preferred she'd stay sleeping for now. While Minnie was a lot like her, she didn't need to see something like this right now.

"Milady?" A skeleton shoulder called from behind her.

"No one makes a move on Junior unless I give the word," She warned coldly.

The skeleton flinching away, but going wide eyed. This giant monster...was the prince?...'As King Grim would say, Wha de Fook?' He wondered in his skull as he watched one colossal being devour another. This was one messed up night that the armies would be talking about for several centuries.

As Junior kept eating, something odd started happening, something that not everyone caught at first. His many red Nergal eyes were darkening as he ate more and more of the demonic flesh, drinking rivers of blood in the process. Mandy narrowed her eyes as she saw the eyes turn to the bloody color Clone had had when he almost killed her for the second time. However, Grim's eyes went wide as they slowly darkened even further, but never reached a pure black coloring.

"I take it that that's not good," Jack stated in a very obvious tone, not even needing an answer for that one. Still, Junior seemed oblivious to this as he ate the Reaper-Beast's corpse. He suddenly stopped and grinned wickedly as he took up a handful of flesh, eating it and seeming to relish the taste this time. To everyone's surprise, the eyes turned into completely black orbs as Junior stood on his giant legs.

For a moment, it seemed like the nightmare had begun all over again, that Junior would once more attack them. Junior raised his gaze...and went wide eyed in shock and pain as the back of his head erupted, black blood erupting out erratically as the giant form began to fall backwards. Mandy and Grim both squinted as they spied something that had also shot out of the wound...

*SKKKRAAAAAA!*

It was the eagle, the dark blood falling off its golden feathers as it shook its body in midair. It looked back and forth for a moment before it looked down and spied an unconscious Junior, in his real and skeletal body, falling rapidly towards the ground. It took the King and Queen only a second to realize the eagle had torn Junior out of the giant body somehow by shooting through the head.

It nose-dived for Junior, Grim doing the same with Jack still on his scythe. However, the elder reaper's path was blocked. For Junior's giant body and the black blood had all sudden ceased moving in midair before the body dissolved into a sea of tentacles. They and the blood all shot towards and converged into Junior, blocking Grim's path and rushing past the eagle. It was all absorbed into the Reaper boy's body, still falling towards the ground.

All the demonic-organic matter was finally absorbed into Junior, but it was too late for Grim to reach him. The eagle, however, managed to snag his hoodie just a second before Junior hit the ground, and pulled up to stop the descent before flying back up and heading towards the boy's mother and sister. Grim, seeing the path, flew himself and Jack towards the rest of the family and landed as the eagle sat Junior about a dozen feet away from Mandy, the boy landing on his side, facing away from them.

Instead of flying off, the avian landed on top of Junior's shoulder as Jack and Grim got off the scythe near Mandy. Its emerald eyes stared at them intently as it stood over Junior. More so, it stared at Mandy, as if it was trying to read her mind. The eagle's crown of feathers rose as it spread its wings, with an intimidating yet majestic stance. It screeched, long and hard at them, as to threaten them. With that, it flew off.

Mandy and Grim shared a look before staring at Junior for a moment, wondering if he would get up on his own. After seeing that he wouldn't, and hearing what he believed to be small snores, Grim walked forward to his son and knelt by him. He looked over the boy's skeletal body. It looked the same as when they first came to this town many hours ago. Grim sighed in relief as he picked the sleeping Reaper into his arms and turned to give Mandy and Jack a small, tired smile.

"It's over then," Mandy said, sighing as well, glad that was done with. She and Grim walked away, carrying the children that were named after each of them. Things weren't perfect, but they had both their kids back. For now, that was enough.

In the Land of Tainted Souls

His Infernal Majesty chuckled darkly as he watched the image of the Grim Family walking away to lick their wounds, "Oh no, Mandy. This is just the beginning," He claimed before smirking and looking up towards the opening in the top of the cave, "Isn't that right?" He asked as he spied a face with a pair of blood red eyes peering down at him, wearing a grin that was almost bigger than his mouth...

End of Chapter

AN I apologize if some of this didn't seem up to snuff with the rest of my writing in this story. I had a headache while writing some of this.

Here's the nineth chapter, and the end of the Halloween Town War. Next chapter will probably still be in Halloween Town, or part of it will be at least. So, yes, HIM honored the deal in his own twisted fashion while tempting Junior with the greatest secret in his life, Clone made a cannon for Mandy, an Injured Jack still had some fight in him and is taking trips down memory lane, and now the family is all back together. Oh, and the eagle reappered more than I originally planned him to. And HIM apparently has a friend with red eyes and a wide grin.

Also, if you know what the sarnos is, you can probably guess what Jack is talking about. And I know the ending fight between Junior and the Nerrgal could have been longer, but again, I had a headache and they were both running low on energy and at the end of their games. Lastly, I'm not even going to deny it, Clone is coming back soon- he's too fun to kill off.

QTP- What happened in the timeskip in HIM's realm, between Junior leaving the cave and arriving in Halloween Town? What was HIM's deal going to be anyway? Why does the eagle seem to be protecting/helping Grim Junior so much? Did the angel get free on his own or did Jeff set him free? Why does Jack keep going on trips down memory lane so much? How is Junior going to react when he remembers his 'Oedipus' moments? Who was the grinning person above HIM's cave? How did Minnie end up falling from the heavens like that? What was happening with Junior when his eyes turned black? Why did the eagle stop him? Why was HIM so reasonable and less-trecherous (than normal) towards Junior? What was with that thunder? Why didn't Mandy want Junior to know about his Biological father? Will Junior be able to trust his parents again, and Minnie for that matter? Will the Grim Clan be okay now that the fighting is over, now that Minnie is safe and Junior is mentally stable(ish) for the time being?